Everyone remembers 1985’s epic “We Are the World.” A charity single conceived to bring aid to Ethiopia after a devastating famine, it raised over $63 million, won Grammys and became the fastest-selling pop single in U.S. history. But do you remember a few years later when Yoko Ono and Lenny Kravitz tried to make “Give Peace a Chance” happen again?
In 1990, Iraq had invaded Kuwait and the United Nations had given them a deadline of January 15, 1991 to withdraw or air strikes would commence. Many were anxious about the threat of what seemed like an inevitable war, including a young Lenny Kravitz. One night, Yoko Ono, Lenny and Ono’s teenage son Sean were sitting around the kitchen having dinner, and they started brainstorming what they could do. Ono and her late husband John Lennon had recorded a protest anthem in response to the Vietnam War in 1969.
The trio started rewriting the song with updated lyrics (not just anti-war, but also shout outs to Acid House music, HIV and New Kids on the Block), called all their celebrity friends and the ball started rolling from there. By January 5, the very low-budget production was underway in New York, Los Angeles and London. The hope was to produce a charity single and video in less then a week. They wanted to get it on the air before the January 15 deadline and possibly influence politicians to take a step back.
The stars of the single assembled, including Bonnie Raitt, Terence Trent D'Arby, Jazzie B from Soul II Soul, LL Cool J, Q-Tip, Duff McKagan, Little Steven Van Zandt, Randy Newman, Run from RUN DMC and Tom Petty.
The stars of the single assembled, including Bonnie Raitt, Terence Trent D'Arby, Jazzie B from Soul II Soul, LL Cool J, Q-Tip, Duff McKagan, Little Steven Van Zandt, Randy Newman, Run from RUN DMC and Tom Petty.
The best story involved uber-diva MC Hammer, who was on a high after releasing a best-selling album (and apparently burning through cash like it was kindling if you watched MTV’s “Cribs”). One of the documentary's producers makes him sound like the biggest pain in the *ss of the production, considering how much real talent was actually in the room: “Hammer shows up when Hammer wants to.” They actually have a hard time getting him in the shot, because he’s busy flailing around, which is apparently just Hammer being Hammer. Iggy Pop, on the other hand, had no problem staying in the frame. And is it just me or do Flea and John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers seem totally high during filming?
We also see a lot of people who time has forgotten a little, like Prince proteges Wendy and Lisa, Alannah Myles (singer of “Black Velvet”) and the Zappa siblings: Dweezil, Moon Unit and Ahmet -- thankfully we left them in that decade. Does anyone remember Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) from “A Different World"? Al Jarreau and Little Richard are legends, and apparently they never met a charity single they didn’t like.
Honestly, the whole production is a little odd. No one is harmonizing, by the end everyone from Sebastian Bach to Michael McDonald are practically screaming to their own tune. I had forgotten that Lenny Kravitz was a huge hippie back then -- he was not the cool rocker we’ve come to love, but a skinny dude who dressed like your grandma. The only one who really seems to understand the politics is Peter Gabriel, who came prepared with facts and figures.
The single was released on January 15, 1991, but then the bombs dropped during Operation Desert Storm and we were glued to CNN. After playing for 15 minutes straight on MTV, the single was dropped by most radio stations once the war started. The BBC never even played it because they disagreed with the politics of the song. It had a little resurgence in February, but Kuwait was soon liberated and that was that.
Sigh. Do you think in 2018 we could get a charity single together? We’re long overdue in gathering all of the music industry for a cause we can get behind. Maybe we can get a “Save Kanye” group together? I bet John Legend would help organize it.
The single was released on January 15, 1991, but then the bombs dropped during Operation Desert Storm and we were glued to CNN. After playing for 15 minutes straight on MTV, the single was dropped by most radio stations once the war started. The BBC never even played it because they disagreed with the politics of the song. It had a little resurgence in February, but Kuwait was soon liberated and that was that.
Sigh. Do you think in 2018 we could get a charity single together? We’re long overdue in gathering all of the music industry for a cause we can get behind. Maybe we can get a “Save Kanye” group together? I bet John Legend would help organize it.