# Spin off: How many artists do you recognize from the video/song "We Are the World"? (Video inside) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400 "2010-01-10T16:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/61 "2010-01-12T03:16:47Z")
> [@torie](#): > > I’m typing this as I’m watching. > > Lionel Richie. > Stevie Wonder. > Paul Simon > Kenny Loggins > No Idea > Tina Turner > Billy Joel > Michael Jackson > Diana Ross > Dionne Warwick > Willie Nelson > No Idea > Bruce Springsteen > \ ditto on your first no idea however your second no idea is Al Jarreau ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/62 "2010-01-12T03:22:59Z")
I am 37. I recognize 23. Plus 2 additional Jacksons (one guy one girl) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/63 "2010-01-12T03:56:50Z")
I’m 47, and I name recognized 21 of them. I remember when it came out, and there was a minor kerfuffle about Prince choosing **not** to participate. I remember it because my best friend was a huge Prince fan, and would go on for hours defending her man, not realizing I didn’t really give a crap. I liked Prince, but not enough to feel outraged by how he was being viewed as a jerkwad because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/64 "2010-01-12T04:06:20Z")
I’m 32, and I recognized 16 by name. There were a few I recognized but couldn’t place the name (Kim Carnes was one). I then cross checked by looking up the performers to make sure all the people I saw were actually there. I knew there were multiple other Jacksons, but I would not have been able to tell you which was which, so none of those were counted for me…and somehow I missed that Dan Akroyd was in there (according to the list)…didn’t see him. Cool study. Sure was a lot of Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen…I didn’t remember that they were so prominently featured when the song first came out (I do remember when it came out, and my parents bought the tape, so I listened to that quite a bit as a kid). ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/65 "2010-01-12T04:48:23Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > I’m 47, and I name recognized 21 of them. > > I remember when it came out, and there was a minor kerfuffle about Prince choosing **not** to participate. I remember it because my best friend was a huge Prince fan, and would go on for hours defending her man, not realizing I didn’t really give a crap. I liked Prince, but not enough to feel outraged by how he was being viewed as a jerkwad because of this. Prince had pretty good cover. If you bought the USA for Africa album, there was a Prince track, “4 The Tears in Your Eyes,” on it. So Princie did contribute to the effort - just not on the “We Are The World” single. The title of jerkwad, I suppose, should go to Morrissey: > [@](#): > > I’m not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical. Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I’ll say it as loud as anyone wants me to. In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it’s another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England. It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn’t done shyly it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music. > > The whole implication was to save these people in Ethiopia, but who were they asking to save them? Some 13-year-old girl in Wigan! People like Thatcher and the royals could solve the Ethiopian problem within ten seconds. But Band Aid shied away from saying that — for heaven’s sake, it was almost directly aimed at unemployed people. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/66 "2010-01-12T05:10:33Z")
I am 30mumbltymumble years old (okay! 37 dammit!) and recognized almost all of them- but then I also remember when the song and video came out and remember all of us kids holding hands and singing along in the cafeteria for a school dance… I was also struck by how young everyone looks and how silly I feel now thinking back at hard I was crushing on George Michael, Simon LeBon, et al… As I was watching the video, I called my 20 year old son (thank you for not doing the math!) over and he recognized only a few of them and that is because I make him sit through my 80s collections pretty regularly. 😉 My 16 year old recognized only Cyndi Lauper (only because we used pictures of her as an inspiration for a hairstyle on “80s Day” at school) and my 13 year old recognized no one. I feel so old… ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/67 "2010-01-12T05:13:43Z")
> [@maplekiwi](#): > > 53 year old from NZ. > > I recognised 24 in total & all but 2 of the soloists. > Bloody awful song though. Don’t make me play it again! 😛 All of this. Except I’m 54 and from the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/68 "2010-01-12T10:24:37Z")
I’m 53 and recognized everyone in “We Are The World” (except I thought Lindsey Buckingham was Neal Schon), but only 8 from Band-Aid. I wasn’t sure about anyone except Bob Geldof after Bono’s bit. I’m really surprised that nobody’s mentioned [Hear ‘N’ Aid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiI9PxVdu9c). Those were the really important musicians of the eighties!! :D:D ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/69 "2010-01-12T13:57:19Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > The title of jerkwad, I suppose, should go to Morrissey: Jerkwad or not, everything he said was true. Ballsy to say it, even. Self-righteous, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/70 "2010-01-12T14:21:25Z")
