Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
Encyclopedia
The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on June 11, 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. It was also referred to as Freedomfest, Free Nelson Mandela
Concert and Mandela Day. In the US, the Fox television network heavily censored the political aspects of the concert.
and the African National Congress
, as raising worldwide consciousness of the imprisonment of ANC leader Mandela
and others by the South African apartheid government and forcing the regime to release Nelson Mandela earlier than would otherwise have happened.
Eighteen months after the event, with a release now thought to be approaching, Mandela asked for the organisers of the event to create a second concert as an official international reception at which, after 27 years in prison, he would address the world. The second event, Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa
, was, like the first, conceived to be shown on television across the world and was broadcast from Wembley Stadium to more than 60 countries on April 16, 1990.
The first concert, according to Robin Denselow, music critic and presenter of the BBC broadcast, writing in 1989, was the "biggest and most spectacular pop-political event of all time, a more political version of Live Aid with the aim of raising consciousness rather than just money."
The organiser and risk-funder of the two events was producer and impresario Tony Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth also conceived the idea for the first event.
of The Specials
ska band, who had written the song Free Nelson Mandela in 1984 and founded the Artists Against Apartheid organisation the following year. In early 1986, Hollingsworth contacted Dammers to say that the Greater London Council, for which Hollingsworth was producing a number of festivals and concerts, might be able to fund the AAA. The authority was due to be abolished at the end of March and had spare cash to give away. But a grant turned out to be impossible because the AAA was not a legal entity and Dammers had no interest in making it one.
Hollingsworth told Dammers that he would put on an anti-apartheid concert if the singer could find a big name. Dammers did not phone back until June 1987, although in the summer of 1986 he had organised a free anti-apartheid concert, Freedom Beat, in London’s Clapham Common attended by 20,000 people.
Dammers told Hollingsworth that he had received a letter from Simple Minds
, the Glasgow rock band, agreeing to perform at an event which Hollingsworth had suggested for the previous year. The two agreed to go to Edinburgh, where Simple Minds were performing, to talk about a deal for a new event.
Hollingsworth had in mind a major event, a birthday tribute for Mandela, who would be 70 the following year. The event would seek worldwide television and would call for his release – the first step in ending apartheid. Simple Minds was interested in the proposal but only if Hollingsworth brought in another top group.
First, the concert must focus on all political prisoners in South Africa, not just Mandela. Mandela had himself told the ANC that he did not wish to be singled out from other prisoners in the organisation’s campaigning. Second, the event must campaign against apartheid as a whole and this was to be in its title. Third, it must call for sanctions against South Africa.
Hollingsworth argued that the concert could not be effective under those terms. They would not work for an event that was intended for the mass media across the world, including in countries where there might be little knowledge of Mandela, let alone support for him. The event should not be "angry", but a "positive" birthday tribute, calling only for Mandela to be freed.
Many broadcasters, Hollingsworth argued, would not televise a Mandela concert if it followed the AA and ANC campaign policies. They would regard it as a political event. Other broadcasters would provide only limited airtime. But a positive birthday tribute would conform to the broadcasters’ entertainment mandate and there would be a good chance they would show the full day’s event.
Hollingsworth was not seeking ANC backing because that would have put off broadcasters. He wanted the AA’s backing but, for similar reasons, did not want the movement’s name on the event.
Terry was the first to come round to Hollingsworth’s view, but needed some time before persuading the rest of his team. On the other hand, he quickly won the approval of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston
, the AA president and a former priest in southern Africa.
Hollingsworth wanted Dire Straits
, one of the largest acts in the world and the kind of act that was needed if broadcasters across the world were to sign up for the event, to head the bill. The group took the same line as Simple Minds. The band’s manager Ed Bicknell
said that Dire Straits would perform if other top acts also agreed, but Hollingsworth was not to mention Dire Straits in persuading the other acts.
