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Musical Protest ;; Of Apartheid ';'~;,50 Pop Stars Perform 'Sun· City'

By Richard Harrington Washington Post Staff Writer ·· Following the lead of musicians who joined voices _to help the hungry in "We Are the World," more than 50 top pop stars ~ave banded together to encourage a cui­ -· t~af boycott m "Sun City," a song attacking South Af­ ;, nca s system of apartheid. · /.: Radio s~tions recei~ed the "Sun City'' single to- day, and copi~ should be m record stores by Friday. The artist roster includes Little Steven Van , ?andt-who wrote the song and organized the pro­ ;.. ,Ject-Bruce Springsteen, Bob Geldof, Bono of U2, Run­ , DMC, Hall and Oates, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan and pro­ -ducer Arthur Baker. All donated their time and talents to the song, ~hich uses Sun City, a Las Vegas-style luxury entertainment complex in Bophuthatswana as a ·- symbol for South Africa's oppressive racial policie~ , . . . The "Sun City'' project, which was originan; en­ ; VISioned as only a single, has since blossomed into a full album, not scheduled for release until a week from Fri- day. . Wi~h ~ts chorus of "I ain't gonna play Sun City," the . record mdicts perfor~ers who have accepted bookings __ at ~e resort, located m a rural, poverty-ridden area of Afnca. ~op~uthatswana is one of the nominally inde­ pendent 'tri~l homelands" .created by the government o! South Afnca, and despite a United Nations-sanc­ tiOned cultural oorcott of the country, Sun City contin­ ues to attract major perfonpers f>¥ offe~g extremely . ' . . -· ·... .

'I'Nsteea: Frank C. Montero, ChainDaD I John L.S. Holloman, Vice Cluoinlwll Marvin Rich, Treuurer I George M. Houaer. Executive~ Emeritwll Isaac Bivens, Robert Boehm. William H. Booth,~ "!!'arnell Jacobe. William B. Landia, Tilden LeMelle, Andrew Norman, Robert Potter, Robert Stover, Peter Weias Advillory Committee: Hon. Julian~; Hon. Did. Clark. Ooeie Davia, Ruby Dee, J.-L. Fanner, Henry Foner. (loretta Scott King, Rep. Parren Mitchell, Frederick O'Neal, Stanley Sheinbaum, Eugene Stockwell Executive Secretary: Jennifer Davia I~: Paul hUh I ReMueh: Gail Hovey I ProjecU: Dumieani Kumalo I IJterature: Richard Knight ~ SUN CITY, From Bl ended up participating in recording sessions in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Lon­ high commissions. Frank Sinatra, for in­ don. stance, was reported to have been paid $1.6 "Sun City'' follows a now familiar pattern million for a nine-day engagement at Sun of different lines for different singers re­ City's Superbowl. solving in an anthemic chorus. The nicest All artist royalties from the project will symmetry occurs on the line, "We're stab­ go to the Africa Fund, a nonprofit, United bing our brothers and sisters in the back," Nations-sanctioned organization that will sung early by Springsteen and later by use the. money for antiapartheid programs Bono, two rock artists for whom social com­ in the United States and South Africa. But mitment has become a central motif. fundraising is not the key issue with "Sun The participants represent the gamut of City"; Van Zandt has said that the prime current pop -styles, from rap (Afrika Bam­ goals of the record are to raise American baattaa, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, Melle consciousness about the situation in South Mel), rock (Pat Benatar, Lou Reed, Pete Africa and to encourage entertainers to Townshend), jazz (Miles Davis, Stanley Jor­ boycott Sun City. Every record will contain dan, Herbie Hancock), reggae (Big Youth, an insert explaining the cultural boycott. Jimmy ClifO, R&B and funk (George Clin­ While Band Aid "Do They Know It's ton, Nona Hendryx, Bobby Womack, David Christmas (Feed the World)" and USA for Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks) to Latin and Africa's "We Are the World" avoided polit­ African music (Sunny Okussons, Ray Bar­ ical commentary in their mainstream pleas retto, Reuben Blades, the Soweto-based for listeners to open their hearts and, more Malopoets). importantly, their checkbooks to famine The "Sun City'' single is much harder and victims in Africa, there is no mistaking "Sun aggressively rhythmic than its all-star pre­ City's" impassioned political message: decessors, which may limit its radio expo­ Relocation to phony homelands, sepa­ sure. The 12-inch remix version, directed ration offamilies I can't understand at the dance floor, is even harsher, empha­ 23 million can't vote because they're sizing the rap side of the sessions. As var­ black ious artists offered their own musical vari­ We're stabbing our brothers and sisters ations on Van Zandt's original theme, the in the back ... project evolved into a six-track album. "Sun City" also is critical of the Reagan The tracks include the original all-star administration's policies in South Africa: arrangement, aimed at mainstream radio, as well as the dance club remix. There's Our government tells us we're doing all also a very hard-hitting rap number, "Let we can Me See Your ID," featuring Ray Barretto, Corrstructive engagement is. Ronald Peter Wolf, Duke Bottee, Big Youth, Grand­ Reagan_ :s- plan master Melle Mel, Peter Garrett of Mid­ Meanwhile people are dying and giving night Oil, the Malopoets and Washington's up hope own Gil Scott-Heron, who begins his rap, "I This quiet diplomacy ain't nothing but was watching ·TV the other night, when a joke. who should appear but Walter Cronkite with "Sun City" is an extension of a slowly the blues ..." evolving political consciousness within the A jazz instrumental arrangement, "The music community, spurred on by the Afri­ Struggle Continues," reunites Miles Davis can hunger relief projects and focused with old Quintet-mates Herbie Hancock, through the Farm Aid benefit and various Tony Williams and Ron Carter, as well as AIDS-related singles now being released. guitarist Stanley Jordan and Sunny Okus­ It is not the first pop record to attack sons. "The Revolutionary Situation" is a apartheid, however. Gil Scott-Heron's "Jo­ spoken-word cut with excerpts from hannesburg," released almost 10 years ago, speeches by imprisoned South African lead­ ·was a minor hit, and The Specials/AKA er Nelson Mandela and Nobel Peace Prize "Free Nelson Mandela" was a huge hit in winner Bishop Desmond Tutu, while "No England last year. Randy Newman's More Apartheid" is an improvisational piece ·"Christmas in Capetown," many tunes by by Peter Gabriel and the Indian sitarist the integrated African group Juluka, and Shankar . more recently, Stevie Wonder's "It's A video of the single, directed by Jona­ Wrong" also have criticized apartheid. than Demme and edited by Godley & · The "Sun City'' project resulted from two Creme, is also in the works. There was a trips Van Zandt made to South Africa dur­ big shoot last week at New York's Wash­ ing the past 12 months. On his return, he ington Square with Little Steven, Spring­ started to put together a small session of steen, Bono, Run-DMC and others. Over friends. to record several new songs in­ the weekend, Bob Dylan arid Jackson spired by· his experiences there, but word Browne were filmed in Los Angeles, while soon got out to the music community. Even­ Ringo Starr and his son Zack Starkey were tually, Artists United Against Apartheid filmed in London.