{"id":1172,"date":"2008-01-28T12:51:05","date_gmt":"2008-01-28T17:51:05","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-01-28T12:51:05","modified_gmt":"2008-01-28T12:51:05","slug":"there-s-a-choice-we-re-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/there-s-a-choice-we-re-making\/","title":{"rendered":"There&#8217;s a Choice We&#8217;re Making"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WmxT21uFRwM?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nIt was 23 years ago today that the artists of <b>USA For Africa<\/b> came together as one to record their debut smash single, <b>We Are The World<\/b>.  The song would spend four weeks at the top of the charts, sell 7.5 million copies, and win four Grammy awards, not to mention its key role in helping move 3 million copies of USA For Africa\u2019s self-titled debut album.  As a footnote of mildly passing interest, over $63 million was raised for famine relief, and no one ever went hungry in Africa again.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThough the promise of many amazing future projects was tantalizing at the time, we now know that <i>We Are The World<\/i> would be USA For Africa\u2019s only album with its original lineup.  Was the group afraid of being unable to replicate its success?  Was it simply difficult to find studio space for <b>all 45 members<\/b> of the band?  Or was it a <b>clash of egos and ideas about the band\u2019s future musical direction<\/b>?<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/heated_creative_battles.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"394\" height=\"256\" \/><\/div>\n<p>With so many talented artists making up the roster of USA For Africa and so much at stake, some members of the band may have attempted to outdo their bandmates.  And so I ask you to consider, watching the performance today and putting aside any past or future success of the members: among the 45 musicians jockeying to be the one who <b><i>most ended famine<\/i><\/b> by standing around in a semi-circle, wearing headphones and singing intensely, <b>Who <i>won<\/i> We Are The World?<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/power_and_glory.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"352\" height=\"240\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Some factors you may wish to consider: Vocal performance, <b>Look<\/b>, dignity (and consider whether attempting to maintain dignity was a positive or negative factor towards <b>winning<\/b>), band interaction, general showmanship, facial expressions and facial hair.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/gesundheit.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"352\" height=\"240\" \/><\/div>\n<p><i><b>Optional bonus essay\/rock fanfiction (500 words or more):<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/untitled_dan_aykroyd_screencap.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"352\" height=\"240\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Ostensibly there as a representative from The Movie Industry, <b>Dan Aykroyd\u2019s<\/b> presence in the video for We Are The World has long been a source of puzzlement.  Describe, in as much detail as needed, the series of events that led to Aykroyd\u2019s participation in the USA For Africa* project.**<\/p>\n<p><small><i>*Aykroyd is notably Canadian, and keep in mind that the \u201cUSA\u201d in USA For Africa stands for \u201cUnited Support of Artists\u201d and not \u201cUnited States of America.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>**Please note that all essay entries will become the property of this Townsperson and are, by nature of posting in this thread, subject to use as material in the upcoming motion picture <b>Untitled Dan Aykroyd Project<\/b>, which chronicles the 24 hours leading up to the recording of We Are The World.<\/i><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was 23 years ago today that the artists of USA For Africa came together as one to record their debut smash single, We Are The World. The song would spend four weeks at the top of the charts, sell 7.5 million copies, and win four Grammy awards, not to mention its key role in <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/there-s-a-choice-we-re-making\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}