Hollingsworth signed up other big names, albeit on a provisional basis, put them in touch with one another and finally they all, including Dire Straits, agreed to perform. With clearly enough talent on board, Hollingsworth announced the bill in March, three months before the June 11 event. The list included Dire Straits, Simple Minds, George Michael
, Whitney Houston
, Aswad, Sly and Robbie
, Bee Gees
, Miriam Makeba
and Hugh Masekela
. The announcement of the list made it easier to bring in further artists, including the Eurythmics
who had earlier refused three times, but other big names also.
There were some difficulties. Bicknell, for instance, was shocked when Hollingsworth told him there was one condition to Dire Straits playing. The band must rehearse for the event because it had not been on tour for some time and had even disbanded, albeit temporarily. Hollingsworth, in fact, told most of the artists they must rehearse, offering to pay for all rehearsal costs. Dire Straits, like the others, complied. In the event, the band had to bring in a guest guitarist to replace Jack Sonni
, who had just become the father of twin girls. The new man was Eric Clapton
.
A week after the first bill was announced, Simple Minds threatened to quit, arguing that there was not enough grit in it: Whitney Houston and George Michael, for instance, should not be there. Hollingsworth argued that there was plenty of grit but that Whitney Houston and George Michael were needed to broaden the audience to include people who were not so likely to know about Mandela and apartheid. Simple Minds accepted the argument.
: Hollingsworth went to New York to ask Harry Belafonte to give the opening address of the concert. Belafonte made it clear he was upset that, with so many musicians appearing, he was being asked only to talk.
Hollingsworth told him the audience was not the right culture for him. He feared that Belafonte’s singing would turn the clock back 30 years and would lose much of the television audience across the world. He was already worried about losing the audience as a result of using African singers and dancers whom many people would not have heard of. On the other hand, Belafonte, as a highly-respected, internationally-known personality, would be an effective speaker. Belafonte told him he would think about it, but Hollingsworth should also think about him performing.
The two spoke a week later, with each taking much the same position, although Hollingsworth added that Belafonte could sing if he could get a category A artist, such as Bruce Springsteen
or Mick Jagger
or Elton John
, to sing with him. Belafonte did not get any of those, but came back with a list which Hollingsworth said was not good enough. Eventually, Belafonte agreed just to give the opening speech.
Sting: Hollingsworth went to great lengths to get Sting to perform at the concert. The singer was associated with human rights issues, partly as a result of his song They Dance Alone about the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
, and was at the height of his popularity. Sting’s manager Miles Copeland
, however, refused even to put the proposition to the singer because he would be on a world tour at the time and the Wembley concert would not fit in. The final tour schedule showed Sting due to perform in Berlin the night before Wembley and elsewhere in Europe on the evening of the Wembley concert.
Several weeks before Wembley, Hollingsworth went to Switzerland where Sting was playing and booked himself into the same hotel. He got reception to put him through to Sting (using the singer’s actual name, Gordon Sumner), told Sting that his management had refused to let him talk to the singer, and asked to meet him. Sting told him to come round to his room.
Hollingsworth told Sting that he would fly the singer and his band to London on a private plane after his Friday evening Berlin concert, drive him to Wembley in the morning where an identical set of equipment would be set up on stage for him. Sting would then do a sound check and open the show a few minutes after mid-day, the first act of the concert (after an opening speech and a set of South African show dancers). As soon as he had done his half-hour slot, he would be driven to the airport and put on the private plane taking him back to the continent. Sting agreed.
Copeland was furious about the agreement and shocked that Sting would open the show rather than be one of the closing acts. But the event was being organised not as a live concert but as a television show and that, according to Hollingsworth, meant a top act at the beginning when "the largest audience tunes in to see how it’s going to be". At least one big act was planned for each hour of the 11-hour day in a bid to keep the audience.
Stevie Wonder
: One of the first artists that Hollingsworth tried to sign up was Stevie Wonder. He could never get through to the singer, though he phoned him every Friday at his studio. Senior members of the team told him each time that the matter was "under consideration".
