We Are The World 25/A&M/Henson Studios

[Harry]

The recently released "We Are The World 25" video features a nice, large A&M logo in the middle of it. You can find it easily on Youtube, and probably elsewhere.

Look carefully at around the 3:50 mark as the camera zooms in on Celine Dion and you can see a large A&M logo behind her.

I've tried a screen grab from Youtube:

Harry
...now with high-speed Internet again, online...

 

[Rudy]

From what I've read from trending topics on the 'net, that A&M logo may be the only good thing about the remake.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Yeah, this was a cheesy, tacky remake. The intentions are good, I'm sure, but rehashing this song is just bad judgement. The only redeeming thing I saw on the video was Tony Bennett, but the rapping made me ill. Totally useless and forgettable for me.




Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

The original song was no great work either--it was the star power that gave it legs. Thing is, most of us haven't heard of many (or most?) of these artists. And since singles don't sell anymore (other than as downloads)...it won't make a splash like the original.

Still...at least we got an A&M logo out of it.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

The original song was no great work either--

I haven't heard this new one yet, but the original got old REAL fast so I have no great desire to hear the new one.

I do remember making an "exclusive" deal with a radio station in Miles City (45 miles from here) when the original WATW album came out. The record came out on a Tuesday, but our shipments always come in on Monday so I drove a copy of the album to Miles in order for the station to play it before it was released. They were the first station in Montana to play the whole album, from what we were able to learn at least.

 

[toeknee4bz]

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong... But didn't the original A&M Studio [where the original WE ARE THE WORLD was recorded] get sold, along with the rest of the lot, to the Jim Henson Company? That's what I thought. So if I'm correct, this new recording was done in some other studio owned by the corporate music god Universal.

Let me make sure I've got this straight: Michael Jackson is dead, and they're not using his voice track, or for that matter, anybody else's from the original. They're not selling it as a single, and they put up the lame re-designed logo from the last few years of A&M to make the apathetic, unobservant public think "Aw, how nostalgic!"

Give me a break. This is yet again just another insult to the legacy of A&M - that is, the real A&M. And an insult to the original WE ARE THE WORLD. No thanks, Quincy. I'll pass on this one.

,
Tony

 

[Dave]

What gets me, is that it's titled "TWENTY-FIVE" (25) and not "TWO" (2)...!!!!!!

(Did I miss the other twenty-three times this was done?)

Point is: Besides it being a "25th Anniversary" of the song, a "Volume 2"-type of title would signify this being more of a sequel of the original (given the motive behind why "We Are The World", gathering a mostly-newer generation of artists, was remade) and how many more times we may have to gather together and sing this "hymn"...

(And yeh, the omission of Michael Jackson constitutes a glaring deletion; although I'm sure he's there "in spirit"...!)


Dave (w/ "Babe in arm...")

 

[Actorman]

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong...
this new recording was done in some other studio owned by the corporate music god Universal.

Actually, it WAS recorded at Henson Studios (formerly A&M Studios) so it technically is the same physical location even though it is no longer owned by A&M or Universal. The first article or two I read about it when they first planned the recording made mention of this. Why they put an A&M logo on the wall during the session is bizarre though. Not sure what that was about. Is it being released on the A&M imprint?

I've not heard it yet. I'm curious, but not enough to go out of my way right now to track it down.

 

[Mr Bill]

Why they put an A&M logo on the wall during the session is bizarre though. Not sure what that was about. Is it being released on the A&M imprint?

I've not heard it either but given how much the original grated on me I doubt I'll like the "new" version...

My guess on why the logo is there... Either:
A - The new one is on the A&M imprint
B - The Henson studio has the logo there for historic reasons (much like you'll see "Route 66" signs on roads that were part of the classic highway, even though Route 66 no longer exists as such). Of course one must wonder if there's a "Chaplin Studio" sign or "CBS outlying studio" sign on the walls somewhere, too.
C - Both A & B above.
D - I thought I read somewhere that the studios themselves were retaining the name "A&M Recording Studios" even though neither Alpert nor Moss nor Uni were affiliated with it anymore. But that may have been old news with an expiration date...

--Mr Bill

 

[CherryStreet]

According to a current employee of Henson Studios that was in the audience at the Herb & Lani Vibrato show this past Feb, 3 - The entire current staff has a great "fondness for A&M Records and it's history". That A&M signage is there in tribute and wasn't just brought in for the We Are The World recording. Lots of original artifacts still exist in the studios apparently.

Even the spot where Herb placed a giant crystal he purchased in NYC is still there and revered (Though Herb said he snatched the crystal when they sold the buildings and the crystal now is in a studio at the Foundation). At the Vibrato show Herb remarked that musicians would come in and bow in front of it like it was the "Wailing Wall"!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

That A&M signage is there in tribute and wasn't just brought in for the We Are The World recording.

That's kinda what I figured.

 

[Mr Bill]

So answer "B" which is what I was leaning toward myself...

--Mr. Bill

 

[CherryStreet]

http://www.hensonrecording.com

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Let me make sure I've got this straight: Michael Jackson is dead, and they're not using his voice track, or for that matter, anybody else's from the original. They're not selling it as a single, and they put up the lame re-designed logo from the last few years of A&M to make the apathetic, unobservant public think "Aw, how nostalgic!"

Give me a break. This is yet again just another insult to the legacy of A&M - that is, the real A&M. And an insult to the original WE ARE THE WORLD. No thanks, Quincy. I'll pass on this one.

,
Tony

Michael Jackson is on the recording. Janet is singing with him in the chorus and he still has the first line of the bridge. Also, as has already been mentioned, the A&M logo always been there. There is no substantial reason to re-create that logo. It would only be noticed by a handful of people anyway.

The song itself is just plain awful. The "Autotune" all over the recording makes it unlistenable. Quincy wasn't even the music producer; he was the co-executive producer along with Lionel. The recording itself hasn't done as well as the original and it's no great mystery as to why.

Ed