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"We Are The World" - 25 Years Later


Gus Lozada

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The sad thing is, this record was meant to raise lots of money for Haiti. I hope it does, but I think it will fall far, far short of expectations, because:

 

1) The "older" crowd who prefers the original simply do not like the new version and will thus not bother to buy/legally download the single.

 

2) The younger crowd, too young to remember the original, does like the new version, but will not buy/legally download the single because they are culturally accustomed to downloading/ripping music illegally.

 

Thus...very little money will be raised for this song.

 

They should have just written a totally new song for the cause.

It would stand and be judged on its own merit. It would, for better or worse, be an anthem for the 2010s. But at least it would be a unique product. Maybe auto-tune and a rap section would have sounded good on that one, if only because it's not being compared to an original version. But original ideas are rare and unappreciated in the era of licensed commercial music, Glee, American Idol and old hits revived as video games. Sad, very, very sad.

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It would stand and be judged on its own merit. It would, for better or worse, be an anthem for the 2010s. But at least it would be a unique product. Maybe auto-tune and a rap section would have sounded good on that one, if only because it's not being compared to an original version. But original ideas are rare and unappreciated in the era of licensed commercial music, Glee, American Idol and old hits revived as video games. Sad, very, very sad.

 

 

True, indeed.

 

 

So, did you like it?

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The 2-3 people in the beginning are autotuned too much, makes me wanna puke

 

I liked:

 

Pink...

MJ - OK, now I can clearly see how he became famous in this mess

Celine Dion - Wow, that was AWESOME

Rapping - Decent, I think it really lightened it up and gave some energy

 

Bad stuff: everything

Even worse: Akon; that rapper dude... what's his name Wayne something (both autotune crap), Santana and Orianthi playing 3 note (what uup), T-Pain's boring autotune to death...

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Yeah that was mostly pretty awful. But you can't hate on Wycelf.. that's his vocal style and he has done a {censored}LOAD for Haiti, way before the disaster struck. He had some real insightful to {censored} to say when I was fortunate enough to meet him this summer.. put a lot of things in perspective

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Aw, it's pretty nice. I personally dislike Rap, but I think even the rap interlude of this piece is tasteful and in keeping with the mood of the record.

 

I'm glad they let some old-timers--- Streisand, Tony Bennett, Gladys Knight, Brian Wilson--- in on the act. I must be really out of the loop, for I don't recognize most of these kiddos at all.

 

Notice that they're autotuning Celine Dion.... an artist who, more than anyone else here, absolutely does not need it. That they've autotuned her is proof that the lay listening public just digs the sound of autotune as a cool, modern, sci-fi effect in itself.

 

Wyclef Jean is doing that extreme vibrato thing he does; to my ear, that is a Jamaican reggae thing he appropriated from Bob Marley himself. ( cf. "Crazy Baldhead")

 

scs6mWiHnyA

 

 

(For the record, I notice that Joni Mitchell, in some of her recent stuff, has also adopted that particular reggae warbled affectation. I think it's supposed to brand the singer as being very "third world aware", no?)

 

Guys, I've been to Haiti many, many times--- at least 75 times or so--- and I'm here to tell ya (I won't mince words) that that place is a decrepit armpit AT THE BEST OF TIMES. I can't imagine what it's like after an earthquake... at LEAST as bad as Katrina New Orleans, if not much worse.

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I'm not going to comment on these fests except to note that the frequent charges of blatant-self-promotion and overweening self-interest directed at the personalities involved are sometimes somewhat mitigated by generating extra attention to the cause supposedly at the heart of their concerns.

 

 

But I will say that if people want to really help out, the most efficient and direct way to help is to make financial contributions to well-rated, responsible charitable concerns like the Red Cross, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, and such.

 

I'd be much less jaded if there was a lot more transparency to some of these showbiz "benefits."

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Aw, it's pretty nice. I personally dislike Rap, but I think even the rap interlude of this piece is tasteful and in keeping with the mood of the record.

 

 

I thought it was actually a good idea, but I didn't care so much for the execution. But it was sort of a "kicker" at the end, a really good idea.

