Customer Reviews

We are the World - The Story Behind the Song (20th Anniversary Special Edition)

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I heard this DVD was to be released at its 20th Anniversary Special Edition on local radio on 104.3 FM in LA. They played the song on Friday, Jan. 29, 2005 before its re-release for a DVD. I went right away and found at the local Best Buy store for a great price.

I loved this song and I remembered that I was 14 at the time of its release on cassette and LP records. It was for a great cause and United for song of hope. The great popstars came out to raise their voices to help Africa's hungry. I was looking for a CD re-release of the song. They should re-release as a CD single. So far you can buy the title song online for resonable price as a MP3 file like Itunes.

I have watch the documentary on DVD and it tells who wrote the songs, who the stars that participated in it, and who sang all the parts of the song with solos and the entire group.

The song was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.

The 2 disc DVD set comes with collectible insert booklet, which contains the history of how the night of Jan 28, 1985 how the song was made with all the stars. The booklet also contains the lyrics of the song and picture of the group and where the stars stood in the group (like Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Cydie Lauper, Diana Ross, Diane Warwick, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springstein, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Janet Jackson, etc up to 45 stars) for the memorable song.

1st Disc includes the documentary by Jane Fonda and the Music Video of the We Are The World Song conducted by Quincy Jones.

2nd Disc contains the extras,history and documentary, and places where the song ws played like 10th anniversary "one song, many hands", American Music Awards, 28th Grammy awards, "Live Aid" footage from ABC, etc. and Karaoke track of the song too.

It well worth the price this song that makes history and make for a good cause, USA For Africa organization still is around to help out for hunger and AIDS 20 years later. The proceeds of this DVD goes to the USA For Africa organization. Great! If you like Great Music and Great Stars come for a good cause, it's a great piece of history with this song "WE Are the World" and how it all began. This DVD is for you and for your children to remember.

The Stars should make a DVD or CD of a new song for the Tsunami victims in Asia with today's pop artists with yesterday's pop and rock artists too.

I must admit, the reason I ordered this 20th Anniversary DVD was to see Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross--all in the same room again. They are all amazing talents, that checked their "egos at the door," that night back in 1985. They were there along with a number of other singers, to help a nation of starving people have a chance at life. There are some priceless outtakes of the late Ray Charles, Stevie, Cyndi and Bruce that had me thoroughly entertained. This is definitely worth buying. I believe a portion of the money from Amazon will be going to the Tsunami Relief fund and other worthy charities.

For anyone who grew up in the 1970's or 1980's, and for anyone who is interested in the power of the human spirit to "do something," this is truly a special two-DVD set.

It is chock-full of behind-the-scenes footage of how this amazing event came together and the impact it had on galvanizing the support of thousands of people toward a common cause.

Among the many highlights are some incredibly emotional scenes from the recording sessions. My personal favorites were of Bruce Springsteen and Ray Charles, two music industry giants who brought their own unmatched passion to the recording.

The DVDs do a nice job of documenting not only the recording session but also the cause itself -- eradicating hunger and starvation in Africa and at home in the U.S.

Perhaps the most inspiring takeaway of the collection is the fact that two individual people -- Harry Belafonte and Ken Kragen -- saw the tragedy that millions of other people were simultaneously witnessing -- but chose to do something about it.

Their individual efforts began a chain reaction and a movement who's impact is still felt today, some 20 years later.

You will enjoy this DVD set many times over. Get extra sets for friends and family members and you'll touch their souls too.

I organized "We Are The World" 20 years ago and oversaw the production of this 4-hour 2-DVD set. It contains footage never available on DVD before and most of it has never been released for public sale anywhere. It is the definitive story of the making of the historic recording with in depth looks at the work of Bruce Springstein, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan and others as they sing that night in 1985. It also includes both the 1985 HBO special hosted by Jane Fonda and the 1995 retrospective special on Disney that is narrated by Harry Belefonte. Included on the second DVD are tributes done on The American Music Awards and The Grammys as well as the WATW LiveAid finale. It's a great piece of history to own and the proceeds will go for tusnami relief in East Africa, for AIDS work in Africa and for poverty issues here at home. Buy it now!

This is a great behind-the-scenes look at one of the biggest musical events of the twentieth century.

