We Are The World – The Album
Bob Dylan singing about world hunger with about as much passion as the talking clock.
Bruce Springsteen straining so hard that you can practically hear his neck veins bulging. Cyndi Lauper’s caterwauling attempt to ‘do a Bono.’ It may be for mostly the wrong reasons, but it’s pretty hard to forget America’s less-than-subtle attempt to replicate the success of Band Aid.
Indeed, even us Brits – who just months earlier had made Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s slightly more modest supergroup effort the biggest-selling song of all time – sent We Are The World to No.1, denying Tears for Fears’ far superior Everybody Wants to Rule The World in the process.
But chances are that you don’t remember its same-named parent album, a 10-track collection of curiosities which gave many of the names who so desperately craved centre stage on its lead single the chance to take it.
Yes, while Band Aid perhaps wisely restricted their recording output to a one-off track (well, until 1989, and then 2004, and then 2014) that will forever remain a staple of Christmas playlists, USA For Africa decided to extend their back-patting efforts to a full LP.