[Edited 3/9/12 16:16pm]

He may have caught hell at the time but in retrospect Prince was very wise to bail on this.

rialb said:

He may have caught hell at the time but in retrospect Prince was very wise to bail on this.

And Frank Zappa

Great song. The new Haiti version is utter shit.

Hudson said:

Great song. The new Haiti version is utter shit.

I agree...

Look @ LaToya on the front row. If MJ wasn't her brother, she would NOT be in there

* it's LaToya week here on the org

mjscarousal said:

Hudson said:

Great song. The new Haiti version is utter shit.

I agree...

The rap in it was... just not needed

Gunsnhalen said:

mjscarousal said:

I agree...

The rap in it was... just not needed

that was a mess

Prince did catch a lot of heat for this. I'm not sure if it was a good decision as far as publicity, but it was a good choice overall. Prince simply does not do well with duets - or even worse, group singalongs.

He did his part, giving 4 The Tears In Your Eyes to the album. Also, we got the awesome "Hello" B-side as a result of the publicity fallout.

Everyone keep in mind: Madonna was not there either. Not sure if she was invited, but she was definitely a huge star already in 1984/1985.

April 12.1985
We Are The World

1.We Are The World
2.If Only For The Moment, Girl
3.Just A Little Closer
4.Trapped
5.Tears Are Not Enough
6.4 The Tears In Your Eyes *
7.Good For Noghing
8.Total Control
9.Little More Love
10.Trouble In Paradise





from the recording 2 the performance Sheila goes from Glamorous Life -> Romance 1600

Se7en said:

Prince did catch a lot of heat for this. I'm not sure if it was a good decision as far as publicity, but it was a good choice overall. Prince simply does not do well with duets - or even worse, group singalongs.

He did his part, giving 4 The Tears In Your Eyes to the album. Also, we got the awesome "Hello" B-side as a result of the publicity fallout.

Everyone keep in mind: Madonna was not there either. Not sure if she was invited, but she was definitely a huge star already in 1984/1985.

I always thought it funny that Prince caught so much heat then, but Madonna didn't. Given how big a star she was then, I can't imagine her not being invited. In terms of Prince's rep, people wndered why, that's for sure but I don't think it hurt him in the long run. So many "Live Aid" type things followed, USA for Africa kinda got lost in the shuffle.

As for the song, the sentiments and intentions were great, but the song wasn't IMHO. That said, I have it on 45 from back then.

[Edited 3/9/12 18:25pm]

I Still wish i knew why Dan is in this

Gunsnhalen said:

I Still wish i knew why Dan is in this

I think it was just because he was at the Grammys. He was a fun surprise for the vid tho...all these big music people then (drumroll) Dan Akroyd!

brooksie said:

I was crazy about this song when I was a kid (OMG! it's MJ! ) I only knew a few people back then, but was always waiting for MJ in the video.

My favorite part is when Stevie & Bruce are belting out everything they got & putting there foot into it. They really wanted to feed some mother fuckers

Gunsnhalen said:

My favorite part is when Stevie & Bruce are belting out everything they got & putting there foot into it. They really wanted to feed some mother fuckers

LOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

This video saddens me because it shows me how much talent has declined over the years. When they remade this, most of the people wouldnt even sing in front of each other because well......... THEY CANT SIGN!!!! Its just so sad.

dp

[Edited 3/9/12 22:44pm]

Everybody does a phenomenal job on this. They pretty much all manage to put their distinctive personalities into a couple of lines each. Cyndi kills it.

This song is corny and very simple. Yes ... but it's actually a charity song, it should be clear to everyone, regardless of racial, ethnic, age and language differences.

The song perfectly fulfilled functions that were assigned to it.

I like it, my 80 year old grandma likes it, my 3 year old niece likes it (although they do not know English).

Never understood the criticism of this song, it's quite nice.

I respect the project and what it was meant to do, but the song itself is not really that good after all these years.

It was America's answer to England's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a song that still gives me goosebumps and one that I don't get tired of.

Se7en said:

Prince did catch a lot of heat for this. I'm not sure if it was a good decision as far as publicity, but it was a good choice overall. Prince simply does not do well with duets - or even worse, group singalongs.

