The Greatest Night in Pop
This is a documentary about the night 47 celebrities got together in late January of 1985 and recorded a song to help raise money for Africa.
I enjoyed the video taken not only during the recording of the song, but during some of the writing, and rehearsal. I hadn't realized that the song was recorded immediately after the American Music Awards, and seeing clips of that show brought back childhood memories.
However, the documentary went on way too long. It's not exactly thrilling to see take after take as the singers performed their solos. The drama inspired by Stevie Wonder wanting Swahili in a song that was primarily geared for Ethiopia was quite embarrassing in my opinion. I love Stevie, but that was ridiculous, and I fully understood Waylon Jennings walking out over it.
The absence of Prince was also not handled very well. You have dozens of artists who have been recording all night, and everything grinds to a halt while Sheila E reveals her insecurity that she was only invited as a way to bring Prince. One will never know how the song would sound with Prince, but Huey Lewis did such a fantastic job.
I love the song. I love the video that played on MTV back then. But, I don't think this documentary needed to be made. There isn't enough information to support a feature length film and I felt that the filmmakers stretched out what information there was.
The younger audience that wasn't aware of the song may get more out of this than I did. I hope you enjoy the story of one of the greatest songs ever made.
This is a documentary about the night 47 celebrities got together in late January of 1985 and recorded a song to help raise money for Africa.
I enjoyed the video taken not only during the recording of the song, but during some of the writing, and rehearsal. I hadn't realized that the song was recorded immediately after the American Music Awards, and seeing clips of that show brought back childhood memories.
However, the documentary went on way too long. It's not exactly thrilling to see take after take as the singers performed their solos. The drama inspired by Stevie Wonder wanting Swahili in a song that was primarily geared for Ethiopia was quite embarrassing in my opinion. I love Stevie, but that was ridiculous, and I fully understood Waylon Jennings walking out over it.
The absence of Prince was also not handled very well. You have dozens of artists who have been recording all night, and everything grinds to a halt while Sheila E reveals her insecurity that she was only invited as a way to bring Prince. One will never know how the song would sound with Prince, but Huey Lewis did such a fantastic job.
I love the song. I love the video that played on MTV back then. But, I don't think this documentary needed to be made. There isn't enough information to support a feature length film and I felt that the filmmakers stretched out what information there was.
The younger audience that wasn't aware of the song may get more out of this than I did. I hope you enjoy the story of one of the greatest songs ever made.