#1 song of the week

Lets go back to my senior year of high school this week in 1985. The #1 Song was a unique venture called "We Are the World" by USA for Africa. It was the brainchild of Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. They got almost all of THE major music stars in music to appear with the exception of John Denver who asked to be involved and was turned down even though he had spent most of his career in the cause to fight world hunger. It was said by one of the producers that he (Denver) might hurt the credibilty of the song, and looking back that was such a ridiculous statement. To me it was just plain bias against John Denver not bein "in" with the current music scene. Madonna was asked to be involved but she declined, I figure probably because she didnt get paid and it wasnt about her, but thats my opinion and I cant stand the woman.
The song was rehearsed and recorded the night of the American Music Awards in January 1985 and released in March and raced up the charts to hit #1 on April 17th and stayed there 4 weeks.
I do remember it still being very popular even after my graduation in May and this all led to the "LIVE AID" concerts on my 18th birthday, July 13th 1985. We had cable by then but it did not have MTV so I had to listen to most of it on the radio but it was an awesome concert and it is out on DVD but sadly I havent taken the time to watch it.
Now I dont think this same thing could be done today due to the egos of "music" stars today, too many rappers would rather fight with each other instead of cooperate and most "musicians" today would feel it wouldnt make them any money. Now I could be wrong but its a different world now and I dont think something like this could happen. Please tell me if you think I am wrong.
Enjoy the video of "We Are The World" by USA for Africa


Here is a video of the making of the video and song...interesting process to watch even though the narration is in japanese. I found myself watching this was great fascination, number one because I love the music making process of the producers and mixers and arrangers but to see how everything fits together. For my money Steve Perry has an incredible voice and really stood out. Over all this is a great snapshot of the world of music in 1985. Check youtube for some other great behind the scense videos of this once in a lifetime happening.