Because of Erin, who blogs with amazing skill at It’s Character Building, I officially resurrect a favorite recurring feature of “On air. Online. On demand.” which became girlofwords.com — I <3 the ’80s.
So in honor of the sentiment, I thought of this from two fronts. First, the video.
Is there really anything more 1980s than an ensemble song that includes a music video of them performing the ensemble song? While this one’s a strong contender, it pales in comparison to the video for “We Are the World.” That’s still the greatest example of this genre known to man. You won’t top that one. I probably watch that video on YouTube once a week just to coat myself in feel-good glitter and face another week waiting for hope and better unicorn parking downtown. (If you’ve got time on your hands, you can pull up the video here and pull up this site in another window to see who’s singing, line by line!!
This song is most associated with my sophomore year of college. Every Monday night, the lot of us held court at Papa D’s Lounge at the Days Inn-Star City for karaoke. We shut the place down every single Monday night. This was always the last song.
The other nod I’ll give for this song is to Erin. Though I’ve only met Erin in person once and we’ve only spent a few days together, I care for her so much. She’s such a strong and independent woman and one of the funniest people I know. Erin’s good people. I’m lucky to call her a friend, especially when she reminds me to bring back a feature of the blog I’d buried in the recesses of my brain.
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Say what!? “Do They Know It’s Christmas” is a far better ensemble behind-the-scenes song.
Further proof to my 80′s-ness, I not only played We are the world for a piano recital, but I have that’s what friends are for on vinyl. (nevermind the fact I have a working 8 track player, that’s another story for another time…)
[...] In her latest post, she talks about the phenomena of the ensemble behind-the-scenes music videos. As an example, she posts the YouTube video of “That’s What Friends Are For,” featuring Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Sir Elton John, and Gladys Knight. [...]
I feel like I should step forward, take my bouquet of flowers and thank my family, all the bloggers out there and most especially, Jesus.
Thanks for the love godub, perhaps this dedication will serve as the swift ass-kick I need to get BACK to blogging. I instantly thought of “We Are the World” and smiled as I saw you make the same correlation.
And yes, while it was it was only one weekend, it involved 4 brothers, every geographical corner of Philly, a puking bridesmaid, a trolley, and smelling salts stuffed down my chest courtesy of Babs in case Ang would need them… With that much action and memories in such a short period of time, it’s no wonder we’re friends…
***Disclaimer*** And just to be clear, my blog site, (or lack thereof) is NOT a news site, nor do I lay any claim in being a writer, journalist, yada yada…
I don’t really need the wrath of Hurricane’s most *famous* resident on my plate right now.
I’ve already read your post about “We Are The World” and “Do They Know It’s Christmas”. Good stuff. I give Meat Head a day or so to respond on your blog, if he hasn’t already.
By the way, I challenged your ’80s cred on my blog, lol.
PSHT! I got that beat!
Here’s the METAL equivalent of “We are the World!!”
Hear N’ Aid FTW!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZktrrqT1A0
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
HEY!!!!
Do not diss Ronnie James Dio!
You know, Dio had a lot of lyrics about dreams and rainbows for a metal band.
Just sayin’.
He is also about 4’5”, he still ROCKS!
One of my dorm buddies would get a chuckle out of Elton’s comment at the end: “That’s what friends are for? Yeah.” His tone made it sound like he was thinking “Yeah, right.”
BTW, Anyone realize this version is actually a cover? The original was part of the soundtrack for the movie “Night Shift”, and was sung by Rod Stewart…
TW