Where were you on 5 April 1985 at 10:25 am EST? That's the date more than 8000 radio stations in the USA played "We Are The World" by USA for Africa simultaneously. Twenty-five years later, "We Are The World" has been re-recorded and released. But before I get to that, let's explore how the music forged to the forefront of social causes.
How did USA for Africa come about? Well, It was the USA's response to the UK's effort to fight hunger relief. This effort, led by Bob Geldoff of Boomtown Rats fame, is better known as Band Aid. The song, "Do They Know It's Christmas", recorded and released in 1984. Geldoff's song raised millions of dollars, and had already made a significant difference to those suffering from famine and disease in Africa, specifically to famine relief in Ethiopia.
How did USA for Africa come about? Well, It was the USA's response to the UK's effort to fight hunger relief. This effort, led by Bob Geldoff of Boomtown Rats fame, is better known as Band Aid. The song, "Do They Know It's Christmas", recorded and released in 1984. Geldoff's song raised millions of dollars, and had already made a significant difference to those suffering from famine and disease in Africa, specifically to famine relief in Ethiopia.
(Note: if you are not familiar with "Do They Know It's Christmas", you can hear it every year, multiple times, on any radio station that decides to begin their Christmas programming on 1 November.)
Not to be excluded, Canadian artists released "Tears Are Not Enough" under the name Northern Lights to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Practically overshadowed by its USA and UK counterparts, this continues to be my favorite of the three.
While the individual artists in the music industry frequently have stood for social causes, this marks the first first time the music industry assembled on a grand scale with supergroup quality to tackle a worldwide cause. Farm Aid, Amnesty International (among other musical/social cause marriages) concerts/fundraisers likely would not have flourished had it not been for Bob Geldoff's vision.
It's hard to believe that "We Are The World" is now 25 years old. It is also hard to believe that 25 years later, there are places on our planet that are still suffering from hunger, sub-par living conditions; basically a natural disaster away from total devastation.
Enter the marriage of "We Are The World (2010)" and Haitian earthquake relief. In reality, a 25th anniversary re-recording was planned for 28 January 2010 - exactly 25 years from the date of the original. However, the earthquake on 12 January altered plans slightly, one of which was re-designating the proceeds of the re-recording to benefit Haitian earthquake relief.
I can't fault the proceeds going to Haitian earthquake relief. In fact, I think it's fabulous that those deemed celebrities by our standards are using this status for a greater good - even if only for eight minutes and 33 seconds.
However, I do have to ask: who the hell are these people in the video? I could name 12, and that includes the image/voice of Michael Jackson. I recognized four less people in the "Tears Are Not Enough" video. I realize the face of pop music has changed over the years (which is why I don't listen to it anymore), but a slightly more diverse sampling of American music (read: alternative) would have been appreciated.
But in all seriousness, it once again shows that we, as human beings, can unify in our humanitarian efforts to help those who have been affected by devastation. And if it encourages or influences at least one person to take action, then it was well worth it.