We Are The World jinx

[lasvegaskid]

With the death of Kenny Rogers, I was thinking about all the other legendary artists whose careers fell off the cliff after appearing on that record.

H&O had a handful of what today are unmemorable hits. Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Jarreau, Paul Simon may have grazed the pop charts once or twice more.

The Bosser, Lionel, maybe Billy Joel still had a big album in them before they faded. Only Michael Jackson's star would continue on, just as bright, for a significant period.

[pb]

The record had a lot of veteran singers who were starting to lose their place in top 40.

I would say Paul Simon's career was in trouble before "We Are The World," then rebounded with Graceland in 1986.

[mga707]

Mar 29, 2020 10:31:20 GMT -5 lasvegaskid said:

With the death of Kenny Rogers, I was thinking about all the other legendary artists whose careers fell off the cliff after appearing on that record.

H&O had a handful of what today are unmemorable hits. Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Jarreau, Paul Simon may have grazed the pop charts once or twice more.

The Bosser, Lionel, maybe Billy Joel still had a big album in them before they faded. Only Michael Jackson's star would continue on, just as bright, for a significant period.

Mr. Springsteen had way more than 'a big album in (him)' after spring '85: The live set; 'Tunnel Of Love'; "Human Touch' and 'Lucky Town' simultaneously; and certainly not least the magnificent post-9/11 'The Rising'. Even a new work by him today is still an 'event', as shown by last year's "Western Stars".

[jlthorpe]

Joel also had more than one big album after WATW - "The Bridge", "Storm Front", and "The River of Dreams".

Cyndi Lauper had a few Top 10 hits after WATW. She didn't really fade from the charts until after the 80s were over, but she later found success on Broadway scoring "Kinky Boots".

On the other hand, while Michael Jackson was still massively successful on the charts for several years after WATW, he also got weirder and weirder in the years since, which tarnished his image in the long run.

I'd say success/failure of the acts on WATW is case-by-case, and there's no real indicator of a jinx or a curse over all the performers.

[matt]

Some other notables:

-Kim Carnes had just one more hit the following summer ("Crazy In the Night")
-Huey Lewis was in the prime of his career, and still had "Power Of Love" and the Fore! LP to come (which spawned 5 top 40 hits including #1's "Stuck With You" and "Jacob's Ladder")
-James Ingram would continue to hit the top 40 into the early 90's
-Stevie Wonder had a hit album later in 1985, including the #1 "Part Time Lover" and top 10 "Go Home", though his chart run was nearing its end
-Tina Turner had just started her big comeback and had the third hit from her Private Dancer LP in the top 40 at the time, with two more hit albums to come in 1986 and '89 plus "I Don't Wanna Fight" from her biographical movie in 1993

So yeah, I would say a huge range of artists that were at or nearing the end of their top 40 chart days, and ones that had plenty left in the tank.