Netflix’s The Greatest Night in Pop Gets Close to an ’80s Hit

This initial report on The biggest night of pop comes from our team following premieres at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. We will update this article when there is more information on 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, met in secret to record a benefit song. “We Are the World” was intended to raise funds for famine relief in Africa. The biggest night of popA documentary coming soon to Netflix is ​​about how that song was recorded in just one night.

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“We Are the World” is one of the best-selling and most popular singles of all time, and features perhaps the most star-studded lineup they have ever recorded together. Bao Nguyen’s film traces the making of the song, from the initial idea to the writing, the incorporation of talent, and the recording itself.

Nguyen presents all of this through archival footage from when the recording session was initially filmed, as well as interviews with some of the musicians involved, including Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, and Kenny Loggins.

What is The Big Night of Pop trying to do?

In addition to documenting one of the most important moments in 20th century pop culture, The biggest night of pop It also attempts to communicate the sheer power of the stars who gathered at A&M Studios that night in 1985. It was a who’s who of the most famous musicians on the planet, which meant there was 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 really understood what life was like at that level of celebrity.

Does The Greatest Night in Pop live up to its premise?

The biggest night of pop seeks a more relaxed, celebratory version of the harried energy that director DA Pennebaker captured in Original Cast Album: Company, their footage of that album’s all-night recording session. Basically, Nguyen gets it. His documentary is airy and fun, and while it chronicles the night well, thanks in large part to Richie’s fantastic narration, it has the good sense to get out of the way of 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’re seeing, beyond backstory, and it deliberately avoids any controversy or criticism of even the most difficult celebrity participants. But the forward-moving approach to the footage makes it all tremendously fun to watch.

Watching Bob Dylan look uncomfortable in a sea of ​​famous faces, Stevie Wonder bantering with Ray Charles, or Huey Lewis nervously working on harmony is the closest to nonchalant that most of these stars have ever gotten on film. It is a fascinating document. And the way every second of that footage remains captivating nearly 40 years later is a testament to the pure, 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 night was when producer Quincy Jones placed a sign inside the recording studio that read “Leave your ego at the door.” That’s what he does The biggest night of pop feel special: 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 leaving the recording studio while muttering “No good boy has ever sung in Swahili,” or Cyndi Lauper realizing that her enormous necklaces were making so much noise that the microphones picked them up along with her voice. But if anything about this movie is going to be a meme, it’s Bob Dylan’s awkward grimace, right in the middle of music’s most famous faces, as he desperately tries to figure out how to sing in chorus with them. It’s amazing and as Bob Dylan as anything could be.

Is Pop’s Biggest Night good?

Absolutely. It does not reach the heights of classic documentaries and fails to understand the tortuous circumstances and frustrated production of Original Cast Album: Companyor the sheer musical excellence of Monterey Pop. But there’s something special about watching these stars mingle that makes this film a fascinating document about fame and the people behind it.

When can we see it?

The biggest night of pop will be released on Netflix on January 29.