We are the world
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We Are the World is a 1985 USA for Africa song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie . It also appeared on the album of the same name . The title is one of the most successful singles of all time and has sold over 20 million times.
Emergence
The band aid hit Do They Know It's Christmas? inspired Harry Belafonte to start an American version of Band Aid with the same principle: to raise money for the victims of the famine in Ethiopia 1984–1985 . A conversation with producer Ben Kragen made this possible. He later hired Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson to write the song. Actually, Stevie Wonder should also have been involved in the songwriting, but that didn't happen due to lack of time. Richie contributed essential parts of the melody, but for a long time the song lacked text and structure. On January 22nd, 1985, after two weeks of work at Jackson's parents' house in Hayvenhust, near Encino , the piece called We Are the World was finally created , in which Jackson combined the melodies he had already composed into a song to create the chorus and added a text to which Richie later made only minor changes. Many well-known American musicians were hired for the recordings and waived their fees (see section Musicians performing ).
Michael Jackson later said in an interview that he also recorded a demo tape with Richie. To this he said:
“I love to work quickly. I went ahead without knowing it myself and I couldn't wait for Lionel. I started and finished the song that same night - drums, piano, strings and the lyrics of the chorus. "
production
The single was on January 28, 1985, on the eve of the presentation of the American Music Awards , from Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian produced; the recording took place at the A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood . An instrumental version had previously been sent to interested singers with an invitation for the day.
Publication, Success and Marketing
We Are the World was released worldwide on March 7th, 1985, subsequently it became a number one hit in countries like the US (4 weeks from April 13th - May 4th 1985), Great Britain (2 weeks from April 14th - May 4th 1985) April - April 27, 1985) and Switzerland (6 weeks from May 5 - June 15, 1985).
The song is originally 7:02 minutes long, but appeared in various lengths (such as 6:58 minutes) and was released on the album of the same name.
The song won a Grammy . The single became the best-selling single of 1985. It was also the best-selling single of the 1980s and the first single to achieve multiple platinum status. It received four times platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America .
In a special edition of Life , the song was sponsored by the magazine's publisher. The issue describes the full story of the project and the front cover features Bob Dylan , Bruce Springsteen , Cyndi Lauper , Lionel Richie , Michael Jackson , Tina Turner and Willie Nelson .
To sponsor the song, the music video was released on video cassette , there were flyers, posters, T-shirts and buttons. The proceeds from the sale, like the income from the song, went to the victims of the famine in Ethiopia at the time. The best -selling merchandise was the cassette music video, which also includes a making-of for the song and became the world's ninth best-selling home video in 1985.
On April 5, 1985, the song played over 5000 radio stations worldwide simultaneously.
The music video won the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards in the Best Group Video category and the Viewer's Choice Award .
Contributing musicians
Most of the musicians who took part in the project were American. An Irishman, Bob Geldof, also took part in the project. He was already co-initiator of the Band Aid and Live Aid projects .
conductor
Soloists (in order of appearance) and sequence
- Lionel Richie (There Comes ...)
- Lionel Richie & Stevie Wonder (when the world ...)
- Stevie Wonder (there are people dying ...)
- Paul Simon (oh, and it's time to lend a hand)
- Paul Simon & Kenny Rogers (the greatest gift of all)
- Kenny Rogers (we can't go on ...)
- James Ingram (that someone somewhere ...)
- Tina Turner (we are all a part of ...)
- Billy Joel (and the truth ...)
- Billy Joel & Tina Turner (love is all we need)
- Michael Jackson (We are the world ...)
- Diana Ross (there's a choice ...)
- Michael Jackson & Diana Ross (It's true we'll make a better day ...)
- Dionne Warwick (Well, send them your heart ...)
- Dionne Warwick & Willie Nelson (lives will be stronger and free ...)
- Willie Nelson (As god has shown us ...)
- Al Jarreau (And so we all must lend a helping hand)
- Bruce Springsteen (We are the world ...)
- Kenny Loggins (We are the ones to make ...)
- Steve Perry (there's a choice we're making ...)
- Daryl Hall ( Hall & Oates ) (it's true we'll make a better day, just you and me)
- Michael Jackson (when you're down and out ...)
- Huey Lewis (but if you just believe ...)
- Cyndi Lauper (well, let's realize that a change ...)
- Kim Carnes (When we)
- Kim Carnes & Huey Lewis (stand together as one)
- (1 1/2 choruses ALL)
- Bob Dylan (there's a choice we're making ...)
- (1 chorus ALL)
- Ray Charles (there's a choice we're making)
- Stevie Wonder & Bruce Springsteen (we are the world ...)
- Stevie Wonder (there's a choice we're making)
- Refrains (Stevie Wonder & Bruce Springsteen)
- Bruce Springsteen (there's a choice we're making)
- (1 chorus ALL)
- James Ingram (we are the world)
- Ray Charles (there's a choice we're making ...)
Additional artists in the choir
- Dan Aykroyd
- Harry Belafonte
- Lindsey Buckingham
- Mario Cipollina ( Huey Lewis & the News )
- Johnny Colla (Huey Lewis & the News)
- Sheila E.
- Bob Geldof
- Bill Gibson (Huey Lewis & the News)
- Chris Hayes (Huey Lewis & the News)
- Sean Hopper (Huey Lewis & the News)
- Jackie Jackson
- La Toya Jackson
- Marlon Jackson
- Randy Jackson
- Tito Jackson
- Waylon Jennings
- Bette Midler
- John Oates ( Hall & Oates )
- Jeffrey Osborne
- Anita Pointer ( The Pointer Sisters )
- June Pointer (The Pointer Sisters)
- Ruth Pointer (The Pointer Sisters)
- Smokey Robinson
Band musician
- David Paich (Synthesizers)
- Michael Boddicker (Synthesizers, Programming)
- Paulinho da Costa (percussion)
- Louis Johnson (bass) ( The Brothers Johnson )
- Michael Omartian (keyboards, producer)
- Greg Phillinganes (keyboards)
- John Robinson (Drums)
- Ray Charles (piano)
Cover versions
The song has been covered frequently by the Munich Symphonic Sound Orchestra , the Kelly Family , Luciano Pavarotti , Mariah Carey , Joe Cocker , Nina Hagen and a punk rock version on a split album by Hukedicht and Teenage Kings. The band Culturcide has 1,986 a kind Shred published the piece. On February 1, 2010, 25 years after it was first published, it was reopened for aid programs as a result of the earthquake in Haiti , see Artists for Haiti .
We Con the World is a 2010 video clip by the Israeli satirical group Latma , which parodies the “ Peace Flotilla of Gaza ”.
Web links
- Peter Wicke: We Are the World . In: Song Lexicon . Retrieved April 7, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts UK Charts US
- ↑ www.usatoday.com: The Many Faces of Michael Jackson, accessed May 19, 2010.
- ↑ www.hitparade.ch
- ↑ Los Angeles Daily News: American Music Award Nominees Named, accessed May 19, 2010.
- ↑ Stephen Holden : www.nytimes.com: Pop View: A Pop Virtuoso who Can Do It All, accessed May 19, 2010.
- ↑ Lisa Campbell (1993). Michael Jackson: The King of Pop. ISBN 082831957X .
- ↑ TV documentary about the life of Harry Belafonte, broadcast on phoenix on Nov. 5, 2018 at 8:15 pm.
- ↑ DVD tip: USA for Africa: “We Are The World” on SWR3 on August 7, 2007, accessed on November 4, 2018