The documentary WE ARE THE WORLD: THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG (on dvd #1) is narrated and hosted by Jane Fonda and appears to have been made shortly after the historic recording session, which happened on January 28, 1985. Showing the celebrities arriving, meeting and greeting, and of course the recording of the song "We Are The World," as well as pre-writing and arrangement stages that took place days before(between Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones), viewers get a fly-on-the-wall experience of what went on that night.

It really is remarkable to see so many artist from different generations and musical styles combining forces for a greater cause. Where else would you see Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, Kenny Rogers, The Pointer Sisters, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, and Ray Charles, among many others, singing together on one song? The documentary shows the actual breakdown of the recording of the chorus parts, the solos and the very short rehearsal sessions that took place that one night. The recording was done in three parts: the chorus, the line of solo artists that we see in the video, and additional solos by artists that were included after. The actual edited music video is also included.

On dvd #2 there is a ten-year anniversary documentary/interview with Harry Belafonte and this is curious to watch. As another reviewer pointed out, during this documentary Belafonte continues to point out how he got the idea and wanted to do something about the famine plaguing Ethiopia etc., but never once does he mention Bob Geldof. For those of you who remember that time, it was Bob Geldof (BOOMTOWN RATS) and Midge Ure(ULTRA-VOX) who started this whole thing with the song "Do They Know It's Christmas" that had many British singers/musicians(as well as American artists Jody Watley and Kool & the Gang and Irish band U2) contributing their talents and collaborating on that single. The British/Irish/American supergroup was called "BAND AID" and was created to help with relief aid to those starving in Ethiopia. The single "DO THEY KNOW..." was released in December 1984 and went to number one almost a month and a half before WE ARE THE WORLD was recorded.

It really has nothing to do with the enjoyment of watching these documentaries or saying which was better BAND AID or USA FOR AFRICA...and really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things...it's just a little troubling to see someone taking credit for a historic event without even mentioning Geldof or Band Aid (who historically were the pre-cursors to "We Are The World"). The documentary also includes the problems that happened with logistics and controversy of why some of the aid money never reached its destination that surrounded USA FOR AFRICA and talks about HANDS ACROSS AMERICA.

Additional footage is also included on dvd #2 including a live 1986 "American Music Awards" performance of WE ARE THE WORLD; Belafonte, Jackson, Richie and Jones accepting various awards for the song; and the "Live Aid" concert performance of that song. Also included is a booklet that gives an hour-by-hour play-by-play description of the recording session, which is a reprint of a 1985 LIFE magazine cover story.

Unless you actually remember this moment in time, or perhaps a huge fan of one of the artists who appear on WATW, this might not be enjoyable to watch.

Although this DVD is a little dated in production values, it is a surprisingly pleasant trip down memory lane of the biggest musical event of the 1980's.

Sadly, there is no reference to the event that inspired USA for Africa being Bob Geldorf's Band Aid (you'd swear America invented everything...), and it treats We Are The World as a stand alone triumph. But that is more a comment about the producer's creative judgement rather than the talent in the studio.

However, this DVD takes you into the studio and allows you access to the world's biggest stars trying to record this epic song at 2am after an industry function.

It's awesome to watch Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie writing the original score and Quincy Jones somehow piecing together so many different musical singing styles to blend together into a final mix. Who else would choose Dionne Warwick and Willie Nelson to sing together!!

It's amazing how big these stars were at the time, and how much today's "artists" pale by comparison. Incredible how great Ray Charles was on the project - and how lost Bob Dylan was in the presence of this talent. Cyndi Lauper's passionate contribution being interupted by her clanging earrings and Billy Joel's mock irritation at discovering the difficult key the song is written in. Springsteen's intense ad lib recording sessions.

A worthy addition to any 1980's music lovers collection.

I love this DVD. So much inspiring and true that you'll sure gonna love it. Beautiful performances, touching but most of all get it to help the dying since the money you're paying go directly to those who need it!

Good work. It describes the process of recording the song, the artits and all behind the song.

Purchase this DVD and help continue Michael Jackson's humanitarian and musical legacy. We Are the World - The Story Behind the Song (20th Anniversary Special Edition)

If for no other reason, this event deserves a space on your shelf because of what it represents. It was a singular moment in this generation when the biggest names in the music business came together purely to lend their time and effort to a charitable cause. Famine relief in Africa. I grabbed a laser disc copy of this when it first came out in the 80's. I've viewed it many times since then and it still gives me goose bumps to watch. I wanted to replace it with a DVD version and will certainly add one to my collection.