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We are the world, roll call.

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March 7 2023 will be a momentous day. That day will be the day New Order's "Blue Monday" will be 40 years old! Goes to show this track was way ahead of its time. It still gives me goosebumps and still rules the dance floor. That day is also infamous for the release in 1985 of the USA for Africa single "We Are The World", which we clearly aren't. Some of those musicians are already pushing up daisies like Michael Jackson and the Pointer Sisters. Others are very much alive or hanging on. 

 

 

Roll call!

Bold Already fallen.

 

Conductor
 • Quincy Jones
Soloists (in order of appearance)
 • Lionel Richie
 • Stevie Wonder
 • Paul Simon
  Kenny Rogers
  James Ingram
 • Tina Turner
 • Billy Joel
 • Michael Jackson
 • Diana Ross
 • Dionne Warwick
 • Willie Nelson
 • Al Jarreau
 • Bruce Springsteen
 • Kenny Loggins
 • Steve Perry
 • Daryl Hall
 • Huey Lewis
 • Cyndi Lauper
 • Kim Carnes
 • Bob Dylan
 • Ray Charles
Chorus (alphabetically)
 • Dan Aykroyd
 • Harry Belafonte
 • Lindsey Buckingham
 • Mario Cipollina (of Huey Lewis and the News)
 • Johnny Colla (of Huey Lewis and the News)
 • Sheila E.
 • Bob Geldof
 • Bill Gibson (of Huey Lewis and the News)
 • Chris Hayes (of Huey Lewis and the News)
 • Sean Hopper (of Huey Lewis and the News)
 • Jackie Jackson
 • La Toya Jackson
 • Marlon Jackson
 • Randy Jackson
 • Tito Jackson
 • Waylon Jennings
 • Bette Midler
 • John Oates
 • Jeffrey Osborne
 • Anita Pointer (of The Pointer Sisters)
 • June Pointer (of The Pointer Sisters)
 • Ruth Pointer (of The Pointer Sisters)
 • Smokey Robinson
Instrument players
 • John Barnes – keyboards & arrangement
 • David Paich – synthesizers
 • Michael Boddicker – synthesizers, programming
 • Ian Underwood - synthesizers, programming
 • Paulinho da Costa – percussion
  Louis Johnson – synth bass
 • Michael Omartian – keyboards
 • Greg Phillinganes – keyboards
 • John Robinson – drums
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Who will be the last one alive?

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Willie Nelson, probably.

 

I have to confess I rather like that record, cheesy though it undoubtedly is. 

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17 minutes ago, Cerberus said:

Willie Nelson, probably.

 

I have to confess I rather like that record, cheesy though it undoubtedly is. 

I feel like you might’ve misread the question above…

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Nope, Willie is clearly one of the Immortals. The Clive Dunn of WATW.

 

Serious answer, I dunno, one of the women I suppose. I'll go with Cyndi. 

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I think that any of the remaining Jackson's could be the last one standing. Father Joe Jackson died age 89 and mother Katherine is still alive age 92, so some "longevity genes" could be there.

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This thread should really be expanded to a catch all on this topic. Line ups for the other shite 80s charity ensembles would be interesting to see too. Notably:


Do They Know It’s Christmas? (both early versions – Band Aid, Band Aid II); 1984, 1989

 

Sun City (Artists United Against Apartheid); 1985

 

Let it be (Ferry Aid); 1987

 

Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey (The Hillsborough Disaster Fund); 1989

 

Another one of interest is a little bit later – the 1997 BBC / Children in Need version of Perfect Day because I think quite a few are dead eg Dr John, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Tammy Wynette, Stephen Gately. 

On a personal note, the last one is the only one I can stand on any playlist. It was genuinely a good release and isn’t cheesy/doesn’t murder your eardrums like the rest.

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As far as Cindy Lauper goes, I was witness to the murder of this song.  i was there in Berlin and as soon as I heard it my ears started bleeding and my tummy acted weird from hearing diarrhea going to other way in... Several shrink sessions later I still have difficulties coping with this crime.

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Who invited Geldof? Hard to imagine bonio didn't blag his way in too

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I imagine that Geldof was invited in recognition of getting the whole thing started with Band Aid a few months earlier. Arguably Midge Ure should have been asked too, rather than Bono.

 

Not mentioned above - but the Crowd's version of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' (with a distinctly C-list cast including the Nolans, Gerry Marsden, and, er, Black Lace) was recorded to raise money for victims and survivors of the Bradford FC fire in 1985 and went to no. 1. Probably better remembered than the Sun City record.

 

For discussion and analysis of UK number ones, I heartily recommend this site - which has just got started again after a long hiatus. 

 

https://freakytrigger.co.uk/popular/

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