Northern Lights for Africa: The crew behind the Mount Everest of Canadian charity singles, Tears Are Not Enough.
Feb. 10 marks the 20th anniversary of the recording of Tears Are Not Enough, Canada's pop contribution to Ethiopian famine relief. There are no plans yet for a second go, though it's not an outlandish prospect: Bob Geldof's Band Aid 20 just scored a Christmas hit with a re-recorded Do They Know It's Christmas? and Quincy Jones finally has studio space booked for his long-rumoured We Are The World rehash. That's not to mention the myriad new tsunami benefit projects – including the all-mod Mod Aid and a planned cover of Eric Clapton's Tears In Heaven led by the Osbournes. Music critics may recoil, but bemoaning a triumph like Tears on musical grounds is like excoriating the Jerry Lewis Telethon for corny punchlines – it misses the point. Besides, it's in vain: with the best of intentions (and often the worst of executions), the all-star charity single is back. Not, mind you, that it ever went away. Here are a few you may have missed over the years.
Hear 'n' Aid, Stars (1985)
 Hear 'n' Aid: Headbangers for famine relief. Courtesy Polygram International. |
Key performers: Members of Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Quiet Riot, Dokken, Queensrÿche, Twisted Sister and W.A.S.P.
Summary: Given that We Are The World was a headbanger-free affair, metal elder statesman Ronnie James Dio convened a 40-strong who's who of the '80s “hard rock community” to lend picks, falsettos and hair spray to the cause. That Dio managed to corral the troops during their heyday of bad behaviour (Crüe circa '85? Think Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Tara Reid and Andy Dick on a year-long Tijuana bender) was an accomplishment in itself. But his impromptu leather-'n'-spandex summit made good. At an epic seven minutes (almost half of which is devoted to guitar solos, including 12 glorious, shredding bars of Yngwie Malmsteen), Stars subverts charity rock's most egregious traits - that it's overwrought, melodramatic, excessive, big, dumb, stupid - into heavy metal virtues.
Key lyric: “Who cries for the children? I do”
Postscript: Last year, VH1 assigned Hear 'n' Aid top ranking on its list of the 100 Most Metal Moments. Dio has plans to assemble a follow-up in support of L.A. children's shelter Children of the Night.
Who Cares?, Doctor in Distress (1985)
 Who Cares: a charity single benefitting both cancer relief and the Dr. Who TV show. Courtesy Record Shack. |
Key performers: Doctor Who enthusiasts
Summary: When the BBC announced an 18-month hiatus for the cult sci-fi show, the Tardis Massive mobilized: London tabloid the Daily Star launched a Save Doctor Who campaign, and super-fan Ian Levine announced plans for a protest single featuring celebrity devotees. Wanted: Elton John and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Got: Sundry cast members, Ultravox and the Jam's ex-drummer. Result: Hi-NRG caterwauling, lyrical in-jokes (“There were evil metal creatures who tried to exterminate / Inside each of their casings was a bubbling lump of hate”) and sound effects apparently recorded off a BetaMax. Despite the charity tie-in, BBC Radio 1 refused to play the song, citing poor production values. Fitting.
Rousing chorus: “Doctor in distress / Let's all answer his S.O.S. / Doctor in distress / Bring him back now – we won't take less”
Postscript: The Beeb brought back the show, as promised, 18 months later – then finally exterminated it in 1989. (No need for a musical update, thankfully: a new Doctor Who will be premiering on the BBC this year.) In a recent column, Guardian music writer Alexis Petridis called Distress the “nadir” of charity singles.
Ferry Aid, Let It Be (1987)
 Let It Be: The mid-'80s version was released in aid of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. Courtesy White Label |
Key performers: Paul McCartney, Boy George, Kate Bush, Bananarama, Level 42, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Cutting Crew, Kim Wilde, Mark Knopfler, Rick Astley
Summary: The all-star charity cover is a no-brainer: The public already knows the tune, the artists get to butcher an old standard with impunity. Here, producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman – the hit factory behind Dead or Alive's You Spin Me Round and the Bananarama oeuvre – got permission from McCartney to sample his original vocals, then proceeded to stack the deck with the cream of the UK's top 40. (Cutting Crew and Level 42, in other words.) Granted, it's a touch karaoke, but then anything would pale in comparison to S-A-W's magnum opus, 1991's Wrestlemania: The Album.
Rousing chorus: You know the song.
Postscript: Three weeks atop the UK charts raised more than a million pounds for victims' families. Two years later, Macca lent non-canned vocals to an all-star remake of Gerry and The Pacemakers' Ferry 'Cross The Mersey in benefit of the Hillsborough soccer stadium tragedy.
