It was nineteen eighty four and life was almost perfect for me. I was in my thirties, passionate about my teaching job, raising a wonderful family of two young girls with an always supportive husband. I lived in a cute little house with the best neighbors that anyone might wish for and I enjoyed the most wonderful friendships and times spent with my extended family. On top of it all, the music in that era was wonderful and I was still young enough to rock with it when driving my car or cutting loose in my home. 

I admittedly focused mostly on my own little world at the time, totally unaware of the state of other places in the world. I did not yet pay attention to the unfolding of news the way I now do. I was busy with the mundane but gloriously beautiful tasks of raising a family, earning a living and finding moments to enjoy life. I was ignorant of issues like famine and starvation in Africa but I was about to learn what was happening there all because of the efforts of a group of singers who would come together to change the world. 

Harry Belafonte was already well known for his melodic voice and even some acting chops but mostly he had become synonymous with the Civil Rights movement of the nineteen sixties. His work to end segregation and to find justice and equality for all humans had changed the course of his life. By the nineteen eighties his continued work to bring light into the world was legendary, so when he came up with an idea for raising funds for the starving people of Africa, the powers that be listened. A group quickly formed to create a song and then gather the best and most famous voices of the era to record it. Quincy Jones would orchestrate the effort but first he needed both a song and some performers. 

In the beginning Quincy chose Lionel Richie to manage the project which would require getting a diverse group of entertainers together for one moment in time to make the recording. First Lionel was tasked with coming up with a song, so he left calls for Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Stevie never returned those calls but Michael Jackson instantly met with Richie and the two began to write the music and the words for the project. 

Meanwhile Quincy Jones and others involved with the planning had to decide how to bring so many famous singers together in a single moment. They decided that many of them would be coming to Los Angeles for the American Music awards in January, so that event would provide the best possible likelihood of getting the most big names for the project. The race was on to finish the song, invite the singers, and organize the logistics all in a matter of weeks.

The Netflix documentary, The Greatest Night in Pop, uses film from the era to recount the gathering of the best music stars of the era. It shows how complex it was to pull the event together and then provides an intimate portrait of the night long process of recording the the chorus and the individual parts of the music. It is a walk down memory lane with singers in the prime of their years forgetting their egos to work together on an important project designed to save lives. It seems as though anybody who was anybody was there and at times the tension and time constraints made each singer so very human. 

The telling of that evening is as taut and wonderful as the song they finally made. We Are The World was played around the world at exactly the some moment in time and became a mega hit in the first week of sales, garnering over eight million dollars that purchased food for the parts of Africa where people were enduring devastating hunger. It also became to model for other rescue efforts that were yet to come. 

The documentary was mesmerizing for me as I watched Bob Dylan struggling to own his part in the song. I witnessed a young Willie Nelson offering his unique voice which was at its very best. Michael Jackson sounded like an angel. Bruce Springsteen offered a rough hewn plea. Stevie Wonder’s genius overcame problems and Lionel Richie was a masterful manager of all of the egos. By the end of the long evening when everyone was exhausted love and joy filled the room as the singers exchanged autographs to commemorate the moment. Somehow they all understood that they had just done something extraordinary. 

The Greatest Night In Pop is a wonderful documentary that will leave you smiling and proud. It reminded me of kindness and an America focused on love and trust and compassion. It will surely make you feel the hope that comes from people working together for a common cause while putting their own foibles aside. It’s the kind of story that we all need to see in these times of division and anger. Maybe we might decide to quit quibbling with each other and do something important and impactful once again.