"The Greatest Night in Pop" Makes a Trip Down Memory Lane for You and Me
Being of a certain age will surely enhance the pleasure in watching "The Greatest Night in Pop", a documentary on the making of "We Are the World" nearly 40 years ago. Lionel Richie serves as the tour guide for this trip down memory lane, which fulfills its promise to make a better day for you and me.
For those who don't remember, the song and video to benefit starving people in Africa was pulled together in 1985, cleverly gathering nearly four dozen influential musical stars after they appeared at the American Music Awards. As Richie notes, organizers knew they had "one night only to get this right," with producer Quincy Jones famously posting a sign outside that read, "Check your ego (自负) at the door."
Directed by Bao Nguyen, the whole thing is pretty exciting, drawing from the enough footage (连续镜头) shot that night to provide plenty of fly-on-the-wall moments, added by interviews with musicians and the production crew.
There are plenty of amusing details, like Diana Ross asking Daryl Hall for his signature, which opened the floodgates to these performers releasing their inner fans and moving around the room collecting signatures.
Granted, the trade-off to watching is you'll likely be humming or singing "We Are the World" for the next several days. Consider that a relatively small price to pay for a front-row seat to this remarkable gathering of musical royalty, and the magic that happened during one long night when, at Jones' request, they left their egos outside.