- Tears Are Not Enough
Infobox Single
Name = Tears Are Not Enough
Artist = Northern Lights
[ from Album = ]
Released = 1985
Format =
[ Recorded =February 10 ,1985 ]
Genre =
[ Length = 04:28]
Label = Sony/CBS
Writer =Bryan Adams ,Jim Vallance andDavid Foster
Producer =David Foster
[ Certification = ]
Chart position =
Last single =
[ This single = ]
Next single = "Tears Are Not Enough" is a 1985 charity single recorded by a supergroup of Canadian artists, under the name Northern Lights, to raise funds for relief of the1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia . It was one of a number of such supergroup singles recorded, along with Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas? " in theUnited Kingdom , andUSA for Africa 's "We Are the World " in theUnited States .The project was organized by Bruce Allen, who brought together a large group of artists to record a song written by
Bryan Adams ,Jim Vallance andDavid Foster , with additional contributions byRachel Paiement ,Paul Hyde andBob Rock . The song was recorded onFebruary 10 ,1985 atManta Sound studios inToronto, Ontario .The song was issued as a single by
CBS Records in March of that year, and quickly reached Number 1 on the CanadianTop 40 charts. The song was later included on USA for Africa's "We Are the World" album as well. The song's video also received extensive airplay onMuchMusic .On
December 22 ,1985 , theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation aired a 90-minute documentary on the song's creation, which was subsequently released onvideocassette as well. A CBC reporter, Brian Stewart, had been the first Western journalist to bring the famine in Ethiopia to worldwide attention.By 1990, the project had raised $3.2 million for famine relief projects in Africa, although 10 per cent of the money raised were kept to fund Canadian food assistance programs as well.
Performers
olo vocalists (in order)
*
Gordon Lightfoot
*Burton Cummings
*Anne Murray
*Joni Mitchell
*Dan Hill
*Neil Young
*Bryan Adams
*Corey Hart
*Bruce Cockburn
*Geddy Lee (Rush)
*Mike Reno (Loverboy )Heard in duos or trios
*
Mike Reno (Loverboy ) withLiberty Silver
*Carroll Baker,Ronnie Hawkins andMurray McLauchlan
*Véronique Béliveau ,Robert Charlebois andClaude Dubois
*Bryan Adams withDon Gerrard
*Salome Bey , Mark Holmes (Platinum Blonde) andLorraine Segato (The Parachute Club)
*(Alfie) Zappacosta with (Lisa)Dalbello
*Carole Pope (Rough Trade) andPaul Hyde (The Payola$)Chorus members
Chorus members included:
*
Liona Boyd
*John Candy
*Tom Cochrane (Red Rider )
*Tommy Hunter
*Eugene Levy
*Kim Mitchell
*Oscar Peterson
*Paul Shaffer
*Jane Siberry
*Sylvia Tyson Instrumentation and production
*
David Foster - Keyboards, Producer
*Jim Vallance - Drums, Engineer, Associate Producer
*Paul Dean (Loverboy ) - Guitar
*Steven Denroche - French Horn
*Doug Johnson (Loverboy ) - Synthesizer
*David Sinclair (Straight Lines /Body Electric ) - Acoustic guitar
*Hayward Parrott - Engineer
*Geoff Turner - Engineer
*Bob Rock (ThePayola$ ) - Engineer
*Humberto Gatica - Mixing EngineerTrivia
* Joni Mitchell spoke to writer Iain Blair about her Northern Lights For Africa experience. She said: "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was literally starving when we did the session 'cuz my yoga teacher had sent me to a psychic dietician who, while rubbing her chin and swinging her arm around in a circle, had diagnosed a lot of food allergies. The result was, predictably, that I was hardly allowed to eat anything, so by the time I arrived with an apple and a rice patty, my poor stomach was making all these strange noises. Then we get in the studio, and the engineer says he can't record 'cuz he's picking up some weird rumbling sound coming from my direction. (She laughs). And it was all pretty ironic, considering the subject matter."
*Wayne Gretzky appears briefly at the end of the music video, singing the song with other Campbell Conference All-Stars during the 1985NHL All-Star game inCalgary .
* In addition to Canadian music stars and industry veterans, the backing lineup also included many Canadian actors, entertainers, and celebrities such asEugene Levy which can be seen in the video.References
* [http://www.olografix.org/krees/dfnet/html/readinterviews.php?ID=58 Interview with Songwriter Jim Vallance on "Tears Are Not Enough"]
* [http://www.jimvallance.com/01-music-folder/songs-folder-may-27/pg-song-northern-lights.html Many photos of the performers as well as the song lyrics.]ee also
*
1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia
*We Are the World
*Do They Know It's Christmas?
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.