When The Stars Aligned

 Back in early 1985, a group of singers gathered in a studio to do their part to help those starving in Africa. A very cool idea, but it wasn't theirs originally. Bob Geldof, lead singer for the one-hit wonders The Boomtown Rats, brought a bunch of English pop stars together and recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas," an all-star charity single that was the fastest selling single in British history until Elton John reworked his "Candle in the Wind" for Princess Di's funeral. Elton's record made more money, but it was split up among a variety of charities favored by the late royal. The English supergroup sold more than two million copies across the globe, raising more than twenty-four million dollars for famine relief. They called themselves, with traditional Brit irony, Band-Aid. 

When all those American pop stars crammed into A&M recording studios on January 28, 1985, they had to walk under a sign taped over the entrance that read, "Check your ego at the door." Many of them had come from a night of celebrating at the American Music Awards, hosted by one of the authors of the song they were going to record, Lionel Richie. Bruce Springsteen showed up. Cindy Lauper came. Huey Lewis was there. Bill Joel and Ray Charles participated. The list of who sang "We Are The World" read like a Who's Who of mid-eighties pop. Tina Turner. Diana Ross. Stevie Wonder. And Michael Jackson. 

There were some notable no-shows: Madonna couldn't fit it into her busy schedule. Prince and his ego couldn't agree on the circumstances under which he would stand in a room with "the competition." Eddie Murphy didn't show, but Dan Aykroyd did. Sheila E was there, as an enticement to lure her boss and paramour Prince to the gig. It didn't work. Waylon Jennings walked out for a while as the artists argued about including some Swahili lyrics. 

In the end, they finished the record just about the time the sun was coming up the following morning. People drove back to their homes, hotels, or the airport, and waited for the release of the record two months later. March 7, 1985 we in the world got to hear "We Are The World" for the first time. The single sold more than twenty million copies. It might have gone to the top of the charts sooner if not for the ubiquitous Phil Collins, whose song "One More Night" slowed the charity single's rise. But since Phil sang on the Band-Aid record, I suppose we should forgive him. 

Thus began a period of musical activism. In the summer of 1985, a global event called Live Aid featuring most of the acts from both sides of the pond, occurring simultaneously in London and Philadelphia. Phil Collins played on both sides of the Atlantic. Madonna showed up for this one, but Prince still stayed home. Not long after that, Bruce Springsteen's guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt together ro record "Sun City" with an assemblage of many of the same conscientious folks to form Artists Against Apartheid. Bob Dylan, who showed up that night at the A&M studios wondered aloud “Wouldn’t it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?” And thus Farm Aid was born. 

Thirty-nine years ago, music was going to change the world. Looking around the planet these days, I can't help but think that there's just not enough music.