So how many singers can you recognize from [Old Aid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06idaVz84Z0)? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/71 "2010-01-12T14:42:29Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > There are definitely some questionable choices which is to be expected (Akryrod, LaToya, etc.) but Kim Carnes??? > > She had one hit, ONE frickin’ hit- and I guess Lionel, Michael and Quincy when coming up with the starting line-up, figured: “Oh, she has to be in there. 25 years from now, with a long string of hits to her name, we’d look like fools if we don’t include her.” I don’t dispute than Kim Carnes was a very odd choice, but she did have more than one hit. Her Wiki article sums up her career, and I was a bit surprised at how much she did. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/72 "2010-01-12T14:45:26Z")
One of the funniest things I have ever seen was a sketch performed by a couple of _Club Med_ staffers in Noumea in 2000. It was mimed to _We Are The World_, and involved a series of very quick changes that left you in very little doubt about who the singing artist was. It finished with “Ray Charles” and “Stevie Wonder” blindly staggering about the stage, crashing through the props, and the audience in stitches. Si (43, and I got about 75%) ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/73 "2010-01-12T14:54:24Z")
I counted 35. Here are their initials as I was watching the video. LR SW PS KR JaIn TT BJ MiJa DR DW WN AJ BS KL SP DH HL CL KC JoOa QJ MaJa TJ LTJ BD RP DA SR HB JeOs RC BM LB AP JP I’m 37 years old. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/74 "2010-01-12T15:18:09Z")
My favourite ensemble charity song from the 80s is [Ferry Aid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmieR3KvQAc), after the Zeebrugge Disaster. The group makeup is somewhat different, somewhat loaded with Stock, Aiken, Waterman artists (they produced it), and Paul McCartney used his original 1970 vocals for Let It Be. Si ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/75 "2010-01-12T15:33:00Z")
I’m 48, so I was fully aware of the video when it came out. However, I don’t really listen to a lot of music and I don’t follow the music scene, so I only correctly identified 13 of the people singing solos (I didn’t really try to figure out who was in the background). There were a few people that I knew, but couldn’t remember their names, but there were a couple that I still don’t know who they are. James Ingram? Kim Carnes? Who are they? On the other hand, I’m so bad at recognizing people I probably wouldn’t even know my own mother if I hadn’t seen her in 20 years… ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/76 "2010-01-12T15:46:31Z")
I’m 37, of the soloists, I only two I did not recognize were James Ingram and Kim Carnes. I have no idea who Kim Carnes is. I had a tougher time with the background vocalists, but mainly because I can’t see what’s behind the big hair and sunglasses. For example, I can not tell you who the woman is who’s standing in front of Harry Belafonte (I’m guessing one of the Pointer Sisters). At one point there’s a guy behind Kenny Rodgers I don’t recognize but at least you can see his whole face. I also never was able to recognize “the News” as in Huey Lewis and the News. Huey, I got no problem, but I have no idea what the other guys look like, so even though I know they are there,I have no idea not who’s who. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/77 "2010-01-12T15:51:35Z")
I recognized all the soloists, but who was the blonde woman who was with Cindy Lauper? I will be 54 in a couple weeks. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/78 "2010-01-12T16:37:02Z")
I’m 46, and recognized almost everyone. I couldn’t name all the Jacksons (I got Tito and LaToya and Michael), and the only Soloist I didn’t recognize was James Ingram. And I still don’t really know who he is. I’m not a big R&B fan. I made a list as I watched the Youtube video, without looking anyone up. Looks like I got 30: Quincy Jones Lionel Richie Willie Nelson Stevie Wonder Cindy Lauper Paul Simon Kenny Rogers Billy Joel Tina Turner Michael Jackson Diana Ross Dionne Warwick Willie Nelson Al Jarreau Bruce Springsteen Kenny Loggins Steve Perry Darryl Hall Huey Lewis Kim Carnes Diana Ross John Oates Bob Dylan Dan Ayckroyd Harry Belafonte Tito Jackson Ray Charles LaToya Jackson Bette Midler Waylon Jennings It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years. Going down the list, it looks like all but 3 of them are still alive, too. The blonde woman with Cyndi Lauper was Kim Carnes. She had a big hit around that time with [“Bette Davis Eyes”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPOIS5taqA8). ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/79 "2010-01-12T16:54:43Z")
[Here it is in quiz form](http://www.sporcle.com/games/wearetheworld.php) at the site [sporkle](http://www.sporcle.com/), which has many awesome time-wasting quizzes. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400/80 "2010-01-12T17:34:28Z")
41, and a huge music geek when this was popular. With the exception of the black guy in the white jacket at 6:15, I was able to name everyone easily (even which Jackson sibling was which :)). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-how-many-artists-do-you-recognize-from-the-video-song-we-are-the-world-video-inside/524400.md?page=5)