On the Wednesday before the concert, Wonder phoned back, asking whether there was still space for him. Hollingsworth told him there was a 25-minute slot – time that had originally been kept open for Prince
and Bono
to sing a duet together but which the two singers turned down. Wonder agreed the booking. This was never announced but was to be a surprise for the audience. In the event, the singer caused a major backstage drama when he refused to play and walked out of the stadium – though he returned later.
, recently-appointed controller of BBC2, said that he would provide five hours of airtime – and more if the bill improved. After several more top artists were added, the BBC agreed to televise the whole show.
Before the concert, 24 Conservative MPs put down a House of Commons motion, criticising the BBC for giving “publicity to a movement that encourages the African National Congress in its terrorist activities”. However, no appeal was either planned or made. Further, the artists’ contracts – which in many cases were signed backstage at Wembley – laid down that no proceeds from the income of the event should go "towards the purchase of or in any other connection with armaments".
What problems there were came from the other side. Both the Anti-Apartheid Movement and Hollingsworth received bomb threats warning them not to go ahead with the event. Nearer the event, there was a threat to blow up the power station distributing electricity to Wembley.
With the BBC on board, it was easier to persuade other broadcasters to buy the rights for the concert. The show was in most cases sold to the entertainment divisions of broadcasters as a birthday tribute that would not be political. As a result, they could agree to show the event without referring the question upwards or to the news or current-affairs divisions. According to Hollingsworth, once they had agreed to show the concert, the news divisions would have to stop referring to Mandela as a terrorist leader, thereby helping to ensure that Mandela was looked upon in a more favourable light. This was said to be a campaign objective which was beginning to be achieved by March.
Even so, given the subject matter, the event was bound to be political in a broad sense. Thus, a week before the event, the Chicago Sun-Times said that the concert would have "the most overtly political theme since the 1960s...It's a confrontational political event aimed at the government of South Africa and its practice of apartheid".
Broadcasters were also told that the concert would use two stages, enabling acts to follow each other without a break, with top acts on the main stage and lesser-known groups on the second. There would therefore be no need for broadcasters to add material between events. The reasoning was that, first, the concert would look like a television show without awkward gaps encouraging audiences to switch off; and, second, broadcasters would be less likely to impose their own narrative on the event. The use of film stars to introduce major acts also helped achieve these objectives. Some broadcasters did send presenters to carry out backstage interviews for the presumed gaps but stopped doing so after a couple of hours.
Most broadcasters showed the event live. Others, particularly in the Americas, showed it delayed because of the time difference. Most gave more or less full coverage.
In the US, the Fox Television network showed only six hours in what was referred to as a “significantly de-radicalised version”. A number of artists had their songs or speeches cut. One US newspaper objected that Fox "cut out some of the most passionate - and especially most political - moments of the day". Steven Van Zandt
was appalled when he saw a recording of the Fox broadcast on his return to the US. He complained to the press, describing it as "a totally Orwellian experience". His own contribution, including a strident rendering of the song, Sun City
, was one of those that were cut. Fox was worried about its sponsors and advertisers, particularly Coca-Cola
which had booked six advertising spots for each hour.
Whitney Houston, who was contracted to make advertisements for Coca-Cola, did her act in front of a black backdrop instead of the usual picture of Nelson Mandela. But, according to Hollingsworth, this was nothing to do with censorship but the result of an electricity generator failing.
Fox also refused to use the concert title, Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. Instead, it billed the show as Freedomfest, objecting to the pleas of the organisers to at least add "for Nelson Mandela".
A further issue was highlighted by film actor Whoopi Goldberg
when she came on stage to introduce one of the acts, saying that she had been told to say nothing political. The request did not come from the concert organisers but from the Fox TV producer at Wembley who, unbeknown to the organisers, told the Hollywood film stars to avoid saying anything political because an election was coming up in the States. After the event, the producer – in charge of his own editing team for the US broadcast – took out a full-page advertisement in a US trade magazine thanking American artists for participating in his show.
The producer had been flown in a week before the Wembley concert to replace Fox’s original choice who had been working on the production for three weeks but was thought by the network to have become infected by the political ethos of the concert organisation.
