I noticed when this popped up on Netflix but didn’t think it was worth paying attention to. Then I read a wonderful essay about how it’s really a masterclass in management as Lionel Richie and Quincey Jones wrangled the biggest pop stars of the 1980s to work on a single world-changing song. Watching it, this really is the case and is full of amusing little anecdotes about these stars interacting with one another. If you’re a child of the ’80s like I am and have fond memories of We are the World, you owe it to yourself to watch this.

This documentary combines backstage footage of the legendary recording session in 1985 with new interviews of those involved. The key voice here is that of Lionel Richie who explains how the project got started and how he and Michael Jackson wrote the song in about three weeks. With talent agent Ken Kragen gathering the artistes who would be needed, they realized that the only date that would work would be the night of the American Music Awards that Richie would be hosting. They go into the logistics and security issues of organizing the event, with Quincey Jones as the producer to keep the stars on track and their egos in check. But it’s really the previously unseen footage and what it reveals about the personalities and their working styles that is so valuable. So we get to hear Richie being frustrated about Stevie Wonder not getting back to them when they were supposed to work on the song together, then asking why the song is already finished when he shows up. We see these famous stars figuring out how to work together and how they’re still just regular people as they treat other stars as their personal idols. It’s shocking for example to see how nervous and uncomfortable Bob Dylan was. Most of all, for those of us who grew up knowing these stars and hearing this song, it’s great to learn how they made it.

That’s why the film is fascinating on multiple levels. On the management front, it’s impressive how they put this together in a short amount of time in an era before emails, text messages and video calls. They needed to decide which stars to recruit, which of them get solo verses, where to put them in the studio and so on. Naturally all these stars are creative types used to getting their own way. Richie notes how important it was not to ask them what they wanted to do and just instruct them or else there would be a different version of the song for each star. It’s also obvious that they needed a producer with the cachet of Quincey Jones to lay down the law and keep the celebrities on task because the recording needed to be done in a single night. Meanwhile Richie plays the part of the nice guy who smooths over egos and keeps everyone happy. One absolutely brilliant move was to have Bob Geldof speak at the beginning of the session. Geldof organized the British Band Aid project that inspired the American-led version and so he’s there to remind everyone that they’re there to contribute to famine relief, a serious matter that deserves their full effort and attention.

On the artistic side, this is amazing as pure entertainment. Richie is obviously frustrated at Stevie Wonder for being such a prima-donna and even suggesting at the last minute that the song incorporate Swahili lyrics which almost derails the session. But Wonder is too adorable and talented to stay mad at, especially as he saves the day by teaching Bob Dylan how to sing like Bob Dylan. We get to see how a pop song gets made step by step from conception, to recording the backing tracks, then the backing vocals and finally the solo verses. It’s also clear that they absolutely did rank the artistes by how famous they were at the time. They really, really wanted to get Michael Jackson and Prince singing together but Prince wouldn’t commit. So instead they got Sheila E., his girlfriend at the time, hoping he would join her at the studio, which she is deservedly a bit bitter about. There are plenty of other gems like this that I’ll leave as a surprise. I do note that the song itself seems mostly a creation of Jackson while Richie is impressive in how much sheer work he put into it. It’s insane that he spent an entire night recording it immediately after hosting the awards show.

Perhaps the most curious thing about this documentary is that it took so long to come out. When they introduce each star, they even play a little snippet of their most famous song each, probably out of worry that modern audiences won’t even recognize them any more. As Richie notes, quite a few of these stars are no longer with us and I suspect that this, along with the passage of time, might have made it easier to get this made. This film never really says anything bad about the stars but some of what is shown here might be embarrassing. Anyway I’m glad that it got made now and I’m doubly glad to have taken the time to watch it despite my initial doubts.