"The Night that Changed Pop" on Netflix

[Gil Bang 25,923]

yeah, this is the music thread, but it's a show about the making of "We are the World" record and the whole "USA for Africa" deal. 

It's very well done.  Lionel Ritchie is the main character, and he's a cool mofo.    I highly recommend.

At one point, Stevie Wonder decides since it's for Africa, they should sing some lines in Swahili.    Right then, Waylon says fuck this shit, and heads for the door, and he doesn't come back. 

[UTGrad98 2,271]

Wife and I watched this a couple nights ago. We liked it. I have a new found respect for Lionel Ritchie after seeing it. Dude had quite a 24 hours that day they made it. 

[Gil Bang 25,923]

17 minutes ago, UTGrad98 said:

Wife and I watched this a couple nights ago. We liked it. I have a new found respect for Lionel Ritchie after seeing it. Dude had quite a 24 hours that day they made it. 

I saw the dude in Vegas about 5 years ago.  

I had NO FUCKING IDEA how great he was/is.  He played 30 fucking songs, and I knew the words to almost all of them without knowing that I knew (if that makes sense).  His catalog is very impressive, and he's a terrific performer.  A pro's pro.  

My favorite story from the film is that Springsteen wasn't supposed to be in L.A.   He just finished up the "Born in the USA" tour in Buffalo the night before, but he came in for the recording.  Richie and Quincy had photographers there, and they sent one outside to capture all the stars arriving (in limos).  Photog says he sees a bitchin GTO pull up to the curb and park across the street from the A&M studio, and Springsteen gets out and walks across the street. 

Edited February 6 by Gil Bang

[Napoleon 8,666]

Like the Waylon & Springsteen stories. 

Bandaid’s song was always so much better than USA For Africa’s song. Always. 

It’s nice when lots of people get together for songs & concerts. 

[Gil Bang 25,923]

they make the point that without bandaid, there would be no usa for africa, no farm aid, etc.  

[Gil Bang 25,923]

BTW, Kenny Rogers rolls in the parking lot driving a Chrysler Laser.  I had the same model.  Not the best car I've ever owned, but it had some sex appeal, obviously, because Kenny Rogers drove one. 

[tigol 2,395]

I watched. The song is just terrible, but raised a shit ton. So, good stuff.

Kenny’s car cracked me up, too. That Waylon shit was hilarious. Glad Willie hung in there. He was trying to will Al Jerome sober. That was really cringeworthy.

[Pato del Muerto 52,487]

I enjoyed watching them have creative process, as opposed to it being very scripted and everyone just shows up, they knock it out in 2 hours, and they all go on their way. 

[TonyTexas 10,509]

I guess Gil can justify starting a new thread by simply changing the name of the show to one he made up  

 

[ztejas 43,415]

8 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

I guess Gil can justify starting a new thread by simply changing the name of the show to one he made up  

 

But it's a documentary that everyone needs to watch about some terrible fucking song that I couldn't give two shits less how it was made. 

[sidis 9,825]

i watched it and it was nothing groundbreaking but still an amazing thing to see all that talent in one place.

the only thing that stuck out to me about it was stevie wonder's ability to imitate bob dylan's singing voice.  that shit was crazy.  and the job he did shaking bob out of his funk.

[GhostOfTomJoad 9,323]

Esquire magazine did a great write up on this a few years ago.

It probably touches on much of the stuff in the Netflix doc. At least I hope so, because I canceled NF and don't want to re-up just to watch this. Was Billy Joel in the doc at all? He's always good for a solid quote and unvarnished take. And somewhere Darryl Hall is still telling anyone next to him that he had the best voice and performance out of the entire group.

[CTC2 2,794]

On 2/5/2024 at 10:57 PM, UTGrad98 said:

Wife and I watched this a couple nights ago. We liked it. I have a new found respect for Lionel Ritchie after seeing it. Dude had quite a 24 hours that day they made it. 

I stand by seeing him with the Commodores was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. 

[Napoleon 8,666]

Lionel is coming to The Winstar, just across the Red River from DFW, some time in the next month or two. 

[South Austin 52,460]

Caught some of an NPR interview with someone who works for U.S.A for Africa. I didn’t even know it was still a thing, and apparently its foundation still has healthy funding, thanks in no small part to royalties from the song.

But the person interviewed said while the song is timeless because of the gravity of the moment and collection of insane legendary talent, she gave a strong “hell no” at the suggestion of ever doing something like that today.

[Parliament 14,249]

Counterpoint: Yoko Ono

Was this part of that “hands across America” thing?

[South Austin 52,460]

1 hour ago, Parliament said:

Counterpoint: Yoko Ono

Was this part of that “hands across America” thing?

Not necessarily a part of, but "Hands" was organized by one of the USA for Africa's founders.

[Carl Spackler 3,479]

17 hours ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Was Billy Joel in the doc at all? He's always good for a solid quote and unvarnished take.

I kept one eye on the documentary while the wife was watching it and I was trying to get some work done.  BJ is definitely in a lot of the archival footage, but I don't believe he was a present-day interviewee like Lionel Richie, Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Cyndi Lauper, and some others.  Funniest part of the doc was Waylon walking out when Stevie Wonder went off on his "we need to insert some Swahili words" tangent.    

[Pato del Muerto 52,487]

…that they came around to realizing was a bad idea. 