Early on, the organisers stopped an insistent Jesse Jackson
, the black American politician, from going on stage to make a speech. To have agreed to the request would have made it very difficult to say no to others. Jackson was, instead, shepherded to the Royal Box, joining Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock
and Liberal leader David Steel
along with a number of actors and musicians.
Nonetheless, the posters, the political references from the actors and musicians, the music itself, the way the singers worked the audience and the audience response almost certainly got across a wider political message about the sins of apartheid.
One or two artists took a harder line. Stephen Van Zandt, for instance, in the run-up to singing Sun City with Simple Minds, declared that "we the people will no longer tolerate the terrorism of the government of South Africa" and that "we will no longer do business with those who do business with the terrorist government of South Africa".
landed in England on the Saturday morning of the concert and went straight to Wembley Stadium, where a room was prepared for him and his band to warm up. He was to appear in the evening after UB40
. His appearance had not been announced.
UB40 were finishing their set on the main stage, and Wonder’s equipment was set up, plugged in and ready to be rolled on after a 10-minute act on a side stage. He was about to walk up the ramp to the stage when it was discovered that the hard disc of his synclavier
, carrying all 25 minutes of synthesised music for his act, was missing. He said he could not play without it, turned round, walked down the ramp crying, with his band and other members of his entourage following him, and out of the stadium.
There was an urgent need to fill the gap he had left and Tracy Chapman
, who had already performed her act, agreed to appear again. The two appearances shot her to stardom, with two songs from her recently-released first album, "Fast Car
" and "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution
". Before the concert, she had sold about 250,000 albums. In the following two weeks, she was said to have sold two million.
Wonder returned to the stadium, but turned down the request to use the same equipment as the present act on the main stage, Whitney Houston. Other members of the band said they would use other people's equipment. Finally, with time running out, Wonder agreed.
Whitney finished with three encores and the next act, Salt-N-Pepa
(SNP), started on the side stage using 3 minutes and 30 seconds of pre-approved stage time. Following SNP's performance, there was no announcement, no sound from the main stage until, out of the darkness, came the opening lines of "I Just Called to Say I Love You
" and a huge roar from the audience. The lights came on and Wonder went into the rest of the set. With the loss of the programmed hard disc, he shouted the change of notes to the band.
Simple Minds wrote Mandela Day for the event and recorded it for the first time (it was later released on the album Street Fighting Years and was the AA-side of the EP Ballad of the Streets featuring the A-Side Belfast Child, a No.1 on the British charts in 1989).
Wembley agreed to the unusual procedure of handing over ticket revenue as soon as it came in, and some television companies agreed to pay rights fees earlier than usual (although the BBC did not pay cash but provided facilities).
Although the aim of the day was to raise consciousness about South Africa and Mandela, the event also made a profit of $5 million. One half went to the AAM to cover its costs, including a protest march the following day; and one half to seven charities named by Archbishop Huddleston on condition that none of the money went towards the purchase of armaments.
The seven charities were: Oxfam
, Christian Aid
, War on Want
, Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, Save the Children
, Bishop Ambrose Reeves Trust and the International Defence and Aid Fund. With the charities in mind, a company, Freedom Productions, was set up to which the artists rights were assigned.
Rights in the event are held by Tribute Inspirations Limited
.
Shortly before Mandela's release, Hollingsworth, Terry and Mandela's lawyer sat down in London to plan another broadcast event to celebrate Mandela's release and to call for the end of Apartheid.
Further appearances included Grupo Experimental de Dansa, H. B. Barnum
, Mick Karn
, Mark Kelly
, Ray Lema
, and Steve Norman
.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
Concert and Mandela Day. In the US, the Fox television network heavily censored the political aspects of the concert.
First of two Mandela events
The Birthday Tribute was regarded by many, including the Anti-Apartheid MovementAnti-Apartheid Movement
Anti-Apartheid Movement , originally known as the Boycott Movement, was a British organization that was at the center of the international movement opposing South Africa's system of apartheid and supporting South Africa's Blacks....
and the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
, as raising worldwide consciousness of the imprisonment of ANC leader Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and others by the South African apartheid government and forcing the regime to release Nelson Mandela earlier than would otherwise have happened.
