Released: 29th January
Seen: 29th January
In 1985, one of the most undeniably iconic images in pop culture was created in the middle of the night, just after the American Music Awards. That image was of the inside of a small recording studio in LA where 45 of the greatest musicians of the day (and also Dan Akroyd, for some reason) stood around a collection of microphones to sing a song to try and help world hunger. The image of these legends together is iconic, it’s been parodied dozens of times and earnestly recreated almost as many. The song that came from that legendary night is one of the highest-selling songs of all time, taking in millions to try and help those in need, while also being truly inescapable for decades to go. There was never anything quite like We Are The World and there will probably never be anything like it again, and the documentary The Greatest Night In Pop makes it clear how the song’s existence is something of a minor miracle.
Through a combination of interviews with a handful of the artists involved and never-before-seen footage from the legendary recording session, The Greatest Night In Pop takes you through the process of making We Are The World. It starts roughly two weeks before the recording session with Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson trying to work out what the song would even be and ends on the infamous night where 45 massive egos and talents collided in a single recording session that could only last for that single night. With stories of technical issues, vocal problems, walkouts, lyrical arguments, and a ton of love and respect for each other, The Greatest Night In Pop gives the audience a front-row seat to history.
It’s hard to deny the importance of We Are The World, even if you think the song is cheesy the fact it exists is impressive in itself and The Greatest Night In Pop takes the time to make it clear how insanely difficult this entire thing was to assemble. Not only did they have to deal with just getting everyone in the same room at the same time, but they had to factor in keeping the actual location a secret from the paparazzi, from anything leaking that shouldn’t be leaked, to just working out who would sing what parts and all kinds of technical issues that you would normally spend months solving that these people had two weeks to work out. It lays every little detail out so that by the time the documentary gets to the actual recording of the song, you are fully invested in them pulling this off. Sure, we know for a fact that this ends up working out well, it’s an iconic song that everyone knows so we know it turns out pretty damn good but the documentary plays everything so well that there’s actual tension about whether they’ll get everything done in time.
Where The Greatest Night In Pop excels is everything to do with the actual recording, the night when all those major celebrities got together as one and seeing how they interact. Seeing them rearranging harmonies on the fly or dealing with anxiety about their singing in front of other legends is fascinating. Moments like Bob Dylan being seemingly terrified to sing in front of everyone is wildly charming, as is Cyndi Lauper not realising that her insane amount of jewelry is creating issues with the recording. These absolutely untouchable icons are transformed into vulnerable humans who are just trying to meet a deadline and it’s fascinating, actually improving the value of the song the documentary is about. Sure, we might’ve appreciated the Springsteen part of the song before but realising he was doing that after a world tour with his voice just barely hanging on makes it feel so much more special that he pulled out the performance that he did.
All the people who are being interviewed for The Greatest Night In Pop are delightful, the lion’s share of the story being told by Lionel Richie (something he’s more than earned since he wrote and organised the whole damn thing) but hearing little tidbits from Cyndi Lauper, Dionne Warwick and Sheila E really help give the film a lot of flavour. Honestly, the most fun interview might be with Huey Lewis, who gives off the vibe that he doesn’t get why he was there and is just a big old fanboy at times, truly just a joy to witness every single minute that he’s on screen. Each of the interviews is truly special, though it is kind of an interesting choice that only Lionel’s takes place in the actual studio that they recorded in… it just would’ve been a nice little bit of consistency if they could’ve had all the interviews in that room, but much like assembling 45 legends for a single recording session it might’ve just been impossible to work around everyone’s schedule to make that visual element happen.
Special praise has to go to the team behind The Greatest Night In Pop who managed to make the footage from that recording session look and sound so good. Considering these are 40-year-old recordings that were probably not intended for public consumption, it’s amazing how crisp everything sounds. Getting to hear some of these individual singers doing their part without the backing track is a rare gift, and we now have that on tape that anyone can enjoy and it’s beautiful, it warms your heart in ways that documentaries don’t often do. Every little thing that this film does with those old recordings gives a new appreciation to the song, to those artists working together and how the hell they made this happen.
The Greatest Night In Pop gives more dimension to an essential night in pop culture history. It’s the kind of documentary that makes you look at its subject (in this case the song We Are The World) with a deeper respect, not just because you appreciate the message behind it more but because the work that went into assembling it is nothing short of a miracle. Sure it’s fluff that’s meant to make you feel good about buying this song, but it’s also damn fascinating fluff that has so many great moments that it’s impossible to dislike it. If nothing else, it’s worth seeing just to watch so many legends interacting in one room without their fame getting in the way.
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