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Gen-X nostalgia is a powerful drug.
I remember him yelling, Out-RA-geous!
For some unknown and unexplored reason, this is a formative memory for me.
Two Gen-X milestones crashing together.
for the same purpose.
We have white folks saving Black folks, Richie recalls Harry Belafonte saying.
We dont have Black folks saving Black folks.
Bruce Springsteen notes that the song had to be broad so that carry all those voices.
(He heard us singing, Lion-EL, Richie remembers Jackson saying guilelessly.
He wants to meet you.)
And the anecdotes are mostly on brand for the musicians.
Waylon Jennings bailed when Wonder suggested that part of the piece be sung in Swahili.
(That idea was abandoned when it was pointed out to Wonder that Ethiopians dont speak Swahili.
Jennings did reportedly return.)
Al Jarreau was drunk.
By the end ofThe Greatest Night in Pop, I could relate.