Eighteen months after the event, with a release now thought to be approaching, Mandela asked for the organisers of the event to create a second concert as an official international reception at which, after 27 years in prison, he would address the world. The second event, Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa
Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa
Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa was a popular-music concert that took place on April 16 1990 at Wembley Stadium, London, and was broadcast to more than 60 countries. It was held two months after the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African apartheid prison and...
, was, like the first, conceived to be shown on television across the world and was broadcast from Wembley Stadium to more than 60 countries on April 16, 1990.
The first concert, according to Robin Denselow, music critic and presenter of the BBC broadcast, writing in 1989, was the "biggest and most spectacular pop-political event of all time, a more political version of Live Aid with the aim of raising consciousness rather than just money."
The organiser and risk-funder of the two events was producer and impresario Tony Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth also conceived the idea for the first event.
Starting point
Hollingsworth developed the plan for the first Mandela concert after talking to singer Jerry DammersJerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers is a British musician who is a founder and keyboard player of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A...
of The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
ska band, who had written the song Free Nelson Mandela in 1984 and founded the Artists Against Apartheid organisation the following year. In early 1986, Hollingsworth contacted Dammers to say that the Greater London Council, for which Hollingsworth was producing a number of festivals and concerts, might be able to fund the AAA. The authority was due to be abolished at the end of March and had spare cash to give away. But a grant turned out to be impossible because the AAA was not a legal entity and Dammers had no interest in making it one.
Hollingsworth told Dammers that he would put on an anti-apartheid concert if the singer could find a big name. Dammers did not phone back until June 1987, although in the summer of 1986 he had organised a free anti-apartheid concert, Freedom Beat, in London’s Clapham Common attended by 20,000 people.
Dammers told Hollingsworth that he had received a letter from Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
, the Glasgow rock band, agreeing to perform at an event which Hollingsworth had suggested for the previous year. The two agreed to go to Edinburgh, where Simple Minds were performing, to talk about a deal for a new event.
Hollingsworth had in mind a major event, a birthday tribute for Mandela, who would be 70 the following year. The event would seek worldwide television and would call for his release – the first step in ending apartheid. Simple Minds was interested in the proposal but only if Hollingsworth brought in another top group.
Persuading the Anti-Apartheid Movement
At the same time, Hollingsworth started what turned out to be a series of meetings with Mike Terry, head of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in London. If the concert was to be successful, it was important to win the support of the movement and, with it, the implicit support of Mandela. But Terry and his senior officials firmly resisted Hollingsworth’s proposal, insisting on three conditions, based on the policies of the African National Congress.First, the concert must focus on all political prisoners in South Africa, not just Mandela. Mandela had himself told the ANC that he did not wish to be singled out from other prisoners in the organisation’s campaigning. Second, the event must campaign against apartheid as a whole and this was to be in its title. Third, it must call for sanctions against South Africa.
Hollingsworth argued that the concert could not be effective under those terms. They would not work for an event that was intended for the mass media across the world, including in countries where there might be little knowledge of Mandela, let alone support for him. The event should not be "angry", but a "positive" birthday tribute, calling only for Mandela to be freed.
Many broadcasters, Hollingsworth argued, would not televise a Mandela concert if it followed the AA and ANC campaign policies. They would regard it as a political event. Other broadcasters would provide only limited airtime. But a positive birthday tribute would conform to the broadcasters’ entertainment mandate and there would be a good chance they would show the full day’s event.
Hollingsworth was not seeking ANC backing because that would have put off broadcasters. He wanted the AA’s backing but, for similar reasons, did not want the movement’s name on the event.
Terry was the first to come round to Hollingsworth’s view, but needed some time before persuading the rest of his team. On the other hand, he quickly won the approval of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston
Trevor Huddleston
Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston CR, KCMG was an English Anglican bishop. He was most well known for his anti-apartheid activism and his 'Prayer for Africa'...
