Reprint of newspaper article "Musical Protest Of Apartheid" by Richard Harrington, circulated by The Africa Fund. The article describes "Sun City" as following the lead of the "We Are the World" project. "Sun City" attacks South Africa's system of apartheid and encourages a cultural boycott. The artist roster includes Steven Van Zandt (LIttle Steven), who wrote the song and organized the project, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Geldof, Bono of U2, Run-DMC, Hall and Oates, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, and producer Arthur Baker. The song uses Sun City, a Las Vegas-style luxury entertainment complex in Bophuthatswana, as a symbol for South Africa's oppressive...
Reprint of newspaper article "Musical Protest Of Apartheid" by Richard Harrington, circulated by The Africa Fund. The article describes "Sun City" as following the lead of the "We Are the World" project. "Sun City" attacks South Africa's system of apartheid and encourages a cultural boycott. The artist roster includes Steven Van Zandt (LIttle Steven), who wrote the song and organized the project, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Geldof, Bono of U2, Run-DMC, Hall and Oates, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, and producer Arthur Baker. The song uses Sun City, a Las Vegas-style luxury entertainment complex in Bophuthatswana, as a symbol for South Africa's oppressive racial policies. With its chorus of "I ain't gonna play Sun City," the record indicts performers who have accepted bookings at the resort. The goal of the record is to raise American consciousness about the South Africa; all artist royalties will go to The Africa Fund for anti-apartheid programs in the U.S. and South Africa. Musicians in "Sun City" represent the gamut of current pop styles, from rap (Afrika Bambaattaa, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, Melle Mel), rock (Pat Benatar, Lou Reed, Pete Townshend), jazz (Davis, Stanley Jordan, Herbie Hancock), reggae (Big Youth, Jimmy Cliff, R&B and funk (George Clinton, Nona Hendryx, Bobby Womack, David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks), to Latin and African music (Sunny Okussons, Ray Barretto, Reuben Blades, the Soweto-based Malopoets). The tracks include the original all-star arrangement and a dance club remix. There's also a hard-hitting rap number, "Let Me See Your ID," featuring Barretto, Peter Wolf, Duke Bottee, Big Youth, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil, the Malopoets, and Gil Scott-Heron. A jazz instrumental arrangement, "The Struggle Continues," reunites Davis with Hancock, Tony Williams and Ron Carter, as well as guitarist Stanley Jordan and Sunny Okussons. "The Revolutionary Situation" is a spoken-word cut with excerpts from speeches by imprisoned South African leader Nelson Mandela and Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu, while "No More Apartheid" is an improvisational piece by Peter Gabriel and the Indian sitarist Shankar. The article discusses nominally independent "tribal homelands," the United Nations-sanctioned cultural boycott, Artists United Against Apartheid, Jonathan Demme, and Godley and Crème.
