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Fact #43302

When:

Short story:

Recording of The USA For Africa single We Are The World, co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, begins at A&M Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA. The superstar list of guest vocalists includes Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles and Diana Ross. Despite having been invited, Prince does not show up.

Full article:

Ken Kragen (organiser, USA For Africa) : This all started with a phone call from Harry Belafonte.

Harry Belafonte : After the success of Band Aid, and particularly Bob Geldof, it was obvious that USA For Africa was an idea whose time had come.

Quincy Jones (producer) : It could never have happened without Harry Belafonte, Lionel and Brenda Richie, Ken Kragen, Marty Rogol, Tom Bahler (associate producer) and Humberto Gatica (recording engineer). Brenda was the unsung hero, and Belafonte was the one who inspired the whole thing. This was the team who really helped get it on.

Lionel Richie (co-writer) : I'd been inspired by Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas. Harry Belafonte called and said : 'It's time for us to do something'. Next thing I knew I was at Michael Jackson's house chasing his pet chimp Bubbles around and trying to write the song.

We had some of the greatest artists of our time in one studio. We wanted an anthem and listened to The Star Spangled Banner and Rule Britannia to get the beat. (Source : interview with Billy Sloan, Sunday Mail, March 2009)

Lionel Richie (co-writer) : I’ll tell you honestly - I can’t really say how the song came about. Neither one of us saw the other put his hands on the keyboard. That’s how we write. He brought in an idea. I brought in an idea. We went back, we listened, and then we smashed both ideas together. The music came first. As for the lyric … it just kind of flowed. I’d throw out a line, Michael would come back with a greater line - the same one, with the words changed around differently - and I’d change his line, and finally we got this wonderful line. And it actually only took us about two-and-a-half hours to nail it, after three days of preparation.

Ken Kragen : Deciding to do the recording on the night of the American Music Awards, was perhaps the key decision that I made. It was a perfect way to make sure I could get the maximum number of artists to take part. I knew that a number of key artists would be at the American Music Awards. I also knew that there were certain artists who would attract the others into the project - Michael, Lionel, Stevie, Bruce Springsteen…

Quincy Jones (producer) : I put a line - ‘Check your egos at the door’ - in a letter I sent to all the artists before they got there, and everybody understood. Oh, there were little murmurs beforehand that the song ‘is not rock’n’roll’, but once we got to the session, I was sure that everything would totally even itself out and bring everyone into a euphoric state, and that’s what happened.

We really had it laid out. Where they stand, who was going to sing the solos – only 21 out of 46 – which was already getting dangerous.

Sure enough, when we were doing the last part, the line was ‘We are the world’ and Michael had written a little fill that went ‘sha la sha lingay’. Well, Geldof stopped everything and said, ‘Oh no, we can’t do that. The Africans will think we’re making fun of them.’ And I said, ‘Turn off the cameras. However it works out, won’t matter.’

Pretty soon they started taking sides, volunteering opinions. And then Stevie decides to call somebody in Ghana to get the right prnounciation in Swahili. Around three o’clock in the morning, he comes wandering back in with it taped on his ghetto blaster, and says, “Can I have your attention, please? The correct words for this thing should be ‘willy moingu.’”

Well, that was too much for Ray Charles. He said, “Man, it’s three o’clock in the goddamned morning, and I can’t even sing in English, man. Screw Willy and Moingu too!”


Prince (who did not attend) : They said it was cool that I gave up a song for the album. Which was the best thing for the both of us, I think. I’m strongest in a situation where I’m surrounded by people I know. It’s better that I did it that way - the music - than coming down and participating there. I would probably have clammed up with so many great people in the room.
(Source : Eye Witness quotes researched, edited and compiled by Johnny Black)