, the AA president and a former priest in southern Africa.
Signing up first artists
By the time that the Anti-Apartheid Movement had agreed to support the concert, Hollingsworth had booked Wembley Stadium for the following June and had approached several artists in addition to Simple Minds. Few were saying a definite no, but hardly anyone would commit.Hollingsworth wanted Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
, one of the largest acts in the world and the kind of act that was needed if broadcasters across the world were to sign up for the event, to head the bill. The group took the same line as Simple Minds. The band’s manager Ed Bicknell
Ed Bicknell
Ed Bicknell was on the Hull University entertainments committee, arranging bands for the students, when he first got a taste for the music industry. Moving to London, he worked as a drummer for Jess Conrad and then as a booker for John Sherry Artists, finding work for a number of prog-rock/college...
said that Dire Straits would perform if other top acts also agreed, but Hollingsworth was not to mention Dire Straits in persuading the other acts.
Hollingsworth signed up other big names, albeit on a provisional basis, put them in touch with one another and finally they all, including Dire Straits, agreed to perform. With clearly enough talent on board, Hollingsworth announced the bill in March, three months before the June 11 event. The list included Dire Straits, Simple Minds, George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Aswad, Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie is the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production team of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare who joined in the mid 1970s after having established themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians...
, Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
and Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
. The announcement of the list made it easier to bring in further artists, including the Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
who had earlier refused three times, but other big names also.
There were some difficulties. Bicknell, for instance, was shocked when Hollingsworth told him there was one condition to Dire Straits playing. The band must rehearse for the event because it had not been on tour for some time and had even disbanded, albeit temporarily. Hollingsworth, in fact, told most of the artists they must rehearse, offering to pay for all rehearsal costs. Dire Straits, like the others, complied. In the event, the band had to bring in a guest guitarist to replace Jack Sonni
Jack Sonni
Jack Sonni is a writer, musician, marketing executive with an emerging web presence as a cultural commentator and best known as "the other guitarist" in Dire Straits during the band's "Brothers In Arms" era.In the late 1970s Jack's band The Leisure Classhad become a Monday night fixture at Kenny's...
, who had just become the father of twin girls. The new man was Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
.
A week after the first bill was announced, Simple Minds threatened to quit, arguing that there was not enough grit in it: Whitney Houston and George Michael, for instance, should not be there. Hollingsworth argued that there was plenty of grit but that Whitney Houston and George Michael were needed to broaden the audience to include people who were not so likely to know about Mandela and apartheid. Simple Minds accepted the argument.
Harry Belafonte, Sting and Stevie Wonder
Harry BelafonteHarry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
: Hollingsworth went to New York to ask Harry Belafonte to give the opening address of the concert. Belafonte made it clear he was upset that, with so many musicians appearing, he was being asked only to talk.
Hollingsworth told him the audience was not the right culture for him. He feared that Belafonte’s singing would turn the clock back 30 years and would lose much of the television audience across the world. He was already worried about losing the audience as a result of using African singers and dancers whom many people would not have heard of. On the other hand, Belafonte, as a highly-respected, internationally-known personality, would be an effective speaker. Belafonte told him he would think about it, but Hollingsworth should also think about him performing.
The two spoke a week later, with each taking much the same position, although Hollingsworth added that Belafonte could sing if he could get a category A artist, such as Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
or Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
or Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, to sing with him. Belafonte did not get any of those, but came back with a list which Hollingsworth said was not good enough. Eventually, Belafonte agreed just to give the opening speech.
Sting: Hollingsworth went to great lengths to get Sting to perform at the concert. The singer was associated with human rights issues, partly as a result of his song They Dance Alone about the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
, and was at the height of his popularity. Sting’s manager Miles Copeland
Miles Copeland III
Miles Axe Copeland III is an American entertainment executive, best known for founding I.R.S. Records. His brother, Stewart Copeland, was part of the pop-rock trio The Police, which Miles managed...
, however, refused even to put the proposition to the singer because he would be on a world tour at the time and the Wembley concert would not fit in. The final tour schedule showed Sting due to perform in Berlin the night before Wembley and elsewhere in Europe on the evening of the Wembley concert.
