This first report on The biggest pop night comes from our team following premieres at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. We will update this article when there is more information about the film’s release.
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On January 28, 1985, more than 40 of America’s most famous musicians, from Michael Jackson and Diana Ross to Paul Simon and Billy Joel, gathered in secret to record a charity song. “We Are the World” was intended to raise funds to fight famine in Africa. The biggest pop nighta documentary soon available on Netflix, tells how this song was recorded in a single night.
Longer line
“We Are the World” is one of the best-selling and most popular singles of all time, with perhaps the most star-studded lineup ever recorded together. Bao Nguyen’s film covers the creation of the song, from the initial idea to writing, talent involvement to the recording itself.
Nguyen presents it all through archival footage from the initial filming of the recording session, as well as interviews with some of the musicians involved, including Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen and Kenny Loggins.
What is The Greatest Night in Pop trying to do?
In addition to documenting one of the most important moments in pop culture of the 20th century, The biggest pop night also attempts to communicate the star power that gathered at A&M Studios that evening in 1985. It was a who’s who of the most famous musicians on the planet, which meant there were both a clash of egos and an ease that came from shared levels of fame: These superstars were in the only room in the world where most of the people around them truly understood what life at that level of fame was like.
Does pop’s biggest night live up to its premise?
The biggest pop night is after a more relaxed, celebratory version of the harried energy that director DA Pennebaker captured in Original cast album: Company, his filming of this album’s overnight recording session. Above all, Nguyen succeeds. His documentary is breezy and fun, and while it chronicles the night well, thanks in large part to Richie’s fantastic narration, it mostly has the good sense to distance itself from the personalities who were actually in the room. This approach prevents it from being a truly great documentary: it rarely adds much context to the footage we see, beyond the backstory, and it clearly avoids any controversy or criticism, even of the most difficult celebrities. But the image-driven approach makes the whole thing extremely fun to watch.
Seeing Bob Dylan uncomfortable in a sea of famous faces, Stevie Wonder joking with Ray Charles, or Huey Lewis nervously working on a harmony is as close to unconscious as most of these stars ever got on film . It’s a fascinating document. And the way every second of this footage is still captivating nearly 40 years later is a testament to the raw, all-encompassing, absolutely magnetic star power of everyone in that room.
Image : Netflix
The quote that says it all
As the film itself points out, the most important aspect of the entire evening was when producer Quincy Jones posted a sign inside the recording studio saying “Check your ego at the door.” This is what makes The biggest pop night feel special: it allows us to enter the room where the great musicians of all time simply felt as if they were among friends and equals.
Most memorable moment
There are a number of incredible moments, like Waylon Jennings walking out of the recording studio muttering “Ain’t no good ol’ boy ever sung in Swahili”, or Cyndi Lauper realizing her huge necklaces were making so much noise as the microphones caption them next to his voice. But if anything in this movie should be a meme, it’s Bob Dylan’s awkward grimace, smack in the middle of music’s most famous faces, as he desperately tries to figure out how to sing along with them. It’s amazing, and as Bob Dylan as anything could be.
Is Pop’s Biggest Night any good?
Absolutely. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the documentary classics, falling far short of providing insight into the tortured circumstances and frustrated production of Original cast album: Companyor the pure musical excellence of Pop of Monterey. But there’s something special about watching these stars mingle that makes this film a fascinating document of fame and the people behind it.
When will we be able to see it?
The biggest pop night will be released on Netflix on January 29.
2024-01-28 00:54:36
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