On Feb. 10, 1985, a group of Canadian musicians came together to record a charity single for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Like the efforts of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" and USA for Africa's "We Are The World", this was Canada's version.
Let's learn more!
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The project was organized by Bruce Allen, a Canadian music manager who worked with BTO, Anne Murray, Prism and Bryan Adams.
Using a song written by Canadian David Foster, he began to bring together many of his famous music friends to create the charity single.
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The melody that Foster wrote had previously been offered to Joel Schumacher for St. Elmo's Fire but he hated it. Later, when it was used for the single, Schumacher was apparently livid over it.
When the day came to record, the best of Canadian musical talent arrived
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Among the musicians taking part were Gordon Lightfoot, Burton Cummings, Anne Murray, Joni Mitchell, Corey Hart, Bruce Cockburn, Geddy Lee, Bryan Adams and Mike Reno.
While Lightfoot arrived at the studio in a pickup truck, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell shared a taxi.
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Mark Holmes of Platinum Blonde arrived in a stretch limo.
Other stars who formed the chorus included Oscar Peterson, Kim Mitchell, Eugene Levy, John Candy, Paul Shaffer, Catherine O'Hara, Andy Kim, Robin Duke, Ian Thomas, Sylvia Tyson, Tom Cochrane and Tommy Hunter.
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Everything was recorded at the Manta Sound Studios in Toronto on Sunday, Feb. 10, 1985.
The recording process went well although at one point Foster told Neil Young his singing was flat to which Young responded "That's my sound, man".
The single released on May 1, 1985.
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Under the band name of Northern Lights and quickly reached #1 on the Canadian Top 40 chart. It was the number one song of the year in Canada and the video played on MuchMusic constantly.
The video itself incorporated several other famous Canadians into the song.
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