Several weeks before Wembley, Hollingsworth went to Switzerland where Sting was playing and booked himself into the same hotel. He got reception to put him through to Sting (using the singer’s actual name, Gordon Sumner), told Sting that his management had refused to let him talk to the singer, and asked to meet him. Sting told him to come round to his room.
Hollingsworth told Sting that he would fly the singer and his band to London on a private plane after his Friday evening Berlin concert, drive him to Wembley in the morning where an identical set of equipment would be set up on stage for him. Sting would then do a sound check and open the show a few minutes after mid-day, the first act of the concert (after an opening speech and a set of South African show dancers). As soon as he had done his half-hour slot, he would be driven to the airport and put on the private plane taking him back to the continent. Sting agreed.
Copeland was furious about the agreement and shocked that Sting would open the show rather than be one of the closing acts. But the event was being organised not as a live concert but as a television show and that, according to Hollingsworth, meant a top act at the beginning when "the largest audience tunes in to see how it’s going to be". At least one big act was planned for each hour of the 11-hour day in a bid to keep the audience.
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
: One of the first artists that Hollingsworth tried to sign up was Stevie Wonder. He could never get through to the singer, though he phoned him every Friday at his studio. Senior members of the team told him each time that the matter was "under consideration".
On the Wednesday before the concert, Wonder phoned back, asking whether there was still space for him. Hollingsworth told him there was a 25-minute slot – time that had originally been kept open for Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
and Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
to sing a duet together but which the two singers turned down. Wonder agreed the booking. This was never announced but was to be a surprise for the audience. In the event, the singer caused a major backstage drama when he refused to play and walked out of the stadium – though he returned later.
Broadcast politics
Once the first set of artists had signed up, broadcasters were approached, starting with the BBC. Alan YentobAlan Yentob
Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter who has worked throughout his career at the BBC.-Early life:...
, recently-appointed controller of BBC2, said that he would provide five hours of airtime – and more if the bill improved. After several more top artists were added, the BBC agreed to televise the whole show.
Before the concert, 24 Conservative MPs put down a House of Commons motion, criticising the BBC for giving “publicity to a movement that encourages the African National Congress in its terrorist activities”. However, no appeal was either planned or made. Further, the artists’ contracts – which in many cases were signed backstage at Wembley – laid down that no proceeds from the income of the event should go "towards the purchase of or in any other connection with armaments".
What problems there were came from the other side. Both the Anti-Apartheid Movement and Hollingsworth received bomb threats warning them not to go ahead with the event. Nearer the event, there was a threat to blow up the power station distributing electricity to Wembley.
With the BBC on board, it was easier to persuade other broadcasters to buy the rights for the concert. The show was in most cases sold to the entertainment divisions of broadcasters as a birthday tribute that would not be political. As a result, they could agree to show the event without referring the question upwards or to the news or current-affairs divisions. According to Hollingsworth, once they had agreed to show the concert, the news divisions would have to stop referring to Mandela as a terrorist leader, thereby helping to ensure that Mandela was looked upon in a more favourable light. This was said to be a campaign objective which was beginning to be achieved by March.
Even so, given the subject matter, the event was bound to be political in a broad sense. Thus, a week before the event, the Chicago Sun-Times said that the concert would have "the most overtly political theme since the 1960s...It's a confrontational political event aimed at the government of South Africa and its practice of apartheid".
Broadcasters were also told that the concert would use two stages, enabling acts to follow each other without a break, with top acts on the main stage and lesser-known groups on the second. There would therefore be no need for broadcasters to add material between events. The reasoning was that, first, the concert would look like a television show without awkward gaps encouraging audiences to switch off; and, second, broadcasters would be less likely to impose their own narrative on the event. The use of film stars to introduce major acts also helped achieve these objectives. Some broadcasters did send presenters to carry out backstage interviews for the presumed gaps but stopped doing so after a couple of hours.