Stop The Violence Movement, Self-Destruction (1989)
Cause: Raising awareness of black-on-black violence
Key performers: KRS-One, Kool Moe Dee, Doug E. Fresh, Heavy D, Public Enemy, Stetsasonic, MC Lyte
Summary: Motivated by the murder of a fan at a Nassau Coliseum show, hip-hop's first all-star affair had a heavy double burden: (a) to advocate against gang activity, and (b) to dispel the idea that rap causes violence. Self-Destruction was so well received on both counts that it spawned a book of essays edited by co-organizer Nelson George and, inevitably, a (funkier) West Coast response. Later that year, the Dr. Dre-led West Coast Rap All-Stars recorded We're All In The Same Gang – and the gang generously found room for both NWA and Young MC.
Key lyric: “I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan / And I shouldn't have to run from a black man”
Postscript: 2Pac vs. Biggie. In 2000, Mos Def and Talib Kweli assembled 41 MCs – among them, Common, De La Soul's Posdnuos and Kool G. Rap – for Hip Hop for Respect, a protest of police brutality after the shooting death of Amadou Diallo.
Spirit Of The Forest, Spirit Of The Forest (1989/1992)
Cause: Conservation and environmental awareness
Key performers: Debbie Harry, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson, LL Cool J, the Ramones, Ringo Starr, Iggy Pop, Lenny Kravitz, Fleetwood Mac, the B-52s, Olivia Newton-John, Mr. Mister, Gilberto Gil, The Jungle Brothers, Donna Summer
Summary: That Spirit Of The Forest was recorded in 1989 but not released in North America until 1992 (on the first Earthrise compilation) will remain one of the great musical crimes of last century. Consider the roster, loaded even by charity rock standards: Debbie Harry, the Jungle Brothers, Brian Wilson, Donna Summer. That's not a collaboration – that's a block party. Consider the percussion: Sound like a rainforest in your ear? Sampled birds and simians, man. Consider the fact that somebody convinced Iggy Pop and Joey Ramone to duet the line, “The kookaburra and the gold monkey.” Timeless. Songwriter and instigator Kenny Young also penned Under The Boardwalk – which would have been massive but for the absence of tree sloths.
Rousing chorus: “They'll never break the spirit of the forest / They'll never cut the heart from the tree of life / They'll never break the spirit of the forest / Oh-oh oh-ooh-oh oh-oh oh-ooh-oh-oh”
Postscript: The non-profit Earth Love Fund released five more Earthrise albums, including 1996's all-Goa Earthtrance.
The Peace Choir, Give Peace a Chance (1991)
Cause: Peace
Key performers: Sean Ono Lennon, Yoko Ono, Lenny Kravitz, Randy Newman, LL Cool J, Tom Petty, Q-Tip, Cyndi Lauper, Peter Gabriel, Alannah Myles
Summary: Pointedly released on Jan. 15, 1991 – the day the U.S. began bombing Baghdad – Lennon the Younger's revival shed Dad's late-'60s cheek for early-'90s earnestness. Out: “Bagism, shagism.” In: “Amazon's trees gone,” “cancer cells from the sun.” Still, it's hard not to support an effort that unites Terence Trent D'Arby, Skid Row's Sebastian Bach and all three junior Zappas (Ahmet, Dweezil and Moon Unit). As partner-in-crime Lenny Kravitz reflected to Time magazine, “Sean's a genius. His father left him a gift.”
Key lyric: “Everybody's talkin 'bout / Acid house / Gay spouse / Greenhouse / Heavy metal / Hip-hop / Censorship has to stop / HIV / AZT / New Kids dance on MTV”
Postscript: The song was reputedly pulled from radio play at many stations as too controversial during wartime, even as Gulf War I ended in less than two months. Yoko Ono re-released Peace last year, this time in support of voter registration.
Voices That Care, Voices That Care (1991)
 Voices that Care was recorded for the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund. Courtesy Warner Brothers. |
Key performers: Celine Dion, David Foster, Peter Cetera, Garth Brooks, Michael Bolton, Will Smith, Bobby Brown, Little Richard. Plus a chorus featuring, among others, Gary Busey, Chevy Chase, Richard Gere, Wayne Gretzky, Don King, Alyssa Milano, Fred Savage and Henry Winkler
Summary: There's a distinction between pro-troops and pro-war, but Voices That Care, released one week after Give Peace a Chance, amounted to a showdown in the court of public opinion. Musically, it's a soft-rock Frankenstein: dramatic opening guitar lick, some David Foster ivory work, eyes-closed finishing couplet. (Think Tears in Heaven meets St. Elmo's Fire meets My Heart Will Go On, with a Fresh Prince rap, the Battle of the Network Stars Choir and a little Kenny G noodling for added pablum.) Lyrically, there are some concessions to the anti-Gulf War argument (“I wish we never had to choose, to either win or lose”), but Voices' final message is clear: Non-partisan caring is for sissies.
