It's True We'll Make A Better Day...

I was listening to an all-80s music station, and was surprised to hear "We Are The World" by USA for Africa.  Because this tune doesn't get a lot of love as an 80s anthem, it's easy to forget how phenomenally huge this song was at the time.

Has this much chart success ever been gathered in one room before or since?

In case you weren't alive in 1985 (or simply don't remember), USA for Africa was a gathering of 40 or so of the top pop music performers of the day, with the goal of raising money to aid famine-stricken countries in Africa.  As their name suggests, USA for Africa was primarily American; only Dan Aykroyd (Canadian) and Bob Geldof (Irish) were not from the US.  Geldof, or course, was the mastermind behind Band Aid, a group of British music stars who recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1983 to raise money for Africa.

Within a few short weeks of entering the US charts in March of 1985, "We Are The World" would take over the top spot and stay there for 4 weeks.  And while that in itself is an impressive feat, it still doesn't do the song proper justice.

Of the 230 or so songs that would hit #1 during the 1980s, performers who were part of USA for Africa were responsible for about 40 of them!  Michael Jackson (9), Daryl Hall & John Oates (5), Lionel Richie (5), Billy Joel (3), Stevie Wonder (3) and Huey Lewis & The News (3) accounted for the majority of them, with other artists like Kim Carnes, Diana Ross, Kenny Loggins, Kenny Rogers, Cyndi Lauper, and Bette Midler also hitting #1 during the decade.