 

 

Guys, I've been to Haiti many, many times--- at least 75 times or so--- and I'm here to tell ya (I won't mince words) that that place is a decrepit armpit AT THE BEST OF TIMES. I can't imagine what it's like after an earthquake... at LEAST as bad as Katrina New Orleans, if not much worse.

 

 

It's gotta be even worse in general because there's so little infrastructure there. Why have you been there 75 times? Were you helping out with an NGO or something else?

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Yeah that was mostly pretty awful. But you can't hate on Wycelf.. that's his vocal style and he has done a {censored}LOAD for Haiti, way before the disaster struck. He had some real insightful to {censored} to say when I was fortunate enough to meet him this summer.. put a lot of things in perspective

 

I agree...this tragedy (the earthquake I mean not the song :)) is close to his heart. But why couldn't he have just written a totally new song?

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My heart breaks for those poor people in Haitii.

I hope this helps them somehow.

 

On the other hand; this video did a great job at illuminating the trainwreck that the music industry is at this time. It amazes me that Q would let that much autotune and lack of vocal talent (wyclef included) get into the studio with him.

 

It just isn't about the music anymore.

 

I agree...this tragedy (the earthquake I mean not the song
:)
) is close to his heart.
But why couldn't he have just written a totally new song?

Even with a brand new song it still would have been awful if they used the same people to sing it (except for the handful in the video that could actually sing).

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On the other hand; this video did a great job at illuminating the trainwreck that the music industry is at this time. It amazes me that Q would let that much autotune and lack of vocal talent (wyclef included) get into the studio with him.


It just isn't about the music anymore.


Even with a brand new song it still would have been awful if they used the same people to sing it (except for the handful in the video that could actually sing).

 

 

[standing Ovation]

 

100% Agreed

 

[/standing Ovation]

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Even with a brand new song it still would have been awful if they used the same people to sing it (except for the handful in the video that could actually sing).

 

 

It may or may not be, but one thing's absolutely sure, it would be judged on its own merit and not be compared to a previous original version. Most of the criticism levied on WATW25 is simply because it's inferior to the original and largely unnecessary. This re-make {censored} is all part of the contemporary entertainment industry's lazy, imagination-deficient re-hash culture.

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My heart breaks for those poor people in Haitii.

I hope this helps them somehow.


On the other hand; this video did a great job at illuminating the trainwreck that the music industry is at this time. It amazes me that Q would let that much autotune and lack of vocal talent (wyclef included) get into the studio with him.


It just isn't about the music anymore.


Even with a brand new song it still would have been awful if they used the same people to sing it (except for the handful in the video that could actually sing).

 

The first thing that came to mind about Quincy using AT was that he was trying to sound hip or modern. That bothers me because I always thought the guy was beyond that. And perhaps he is but the other thing I thought of was this... maybe he had no choice. Maybe the people above him told him, "this is whos singing, and make it sound modern!" If thats the case, thats sad too because even Quincy Jones can`t do it the way he wants. I guess we`ll never know the reason why such a genius has to be subjected to this but I know I was cringing as the song went on. Yeah, Celion Dion can actually sing but shes so over the top, I can`t take it. I thought Pink actually did a good job! :thu: And thats not AT.

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Maybe so. But it wasn't that long ago when any producer worth his salt (or engineer for that matter) would tell you that you were off key, or that something was flat. It was important and it was how you grew and learned your craft. Clearly that kind of mentoring and care just doesn't happen anymore.

 

The engineer and the producer know that they can just tune it so they do. And the "talent" just carries on thinking that they sound great. It is like the story the Emperor's New Clothes; except the public doesn't undertand and the industry doesn't care enough to tell the Emperor that he is naked.

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On the other hand; this video did a great job at illuminating the trainwreck that the music industry is at this time. It amazes me that Q would let that much autotune and lack of vocal talent (wyclef included) get into the studio with him.

 

 

Do you think that maybe it was largely the artists who wanted or demanded that because that's the way they normally sound and wanted some continuity? I'm not trying to argue or defend anyone, just trying to look at other sides of this.

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