Rousing chorus: “Stand tall, stand proud / Voices that care are crying out loud”
Postscript: Supporting the troops 1, Giving peace a chance 0 – Voices peaked at 11 on the Billboard charts, Peace at a lowly 54. (The original Give Peace a Chance, released during the Vietnam War, reached 14.)
Lou Reed and Friends, Perfect Day (1997)
 Perfect Day: a charity record for children. Courtesy BBC. |
Key performers: Lou Reed, David Bowie, Bono, Elton John, Tammy Wynette, Tom Jones, Burning Spear, Emmylou Harris, Shane McGowan
Summary: It's hard to imagine the man who once called Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead “the most untalented bores that ever came up,” deigning to share the mike with Tom Jones, the Lemonheads' Evan Dando and an Irish boy band named Boyzone. Still, backed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Reed's intimate 1972 gem gains an incongruous grandeur. Between opera singers hyper-enunciating and a gospel choir taunting “reap, reap, reap just what you sow,” you can almost picture Andy Warhol's former protege admiring the proceedings as some outré po-mo art prank. Or maybe not.
Rousing chorus: “Oh, it's such a perfect day / I'm glad I spent it with you / Oh, such a perfect day / You just keep me hanging on / You just keep me hanging on”
Postscript: Subsequent charity singles for BBC's Children in Need charity have included efforts by S Club 7 and Pop Idol winner Will Young.
Michael Jackson and Friends, What More Can I Give (2001/2003)
 What More Can I Give: Michael Jackson spearheaded this benefit for the victims of September 11. |
Key performers: Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Usher, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, Mya, N'Sync, Hanson, Tom Petty, Carlos Santana, Reba McEntire
Summary: On Sept. 17, 2001, Jacko predicted that his We Are The World sequel could raise $50 million for Sept. 11 relief efforts. The wheels were in place: Legitimate stars, a McDonald's tie-in and a high-publicity slot anchoring the United We Stand benefit concert. Instead, the release of What More Can I Give was tied up in a two-year ownership dispute – apparently stemming from the revelation that producer F. Marc Schaffel had worked as a porno director. (Schaffel himself was dumbfounded that his experience could be considered anything but a plus, telling the Los Angeles Times, “We did the entire thing very quickly and very cheaply – the way that things are done in the adult-film business.” He also pointed out that his filmography was mostly soft-core.) When What More finally resurfaced in 2003 as a $2 download on Musicforgiving.com, Jackson had shifted his focus to children. Children's literacy and arts education, that is.
Rousing chorus: “What have I got that I can give? / What have I got that I can give? / To love and to teach you, to hold and to need you / What more can I give?”
Postscript: Log on to Musicforgiving.com now and you'll read: “This domain was recently acquired by Pool.com.” On the upside, Jackson became the inaugural recipient of the Humanitarian Award at the 2003 Radio Music Awards. In his acceptance speech he noted, “Producing this song was a miracle in itself.”
America Coming Together, Wake Up Everybody (2004)
 Wake Up Everybody: Proceeds went to America Coming Together (ACT), which works to register and mobilize U.S. voters. Courtesy Bungalo. |
Key performers: Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Fabolous, Wyclef Jean, Jadakiss, Eve, Brandy, Ashanti, Monica, Rev. Run, Nate Dogg, Jamie Foxx
Summary: If 2004 was the year of the hip-hop election, then Wake Up Everybody was its Hands Across America. Spearheaded by Russell Simmons and Babyface for the pro-Democrat organization America Coming Together (ACT), Wake Up updated the Blue Notes hit with bumpin' beats and savvy nods to both the dirty south and Fahrenheit 9/11. Moreover, it reawakened a forgotten Philly soul classic. In fact, the last time anybody heard this song was probably in 2000 – when Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes played the Republican National Convention.
Rousing chorus: “Wake everybody / No more sleeping in bed / No more backwards thinking / Time for thinking ahead”
Postscript: Efforts like Wake Up helped draw America's highest turnout of voters since 1968, the majority of whom voted Republican.
Kevin J. Siu is a Toronto writer and editor.
