All-star charity singles were all the rage in the mid-’80s. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was first, and “We Are the World” received the most publicity. But if you’re looking for the coolest, and the one that arguably made the most impact, you’d have to choose “Sun City,” which was written by Steven Van Zandt and performed by one of the most star-studded and widest-ranging cast of music luminaries ever assembled.
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The song was only a minor hit at the time, in part because many radio stations feared its message, which at the time flew in the face of official U.S. policy. But its legacy as a song that made a major difference in the world is unmistakable, and it has aged much better than other charity songs of its time.
Steven’s Mission
Steven Van Zandt was a somewhat unlikely catalyst for “Sun City.” Only a year prior to the song’s release in 1985, he rolled the dice and left the stability of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band to focus on his solo career. Fittingly enough, it was his insatiable love of music that spurred him to create the song. The turning point was when he heard Peter Gabriel’s song “Biko,” about the late South African activist Steven Biko.
Mesmerized by the sound of the song but not knowing the story behind the lyrics, Van Zandt dove headlong into learning all he could. He found out about the South African policy of apartheid that segregated against and created horrendous living conditions for blacks in the country. Determined to do something about it, he visited the country and talked with principals on all sides of the argument.
The United Nations had tried to stop musicians and other entertainers from playing in the country, because those performances only filled the coffers of the ruling party. Many performed anyway, especially at the resort Sun City, which offered performers exorbitant sums above the normal to convince them to ignore the situation.
The Song
Van Zandt hit upon the idea of a song that would warn artists against playing at Sun City. He wrote the song, enlisted hot producer of the day Arthur Baker to helm it, and then set about gathering artists for the track. Many didn’t know anything about the situation when first contacted, but Van Zandt’s powers of persuasion won them over.
Many of the artists who jumped on board were heritage rock stars, such as Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Gabriel, and Van Zandt’s former bandleader Springsteen. But Van Zandt spread his net to all corners of the music world, nabbing icons like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and George Clinton. And, in perhaps his biggest stroke of inspiration and foresight, he invited hip-hop performers like Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, and Grandmaster Melle Mel, even though he was dissuaded by music executives from doing so.
Unlike “We Are the World,” Van Zandt didn’t have the advantage of collecting every artist in a studio at once. Instead, he and Baker had them come in individually, generally asking them to sing the whole song so that they could assemble the finished version from that foundation. Because many did that and added their own little touches, they actually ended up with a full album’s worth of material.
The Aftermath
“Sun City” by the collective known as Artists United Against Apartheid hit airwaves October 1985. Despite a video that put the faces to all the big names performing, the song mostly stalled at radio, reaching only No. 38 on the pop charts. But it did serve Van Zandt’s intended purpose of raising awareness to an issue that had largely lurked in the background in the U.S.
Almost immediately, the flow of big-name musicians to Sun City ground to a halt. Van Zandt didn’t stop with the song and the album. He went to Congress and pushed his case for economic sanctions on South Africa, resulting in a bill that passed despite a veto from President Ronald Reagan, who, not coincidentally, was called out in the lyrics to “Sun City.”
Apartheid fell for good early in the ’90s. While it’s probably a bit of a stretch to connect the dots from that event back to Steven Van Zandt’s song, there’s no doubt “Sun City” brought the issue to many people well before they otherwise might have learned of it. And you can dance to it.
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