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

Artists United Against Apartheid - The recording

When Van Zandt was finished, he and Schechter spent the next several months searching for artists to participate in recording it. Van Zandt initially declined to invite Springsteen, not wanting to take advantage of their friendship, but Schechter had no problem asking himself; Springsteen accepted the invitation. Van Zandt was also shy about calling legendary jazz artist Miles Davis, whom Schechter also contacted; with minimal persuasion, Davis also accepted. Eventually, Van Zandt and Schechter would gather a wide array of artists, including Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Lou Reed, Run DMC, Peter Gabriel, Darlene Love, Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Jackson Browne, U2, George Clinton, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Bonnie Raitt, Hall & Oates, Jimmy Cliff, Big Youth, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and Joey Ramone.

It was under the aegis Artists United Against Apartheid that these internationally-known entertainers recorded the 1985 song "Sun City", and vowed never to perform at the "Sun City" resort, because to do so would in their minds seem to be an acceptance of apartheid.

Schechter had also taken on the job of documenting the sessions on video and producing a behind-the-scenes documentary. He invited MTV to get involved and asked a friend, Hart Perry, to film the sessions. During the course of the film, Schechter asks the artists to explain their involvement in the project in their own words: "Sun City's become a symbol of a society which is very oppressive and denies basic rights to the majority of its citizens," said Jackson Browne. "In a sense, Sun City is also a symbol of that society's 'right' to entertain itself in any way that it wants to, to basically try to buy us off and to buy off world opinion."

Recalls Schechter, "I was surprised that many of the best-known rock 'n' rollers were so publicity shy. Most of them had publicists who staged their media appearances. They weren't used to cameras poking them in the face. Bruce Springsteen at first turned down my request for an interview, but just as I was walking away from him dejected, he ran after me and agreed to say a few words for the documentary.

"When Miles started improvising in the studio...Steven and Arthur [Baker] insisted I not approach him with a camera. 'It's Miles, man," Baker said. "He's erratic, idiosyncratic, explosive. Wild. Don't mess with him when he's playing...' I barged into the booth while Davis was setting up, introduced myself and asked if we could videotape him. Through the glass I could see Steve and Arthur, heads in hands, convinced that I had blown it. Miles smiled. 'Bring it on,' he ordered, 'bring it on.' And we did, getting priceless footage in the bargain."

There were 303 tracks on "Sun City," which is possibly a record for a pop single. A music video directed by Jonathan Demme with Godley and Creme was also produced. A book, study guide, and the aforementioned documentary would also be released to coincide with the single.

In addition to "Sun City," a number of other tracks were recorded, completing an album's worth of material. Drummer-musician Keith LeBlanc and Schechter came up with "Revolutionary Situation," an audio-collage set to music that took its title from the words of South Africa's then-interior chief Louis Nel condemning the "revolutionary situation." Amid a background of yapping police dogs, sounds of mayhem and revolt in the township, LeBlanc and Schechter mixed in angry declarations by activists like Alan Boesak, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela's daughter Zindzi, looped with what was at that time the most recent interview with her father, recorded in 1961.

Inspired by his meetings with several of other artists who volunteered, Bono went back to his hotel room and wrote the song "Silver and Gold" that very evening. The song was quickly recorded for inclusion on the compilation, with Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones. Ron Wood's guitar work is notable for using Keith's switchblade as a slide. "Silver and Gold" was also issued separately as a promotional single. (U2 would later re-record it for the B-side of their 1987 single, "Where The Streets Have No Name." A live U2 performance would also appear on their double-LP, Rattle and Hum.)

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