Page 85 - My FlipBook 1

ing? Am I on drugs?” And Smelly let out a good
laugh in the middle of the line he was singing.

9:00 p.m.
HARRIET STERNBERG WORKED FOR KRAGEN
as his head of creative services, which just meant
she did everything Ken didn’t.
She’d had a lot of duties leading up to tonight,
including mailing out forty-five numbered cassettes
of a demo that Richie and Jackson recorded so that
the artists could hear the song ahead of time. She
had called Fred Smith, the CEO of Federal Express—
he answered!—and asked if his company would ship
the tapes at no charge, as a donation. He agreed.
She offered to credit Federal Express on the album—
but he said, No, please don’t do that. Then every-
body will be calling.
To get into A&M Studios, you pulled off La Brea
Avenue through a manned gate. This put you in a
Lauper, Springsteen, Jackson, and Joel. The Bud was Bruce’s; Jackson was photographed with plaza in the center of the small campus of low-slung
it as a stunt soon after this photo was taken. buildings. A&M was built as a movie lot by Charlie
Chaplin in 1917. “It’s like a little mini movie studio,”
singer Kim Carnes says. “A magical place.”
Quincy Jones, the song’s producer, had a solo wasn’t like Oh, here’s another one of these charity It’s a tight layout, and one of Sternberg’s jobs was
picked out for him. There had been talk of tension things, as it would be today, where all the artists to figure out parking. She had a plan: A lot of peo-
between Prince and Jackson, and Kragen loved the Instagram it and their publicists make sure every- ple wanted to be there, but you couldn’t just come,
idea of them overcoming their differences to join one knows. There was only one precedent, a song no matter how big a honcho you were. One of her
forces for a great cause. that was still on the charts: “Do They Know It’s friends, Ron Oberman, a senior A&R man at Colum-
Things were still coming together. “We were still Christmas?” cowritten by Bob Geldof and recorded bia Records—a big-deal guy—wanted in.
pulling in people during the awards show,” Richie just a couple months earlier, in November, by a Sternberg figured out a way to get Oberman on
says. “We were still trying to get Cyndi Lauper to crowd of UK pop and rock artists. They had some the premises: He could park cars. And so he stood
show up. And at the very last minute, Cyndi said big names—Sting, Bono (although U2 wasn’t so inside the gate, waiting for people to arrive, at
she would show up.” huge yet), some Duran Duran guys. Spandau Bal- which time he would park their cars.
And Jackson, who was nominated for three let. And it was raising serious money for the fam-
awards? ine. But when Kragen called music managers in 9:30 p.m.
Smelly wasn’t there. L. A. and New York, recruiting singers for “We Are ONCE THE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS LET OUT,
Smelly—that’s what Jones called Jackson, as a the World,” he still had to explain it. the stars were lining up to get through the A&M
joke, because he was so polite—was already across It was all a little haphazard. gate. Behind a small ring of shade trees were two
town at A&M Studios, standing alone in the middle And so with forty-five huge stars due to arrive in entrances. One, to the left and up three steps, was
of the parquet floor in Studio A. He wore tight black an hour to record the song, Jackson was there, lay- the thick wooden door that led to the anteroom
pants and his signature black jacket—part military, ing down the chorus, doing his own backing vocals, outside Studio A.
part Sgt. Pepper, with the shoulder pads and the and still trying to decide on the words. The other entrance, under an outdoor staircase
ornate gold embroidering. He wore his jewel- “I like ‘you and me,’ ” Jones said. to the right, led to what was known as the Chaplin
encrusted white socks, the ones that sparkled when “’Kay,” Michael said, shifting his weight. “It’s Stage—a room more than half a football field long
he moonwalked. And black aviator sunglasses. much more soul.” where they filmed movies and television shows.
Tommy Trbovich, a veteran director who was “Yeah, it’s more soulful. Country.” This was where the several hundred people who
making the music video and documentary of the ses- Jackson shifted his slight frame from foot to foot. were not singing “We Are the World” would be hang-
sion for the charity established by the project, stood “Country,” he said in his high voice. ing out. There was a strict rule: No one except the
with a Norelco video camera on his shoulder, film- And he sang. artists would be allowed in Studio A. No wives, boy-
ing Jackson as he sang the chorus. Trbovich and his We are the world, we are the children. We are the friends, managers, or publicists. No old bandmates
crew of about fifty had been there since early after- ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving . . . from the Commodores. There was no red carpet.
noon, running cables, rigging lights. Right now he Every so often, Jones asked him to take a few “Separating everyone from their families was
and Jackson were the only two people in Studio A. steps back, farther from the microphone, and the toughest part, because everyone wanted to walk
“Quincy, do you think—” Smelly had to look around his famous feet to make their wives and mothers and fathers and everyone,
Jackson had his right thumb hooked in his pants sure he didn’t trip over Trbovich’s red sandbags the family members, into the recording studio,”
pocket, his left hip sticking out, his high-water pants holding down the lighting tripods. Richie says. “And we had to go, No, the families are
revealing those socks. Jones sat in the control booth, . . . It’s true we make a better day, just you and me. over to the right. The artists will be over to the left.”
and they looked at each other through the glass, As Jackson sang in solitude, Steve Perry of Jour- People shrugged. Okay!
hearing each other through headsets. ney was already in the control booth with Jones, Daryl Hall and John Oates rolled in with their
“I’m saying ‘you’—should I say ‘you and me’ or wearing a pair of headphones over his great hair, manager. Billy Joel, still wearing a scarf over his
‘you and I’?” listening to Michael Jackson singing. Perry looked winter coat—he flew in from New York, where it
“We Are the World” was the first of its kind. It at Jones, and out at Jackson, and said, “Am I dream- was 28 degrees that morning—and his fiancée,

85 SUMMER 2020