Artists United Against Apartheid: Encyclopedia II - Artists United Against Apartheid - The reaction

Artists United Against Apartheid - The reaction

Unfortunately, only about half of American radio stations played "Sun City," with some objecting to the lyrics' explicit criticism of President Ronald Reagan's policy of "constructive engagement." R&B stations felt it was too rock-oriented, while rock stations considered it too steeped in hip-hop and R&B. Not surprisingly, the song was banned in South Africa.

Van Zandt and Schechter also struggled to get the documentary seen. PBS refused to air the non-profit film The Making of "Sun City" even though it won the International Documentary Association's top honors in 1986; PBS claimed the featured artists were also involved in making the film, and as a result, by their logic, were "self-promoting." (It's worth noting that PBS chose to broadcast The Making of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", which was made as a promotional exercise by the for-profit Paramount Pictures and Lucasfilm Ltd..)

Regardless of these objections, the album and single raised more than a million U.S. dollars for anti-apartheid projects. It premiered at the United Nations, thanks to the Special Committee Against Apartheid and UN officers such as Aracelly Santana.

In South Africa, "Sun City" would later inspire musician Johnny Clegg to create a local organization similar to Van Zandt's, and "Sun City" also became the catalyst for the South Africa Now TV series. In 1993, Sun City was issued on CD by Razor & Tie, but after the end of apartheid, the album eventually went out of print, becoming a highly-sought collectible item.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The reaction", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki