The Greatest Night in Pop | We Are The World, as if you were there

Everyone knows the song, but few people know the (fascinating) underside. Landed on Netflix this week, the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop details, in an almost immersive manner, the recording of We Are The World, from the USA for Africa collective, made up of the biggest stars. Pre-reading warning: you’ll have this stuck in your head for hours.

Nostalgia for an era

Lasting 90 minutes, The Greatest Night in Pop takes us back to 1985, more precisely to the night of January 25 to 26, when around forty American superstars, including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Huey Lewis, Smokey Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon and Billy Joel joined forces to record We Are The World, a ballad aimed at raising money to fight against famine in Africa. Rich in never-before-seen images taken in the studio, the documentary directed by Bao Nguyen (Be Water, Live from New York!) is full of juicy moments (Bob Dylan who is really, really not in his right mind), touching (the artists exchange their autographs like groupies), uncomfortable (the singer Al Jarreau, visibly drunk, who constantly forgets his words ), daunting (Michael Jackson lost his snake) and stressful (a race against time to finish on time).

In an interview, Danick Trottier, professor of musicology at the University of Quebec in Montreal, talks about a “well-scripted” film tailor-made to tickle the nostalgic fiber of the public. “We revisit the second half of the 20th century a lot^e century. We did it a lot around the big events of the 1960s and 1970s, and in recent years, we have become very interested in the 1980s.”

“Leave your ego in the locker room”

The biggest names in the American music industry, with their self-esteem, their pride, their way of doing things… locked up for hours in the same place? The risks of nuclear catastrophe (rivalries, personality conflicts) were high. “Some Quebec stars are difficult to manage, so imagine in the United States, when you reach this level,” remarks host Mike Gauthier, reached by telephone.

The documentary shows the efforts made by Quincy Jones (director of the song) and Lionel Richie (co-author with Michael Jackson) to avoid slippage. The following memo was also posted at the entrance to the studio: “Check Your Ego at the Door. » (“Leave your ego in the locker room.”) The tandem navigated this unstable sea of ​​sensitivities throughout the evening.

“The film highlights Lionel Richie well,” says musicologist Danick Trottier. We put it aside a bit afterwards [We Are The World]. He was perceived as cheesy, as a charming singer… But in 1984 and 1985, he provided leadership in pop music. We see his strength, his ancestry, his unifying side. »

Get out the popcorn!

We Are The World having captured the imagination of several generations of music lovers, The Greatest Night in Pop will undoubtedly attract a large audience. Even anecdotally, the documentary entertains. Among the best popcorn clips is the one where Stevie Wonder seems to infuriate everyone when he suggests singing the chorus in Swahili, a popular language in Africa.

We also learn that Cyndi Lauper almost canceled at the last moment because her boyfriend at the time, who had heard the mock-up of the song, thought it was going to flop. “When you see the film, you understand why some stars lasted, and others, a little less,” observes Mike Gauthier. When you see Bruce Springsteen’s attitude, his professionalism, you understand why he’s still riding today. His artistic quest is pure and hard. »

Éreinté après une longue tournée, Springsteen a enregistré sa partie vers 6 h du matin. Même s’il semblait avoir ingurgité des morceaux de verre, le Boss a tout donné. « Ma voix n’était pas terrible, mais j’ai fait de mon mieux », l’entend-on dire.

Quarante ans plus tard, sa performance vocale demeure l’une des forces du titre.

Où étaient Prince et Madonna ?

Le documentaire éclaircit l’un des plus grands mystères musicaux des années 1980 : pourquoi Prince et Madonna étaient absents ? Avec Michael Jackson, ils régnaient pourtant sur l’industrie.

Prince a reçu une invitation. Les producteurs voulaient tellement qu’ils participent à l’enregistrement qu’ils ont voulu l’attirer en recrutant sa percussionniste chouchou, Sheila E. Les demandes du chanteur étaient toutefois trop grandes.

Quant à la Material Girl, on comprend qu’au final, elle n’a jamais été conviée au rendez-vous. Le puissant producteur Ken Kragen préférait retenir les services de Cyndi Lauper. Ironie du sort : quelle chanson a détrôné We Are The World au sommet du Billboart Hot 100 aux États-Unis ? Crazy For You, de Madonna.

« Les organisateurs ont choisi de faire un compromis très mainstream entre artistes noirs et artistes blancs, commente Danick Trottier. Ça aurait pu être encore plus rassembleur, avec des artistes latinos, par exemple. Plusieurs artistes populaires auprès des jeunes étaient aussi absents : pas seulement Madonna, mais Run-DMC, Twisted Sisters, Van Halen… On aurait pu représenter d’autres genres musicaux : le jazz, le new wave… »

Une vision américanocentriste

The Greatest Night in Pop le mentionne en ouverture : We Are The World est arrivé après Do They Know it’s Christmas, cette chanson caritative de Noël initiée par Bob Geldof au Royaume-Uni. Sortie en novembre 1984, la pièce réunissait de grosses pointures comme Phil Collins, U2, Boy George, Sting et Duran Duran.

Pour le professeur Danick Trottier, le film escamote cet aspect pourtant important. « On présente un narratif très américanocentriste. C’est nombriliste, estime le musicologue. Les charity songs [chansons caritatives] were not born with We Are The World. But when you watch the documentary, you get the impression that it’s the founding event, when in reality, it started with rock from the 1960s, and all those concerts around Bangladesh with UNICEF at the beginning from the 1970s, worn by George Harrison. »

Bob Geldof appears briefly in The Greatest Night in Pop. Archive footage shows the Irish songwriter and activist speaking to the slightly dissipated stars, to remind them of the critical situation in Ethiopia, and the importance of the event.

According to Mike Gauthier, his intervention was essential. “It’s lucky he spoke, because I feel like a good gang had forgotten why they were together, even though they knew it was for a good cause.” »

The documentary The Greatest Night in Pop East offered on Netflix in French or original English version with French subtitles.