A new documentary reveals the secrets behind recording We Are the World

Thirty-nine years ago, America's biggest pop stars convened in a Hollywood studio to record one of the greatest songs to come out of the 1980s. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, We Are the World is the ninth best-selling single of all time, with more than 20 million copies sold.

Proceeds of the sales of We Are the World were donated to provide food and resources to starving people in Africa, especially Ethiopia. 

In 2010, another all-star cast of singers — including Justin Bieber, Jennifer Hudson, Toni Braxton and Miley Cyrus — recorded a cover of We Are the World, with proceeds going to help those affected by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. 

The recording of the original 1985 charity single is detailed in a brand new Netflix documentary called The Greatest Night in Pop.

Music journalist Maura Johnston and arts writer and broadcaster Garvia Bailey share their thoughts on the documentary, and muse about the complicated relationship between celebrity and charity.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Elamin: We Are the World, I think we should contextualise, came on the heels of the British All-Star charity, which was Do They Know It's Christmas? And then later on, Canada got into the game with Tears are not Enough. It's got Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Anne Murray, Geddy Lee … and then we get into this massive Live Aid concert in July of 1985. Garvia, could we start by talking about how African famine relief became the go-to cause with celebrities in the 1980s? How did that happen? 

Garvia: So first of all, there's no doubt that geopolitically there's this massive famine in the '80s. Catastrophic. And it had been going on for quite a while before We Are the World came to be. It raged to the point where it could not be ignored by the American public writ large. In the early '70s, the pop music industry was teetering on the brink of collapse. But then there was this massive influx of incredible musicians. We had Michael Jackson coming out and Lionel Richie and Bruce Springsteen. So there was this attitude that music had been saved, that people were interested in music again. 

So why not bring all of these things together? I mean, the hippies had Dylan and they had Vietnam to rally around. The civil rights movement had jazz and soul music. They rallied around that. The [pop] musicians were like, "We should do something."

Elamin: Maura, the movie is kind of set up at the start to be a little bit like a heist movie. Are they going to be able to pull this off? There's mystery and drama. Will it actually come together? Is that [plot] device effective at all for you, knowing that the song came out, that it became one of the biggest songs of all time? 

Maura: As someone who works often on deadline, it obviously struck a chord with me personally. Obviously we know the song came together, we've all been swaying to it on the Zoom. But it's the way in which it shows logistically how they had to get everybody together into the same room. Stevie Wonder was in Philly, Bruce was in Buffalo, and oh, it's January and the weather is terrible. Dionne was in Vegas. And so, seeing how that all came together was really interesting.

Elamin: Garvia, what about you? What parts of this documentary drew you in and made you go, "Whoa, this is a mystery. How are they going to do this?" 

Garvia: Well, we all love behind the music documentaries. And this is the ultimate behind the music documentary. The build-up, those scenes of them driving in their different cars. Like how Bruce Springsteen came in on a motorcycle. I love all of those kinds of things. All of my nostalgia buttons were pressed by seeing Cyndi Lauper and even seeing drunky Al Jarreau. I was into that. It was wild to see all of these stars that I remember being so massive.

Elamin: We are the World 25 for Haiti, Garvia, let's be honest, no one remembers that version particularly fondly. I don't think you're going to see a documentary about that version anytime soon. Before doing this group chat, I forgot that that version even existed, to be honest with you. Why do you think the all-star charity single doesn't connect so much in this day and age? 

Garvia: I don't think stars really need to show their philanthropic bonafides these days. In the '80s, no one had that connection to their fans that they do now. So for pop stars and for us as a public as, I know enough about you, I don't need to see Justin Bieber in a room with a Spice Girl. It felt like something that wasn't needed at that time. I don't need this. I know where my money needed to go. I didn't need to hear that.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Stuart Berman