He did his part, giving 4 The Tears In Your Eyes to the album. Also, we got the awesome "Hello" B-side as a result of the publicity fallout.

Everyone keep in mind: Madonna was not there either. Not sure if she was invited, but she was definitely a huge star already in 1984/1985.

are you asking why P and M were not there? Because MJ never liked/trusted P or M, because P/M never liked/trusted MJ, that's why; and that's why there was a P&M duet in 1988...because they liked each other...

JoeTyler said:

Se7en said:

Prince did catch a lot of heat for this. I'm not sure if it was a good decision as far as publicity, but it was a good choice overall. Prince simply does not do well with duets - or even worse, group singalongs.

He did his part, giving 4 The Tears In Your Eyes to the album. Also, we got the awesome "Hello" B-side as a result of the publicity fallout.

Everyone keep in mind: Madonna was not there either. Not sure if she was invited, but she was definitely a huge star already in 1984/1985.

are you asking why P and M were not there? Because MJ never liked/trusted P or M, because P/M never liked/trusted MJ, that's why; and that's why there was a P&M duet in 1988...because they liked each other...

BS.

The song did what it was supposed to do and even though it hasn't aged that well, it's still a good simple melody.

The Bob Dylan part was absolutely horrible. Before we saw the video, many of us in school wondered if they had included one of the current comedians at the time that was singing that part because it definitely doesn't sound like a serious singer. It sounds like a mental patient singing.

Se7en said:

Prince did catch a lot of heat for this. I'm not sure if it was a good decision as far as publicity, but it was a good choice overall. Prince simply does not do well with duets - or even worse, group singalongs.

He did his part, giving 4 The Tears In Your Eyes to the album. Also, we got the awesome "Hello" B-side as a result of the publicity fallout.

Everyone keep in mind: Madonna was not there either. Not sure if she was invited, but she was definitely a huge star already in 1984/1985.

Now that's a good point that I never had noticed. She wasn't there and she definitely was huge at the time.

I'm glad neither of them were there because a group sing-a-long may be OK for some people but for badasses, it doesn't look cool at all. If Prince and Madonna had been there, it would have been like whores in a church choir.

vainandy said:

The Bob Dylan part was absolutely horrible. Before we saw the video, many of us in school wondered if they had included one of the current comedians at the time that was singing that part because it definitely doesn't sound like a serious singer. It sounds like a mental patient singing.

I understand why some folks don't dig his voice but it is much more suited to his own material. Dylan singing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Tangled Up in Blue" works. Dylan singing eighties pop songs? No one wants to hear that.

rialb said:

vainandy said:

The Bob Dylan part was absolutely horrible. Before we saw the video, many of us in school wondered if they had included one of the current comedians at the time that was singing that part because it definitely doesn't sound like a serious singer. It sounds like a mental patient singing.

I understand why some folks don't dig his voice but it is much more suited to his own material. Dylan singing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Tangled Up in Blue" works. Dylan singing eighties pop songs? No one wants to hear that.

I think they did an excellent job following a similar voice with another similar voice like Tina Turner and Kim Carnes and Kenny Rogers and Ray Charles. The placement of the voices throughout the record was done very good but the Bob Dylan part didn't fit in well at all and neither did Bruce Springstein who sounded like he was sitting on a toilet straining to get a big one out.

purple05 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

My favorite part is when Stevie & Bruce are belting out everything they got & putting there foot into it. They really wanted to feed some mother fuckers

LOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

This video saddens me because it shows me how much talent has declined over the years. When they remade this, most of the people wouldnt even sing in front of each other because well......... THEY CANT SIGN!!!! Its just so sad.

Yes and what's even worse is that the situation they were trying to raise money for has re-emerged w/ a vengence these days. East Africa may be even worse now than it was in 1985.

rialb said:

vainandy said:

The Bob Dylan part was absolutely horrible. Before we saw the video, many of us in school wondered if they had included one of the current comedians at the time that was singing that part because it definitely doesn't sound like a serious singer. It sounds like a mental patient singing.

I understand why some folks don't dig his voice but it is much more suited to his own material. Dylan singing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Tangled Up in Blue" works. Dylan singing eighties pop songs? No one wants to hear that.

I thought Dylan was a good add in because of his huge fandom. I suspect his presence brought in tons of $$$.