“The Greatest Night In Pop” is so entertaining and eminently watchable, and it’s as simple as that. Directed by Bao Nguyen, the acclaimed filmmaker of the Bruce Lee doc “Be Water,” the already-engaging subject matter doesn’t hurt: nearly 50 of the top American music artists in the world all in one room, recording a soon-to-be global hit single. Presumably, everyone knows “We Are The World,” still one of the best-selling pop singles of all time, recorded by the supergroup U.S.A. For Africa.
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But the story behind “We Are The World,” which is what “The Greatest Night In Pop” is all about— how the song was conceived, who wrote it, how they logistically got all the artists in one room and recorded it all in one long night is deeply fascinating and engrossing— especially if you’re any kind of pop music aficionado.
The context is simple: in late 1984, Bob Geldof (the Boomtown Rats) led all of the best and brightest U.K. pop stars to band together and write a charity pop song for starving millions in Ethiopia (Africa was going through a hellish drought at the time). The supergroup, including the elite who’s who of English pop, comes together as Band-Aid and records the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
People like well-known humanitarian Harry Belafonte take notice and nudge super producer Quincy Jones about doing the same for American artists (and Jones notes: white English folks doing more for Africans than American black folks are doing is not a good look), and they quickly spring into action.
The timeline is intriguing to consider, too, and speaks to the urgency of the day and the documentary’s drive; Band-Aid’s song was released on December 3, 1984, and USA For Africa wrote and recorded an entire response by January 28 (though the song wasn’t released until March 7).
Jones—arguably the hottest producer on the planet just coming off producing Thriller— quickly enlists Lionel Ritchie with the idea of co-writing the song with Stevie Wonder. Wonder, however, apparently works to the beat of his own eccentric drum and responds when he’s good and ready. Unresponsive, Jones and Ritchie pivoted to Michael Jackson to write what would eventually become “We Are The World,” but Jackson’s various eccentricities (Bubbles the Chimp was already a thing by then) also added to delays.
Meanwhile, as a list of intended superstars begins to form, a host of logistic nightmares are piling up, including how to get all these people into one place at the same time with time being of the utmost essence. January 28 soon becomes the target date, the night of the American Music Awards, where most U.S. entertainers will be in Los Angeles on the same night. Somewhat unimaginably, Lionel Ritchie, pulling off insane double duty as one of the “We Are The World” leaders, is also hosting the AMAs that night and performing twice (wildly, he also dominates the entire night).
This looming due, however, quickly put a fire under Ritchie and Jackson; they rip through the song with lightning speed (Ritchie telling an enthralling anecdote about how Jackson can’t play a note on anything but can hum and orchestrate every single part to any song vocally) and a demo is dispatched to Jones for approval.
Like the immediacy of the moment, Nguyen’s doc moves with precipitous efficiency, stopping to tell a litany of captivating stories while moving along at an engaging pace.
Told through a blend of archival footage and on-camera interviews with those who are still living (Ritchie, Bruce Springsteen, and Huey Lewis being the most reliable narrators), plus critical audio recordings and behind-the-scenes footage of Quincy Jones’ instrumental thoughts, “The Greatest Night In Pop” does not reinvent anything, nor should it. It wisely understands it has everything you could possibly want at its disposal; all there is left to do is beat and cull all the footage story into compelling shape, which it does emphatically (even stories told through the perspective of camera operators that were there are gripping).
Roping this creative ball of energy together is chaotic, and ‘Greatest Night In Pop’ reflects that without succumbing to a similar frenzy. Key people are missing, too; The Talking Heads, David Byrne, and Van Halen are considered but are on tour and unavailable. Madonna is noticeably absent too, which the doc doesn’t, unfortunately, go into too much detail (though Nile Rodgers has said she wasn’t invited to participate because some peers thought she wasn’t ready, which is an insane thought given Like A Virgin had only come out two months prior)
However, it’s Prince who is the real absentee figure. He and Jackson already have a rivalry; the private and more-eccentric-than-Jackson enigma doesn’t like crowds, but Jones, Jackson, and Ritchie are all hoping and praying he shows up (Purple Rain had just hit in the previous summer, and he cleans up at the AMAs alongside Ritchie). Through interview footage, Sheila E. reveals she’s only there as a ruse to get Prince to appear, and when she finally clues into this subterfuge, she bounces.
Prince is ultimately a no-show, and his lead vocal part eventually goes to Huey Lewis, which leads to a super captivating and frank admission of Lewis shitting his pants and worried.
Anxiety is just another super-absorbing element to the doc. Not only— will they pull off the song in one night—but just how intimidated and vulnerable all the stars suddenly feel without publicists, handlers, and adoring fans falling over their every word. Quincy Jones famously writes, “Check your egos at the door” above the sign of the studio, but he needn’t worry, everyone is disarmed and almost timid. It’s like “the first day of kindergarten,” Ritchie summarizes.
“The Greatest Night In Pop” is chock full of great stories. I could watch two more hours of this doc easily. From Stevie Wonder being shocked that the song was already written on recording day, to Al Jarreau boozing it up too much, to Bob Dylan looking like the most uncomfortable man on Earth throughout the recording session, a legend, but not much of a traditional crooner next to folks like Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Tina Turner and more, and he knows it (the tangent where he has to sing his solo part, struggles with it and they have to clear the room is nervewracking!)
There’s more; Bob Geldof appears to give a pep talk. It’s a bit of a bummer, but it also reminds everyone of their purpose. Stevie Wonder almost derails the session’s momentum by suddenly suggesting everyone sing a verse in Swahili—there’s absolutely no time for improvisation, plus they don’t speak Swahili in Ethiopia! And jackass Waylon Jennings displays every red-neck cliché by abruptly leaving the session because no “good ol’ Boy” is about to sing in Swahili (good to know Geldolf’s message got across).
“We Are The World,” and its breakneck recording goes till 6 am; everyone is exhausted, but as quickly as it began, poof, it’s all gone, and this magical night of music history is almost like a fever dream even for everyone that was there.
Ritchie and the self-effacing Lewis definitely fare best in terms of how they present and down-to-earthiness, and Jones comes across as a genius on every level, including a brilliant strategist, tactician, and psychologist who innately understands managing people and emotions, on top of being a magnificent musician and producer.
“The Greatest Night In Pop” arguably directs itself; it’s as smooth as spreading warm butter on perfectly toasted bread, and sure, it doesn’t hurt that the “cast” are some of the biggest legends in pop music history. Still, it’s a supremely engagingly crafted doc, crowd-pleasing to the hilt, and a terrific behind-the-scenes look at a once-in-a-lifetime moment in music history. [B+]
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