[Pato del Muerto 52,487]

2 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

I kept one eye on the documentary while the wife was watching it and I was trying to get some work done.  BJ is definitely in a lot of the archival footage, but I don't believe he was a present-day interviewee like Lionel Richie, Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Cyndi Lauper, and some others.  Funniest part of the doc was Waylon walking out when Stevie Wonder went off on his "we need to insert some Swahili words" tangent.    

Apparently Sheila E and Huey Lewis had some free space in their calendars though. 

[Gil Bang 25,923]

I stand by seeing him with the Commodores was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. 

I saw him in Vegas. Fantastic show

[DallasHorn26 586]

I have memories from my early childhood of sing along to this record with my Mom. I don’t think you could get that many people in the same room to record a song today, so it was definitely a historical moment.

The part about Stevie leading Ray Charles to the bathroom had me rolling.

[Chopper 17,230]

I met Stevie when I was maybe 15. My dad knew him. We were at some party and I was in a conversation with my dad, Stevie, Pat Harrington (the super on One Day at a Time) and some verrrry pretty woman in a skimpy dress who I didn't know. She asked Pat to hold her drink for a minute so she could take off her sweater. Stevie held out his hand and offered to hold her bra in case she wanted to remove that too. Ahhh memories.

[HiggyBaby 2,529]

Did they cover Ackroyd’s surprise involvement?

 

[NTVTXN 1,432]

On 2/7/2024 at 7:19 AM, Parliament said:

Counterpoint: Yoko Ono

Was this part of that “hands across America” thing?

Oh dear Lord- in case of yoko ono it should be hands across the face or hands over the mouth. 

[66BUFF 2,562]

On 2/11/2024 at 8:51 PM, HiggyBaby said:

Did they cover Ackroyd’s surprise involvement?

 

Kind of mentioned it, Bette Midler and Aykroyd got in because of Ken Kragen

In any event, reader Don S. wrote in to ask a question that many people have been wondering over the years, including folks back in 1985, which is why was Dan Aykroyd, obviously part of the famous Blue Brothers, but not really a notable enough musician in and of himself, included in the all-star chorus on “We Are the World” when, you know, guys like John Denver were not.

As it turns out, like many of the other odd things about “We Are the World,” including “Why was Madonna excluded?” and “Why did Kim Carnes get the nod over any number of other famous female singers?,” the answer boiled down to Ken Kragen, the talent manager who put the whole thing together. It was Kragen who made sure that his top clients all got into the event (like Kenny Rogers and Carnes), it was Kragen who got one of his clients, Lionel Richie, to put the whole thing together, it was Kragen who decided that Madonna wasn’t going to be invited, it was Kragen who ultimately decided to not allow English and Australian singers to participate in the event, and it was Kragen who got Dan Aykroyd into the event.

As Aykroyd recalled to New Hampshire magazine in 2009:

My father and I were interviewing business managers in LA and we walked into this office of a talent manager, and realized we were in the wrong place. I was looking for a money manager, not a talent manager. I had managed myself at that time and always have. But he said, so long as you are here, would you like to come and join this “We are the World” thing.

I thought how do I fit in here? Well, we did sell a few million records with the Blues Brothers and in my other persona I am a musician, so I showed up and was a part of it but it was totally by accident.”

Kragen, of course, was the talent manager in question.

So, yeah, the answer to so many “We Are the World” questions is simply, “Because Ken Kragen felt like it.”

 

Edited February 14 by 66BUFF

[CooterBrown 18,005]

On 2/6/2024 at 12:39 AM, Gil Bang said:

BTW, Kenny Rogers rolls in the parking lot driving a Chrysler Laser.  I had the same model.  Not the best car I've ever owned, but it had some sex appeal, obviously, because Kenny Rogers drove one. 

You must've got all the middle school pussy with that banger.

[yoladu 4,093]

1) Don't think much of Huey Lewis as a musician, but he comes off as a good dude.

2) That Geldof pep talk really sobered up the room (Al Jarreau not withstanding)

3) Was kind of sad when Sheila E was talking about her realization that her being there was just as pawn/lure to get Prince to show up.

[yoladu 4,093]

On 2/7/2024 at 11:05 AM, Pato del Muerto said:

…that they came around to realizing was a bad idea. 

It's pretty relatable - When time is tight and you don't have the luxury of screwing around, there is inevitably one guy who calls an audible, thinking he's got a great idea.

[Pato del Muerto 52,487]

2 minutes ago, yoladu said:

It's pretty relatable - When time is tight and you don't have the luxury of screwing around, there is inevitably one guy who calls an audible, thinking he's got a great idea.

Sucks when that guy is someone that everyone is willing to, or must, indulge.  Nobody there was going to tell Stevie wonder to pipe down- they had to talk him out of it. 

Edited February 15 by Pato del Muerto

[GhostOfTomJoad 9,323]

In the Esquire article they indicate it was Ray Charles speaking up and saying "ring the bell, Quincy" loud enough to be heard by most that led to Quincy regaining control & focusing the group on the task at hand. Did that make the doc? I can't imagine how much weight Ray Fucking Charles could throw in a room just by speaking up.

[tigol 2,395]

In the Esquire article they indicate it was Ray Charles speaking up and saying "ring the bell, Quincy" loud enough to be heard by most that led to Quincy regaining control & focusing the group on the task at hand. Did that make the doc? I can't imagine how much weight Ray Fucking Charles could throw in a room just by speaking up.

It was in there.