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In late 1984 the singer and activist Harry Belafonte was both impressed and perturbed by \u201cDo They Know It\u2019s Christmas?,\u201d a British charity single featuring a cast of pop stars. The proceeds from the project went to Ethiopian famine relief. Belafonte complained to the music manager Ken Kragen, \u201cWe have white folks saving Black folks and we don\u2019t have Black folks saving Black folks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such was the spur for the 1985 song \u201cWe Are the World.\u201d The creative nucleus was Black: its writers, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson; Stevie Wonder (who didn\u2019t get a writing credit but, as relayed in the film, was invaluable to the whole creative process); and the producer-arranger Quincy Jones. How the project turned into a one-night-only superstar fest \u2014 \u201cIf a bomb lands on this place,\u201d a droll Paul Simon quipped while surveying the room, \u201cJohn Denver\u2019s back on top\u201d \u2014 is chronicled in \u201cThe Greatest Night in Pop,\u201d directed by Bao Nguyen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
While the making of the song was partially detailed in its long-form video, there\u2019s plenty of new, engaging, and sometimes eyebrow-raising anecdotal material here. Wonder\u2019s impromptu notion of singing a phrase in Swahili (which was squelched when it was pointed out that Swahili isn\u2019t spoken in Ethiopia) compelled the country star Waylon Jennings to walk out of the session. A nervous Cyndi Lauper was almost dissuaded from participating by her (unnamed) then-boyfriend, who thought the record would flop. And a few interviewees relay that Al Jarreau was tipsy throughout.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Bob Dylan did not sit for a present-day interview, but Bruce Springsteen did. One of the handful of rock stars who\u2019d also make an excellent rock critic, he\u2019s a vivid docent and apologist for the song: \u201cSteve Perry can sing! He\u2019s got that great voice. Up in that Sam Cooke territory.\u201d As the assembled room pays tribute to Belafonte, a salty joke improvised in song by Stevie Wonder is worth the price of a Netflix subscription.<\/p>\n
The Greatest Night in Pop<\/strong>
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. Watch on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n