Northern Lights (Canadian band)

Northern Lights was the name of a supergroup of Canadian artists who recorded the song "Tears Are Not Enough" for the African famine relief effort in 1985.

The recording was the Canadian response to their British and American counterparts contributions to the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia. Britain's Band Aid recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?" on November 25, 1984 while America's USA for Africa recorded "We Are the World" on January 28, 1985. Proceeds from the sales of all songs were donated to famine relief effort in Ethiopia. The Live Aid concert followed on July 13, 1985.

"Tears Are Not Enough" was written by David Foster, Jim Vallance, Bryan Adams, Rachel Paiement, Bob Rock and Paul Hyde. Foster and Vallance composed the music. Vallance and Adams wrote the English lyrics while Paiement, Vallence's wife and a singer-songwriter-musician in her own right, wrote the French lyrics. The song title, "Tears Are Not Enough", was contributed by Rock and Hyde of the Canadian band Payola$. At the time, Foster was producing the Payola$ new release and asked their permission to use the song title from one of their unrecorded, unrelated songs. For their contribution, Rock and Hyde were credited as co-writers. The song was written between February 1 and February 3, 1985 in Vallance's and Paiement's home studio in Vancouver, British Columbia. A demo tape was made at the completion as a sample track for the grand recording.

The recording with the grand ensemble of Canadian artists happened on February 10, 1985 at Manta Sound studios in Toronto, Ontario.[1]

Participating artists[2]

Vocalists who had solo appearances on the track included:

Vocalists who appeared in duos or trios with other vocalists:

Participated as instrumentalists or as backing vocalists in the song's chorus:

See also

References

  1. ↑ 'Tears Are Not Enough' - The Canadian Encyclopedia
  2. ↑ Northern Lights for Africa - Tears Are Not Enough
  3. ↑ Banding Together: Singing Out for Disaster Relief
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