Twenty-three years ago this week, “We Are The World” by USA for Africa debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at an impressive #21. Back then, new songs slowly worked their way into the Top 40 over a matter of several weeks, a long climb at times.

“We Are The World” wasn’t just any song, though. It was an all-star event modeled after the success of Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” charity single. With USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa), musicians from both sides of the Atlantic were focused on famine-relief efforts in Ethiopia. Bob Geldof, who had organized Band Aid after seeing a BBC documentary about the devastated region, joined his Stateside counterparts in Hollywood’s A&M Studios for the all-night “World” recording session on January 28, 1985, following the American Music Awards.

“We Are The World” was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. In a 2005 Rolling Stone interview, singer Billy Joel said, “Most of us who were there didn’t like the song, but nobody would say so. I think Cyndi Lauper leaned over to me and said, ‘It sounds like a Pepsi commercial.’ And I didn’t disagree.”

Well, this past week, “We Are The World” became the choice of a new generation. A clip from a Japanese TV game show went viral, with contestants recreating the famous “WATW” recording-session video. If you haven’t checked your e-mail, we’re talking full-on impersonations, folks—weird, awkward, maybe a little offensive. The woman mimicking Cyndi Lauper’s memorable contribution is spot-on, though:

I’m not sure what the prize was, but I think we’re all winners.

Returning to the real “World,” the song was a bigger hit than “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Number one for four weeks, the USA For Africa single ultimately sold 7.5 million copies. But while “Christmas” only reached #13, it’s Band Aid that’s stuck around. “We Are The World” is forever frozen in time, while “Do They Know It’s Christmas” is a transcendent classic.

Without hearing that familiar “Feed the world” refrain each holiday season, how would we ever know it’s Christmastime again?