Most broadcasters showed the event live. Others, particularly in the Americas, showed it delayed because of the time difference. Most gave more or less full coverage.
In the US, the Fox Television network showed only six hours in what was referred to as a “significantly de-radicalised version”. A number of artists had their songs or speeches cut. One US newspaper objected that Fox "cut out some of the most passionate - and especially most political - moments of the day". Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
was appalled when he saw a recording of the Fox broadcast on his return to the US. He complained to the press, describing it as "a totally Orwellian experience". His own contribution, including a strident rendering of the song, Sun City
Sun City (song)
"Sun City" is a 1985 protest song written by Steven Van Zandt, produced by Van Zandt and Arthur Baker and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid...
, was one of those that were cut. Fox was worried about its sponsors and advertisers, particularly Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
which had booked six advertising spots for each hour.
Whitney Houston, who was contracted to make advertisements for Coca-Cola, did her act in front of a black backdrop instead of the usual picture of Nelson Mandela. But, according to Hollingsworth, this was nothing to do with censorship but the result of an electricity generator failing.
Fox also refused to use the concert title, Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. Instead, it billed the show as Freedomfest, objecting to the pleas of the organisers to at least add "for Nelson Mandela".
A further issue was highlighted by film actor Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
when she came on stage to introduce one of the acts, saying that she had been told to say nothing political. The request did not come from the concert organisers but from the Fox TV producer at Wembley who, unbeknown to the organisers, told the Hollywood film stars to avoid saying anything political because an election was coming up in the States. After the event, the producer – in charge of his own editing team for the US broadcast – took out a full-page advertisement in a US trade magazine thanking American artists for participating in his show.
The producer had been flown in a week before the Wembley concert to replace Fox’s original choice who had been working on the production for three weeks but was thought by the network to have become infected by the political ethos of the concert organisation.
On-stage politics
There were supposed to be no political speeches at the event except for the message that Nelson Mandela should be freed – coming from Harry Belafonte in his opening speech, from the film stars and musicians introducing the acts or the next piece of music and from the slogans around the stage. The principle – aimed at ensuring that broadcasters would, first, buy the television rights and, second, continue to show the proceedings – was more or less followed.Early on, the organisers stopped an insistent Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
, the black American politician, from going on stage to make a speech. To have agreed to the request would have made it very difficult to say no to others. Jackson was, instead, shepherded to the Royal Box, joining Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
and Liberal leader David Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
along with a number of actors and musicians.
Nonetheless, the posters, the political references from the actors and musicians, the music itself, the way the singers worked the audience and the audience response almost certainly got across a wider political message about the sins of apartheid.
One or two artists took a harder line. Stephen Van Zandt, for instance, in the run-up to singing Sun City with Simple Minds, declared that "we the people will no longer tolerate the terrorism of the government of South Africa" and that "we will no longer do business with those who do business with the terrorist government of South Africa".
Stevie Wonder walks out
Stevie WonderStevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
landed in England on the Saturday morning of the concert and went straight to Wembley Stadium, where a room was prepared for him and his band to warm up. He was to appear in the evening after UB40
UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
. His appearance had not been announced.
UB40 were finishing their set on the main stage, and Wonder’s equipment was set up, plugged in and ready to be rolled on after a 10-minute act on a side stage. He was about to walk up the ramp to the stage when it was discovered that the hard disc of his synclavier
Synclavier
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
, carrying all 25 minutes of synthesised music for his act, was missing. He said he could not play without it, turned round, walked down the ramp crying, with his band and other members of his entourage following him, and out of the stadium.
There was an urgent need to fill the gap he had left and Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
, who had already performed her act, agreed to appear again. The two appearances shot her to stardom, with two songs from her recently-released first album, "Fast Car
Fast Car
"Fast Car" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released as a single in April 1988 from her self-titled 1988 debut album Tracy Chapman...
" and "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution
Talkin' 'bout a Revolution
"Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution" is the second single from African American contemporary folk artist Tracy Chapman. The politically aware song failed to replicate the success of its predecessor, "Fast Car", and peaked at #75 in the United States...
". Before the concert, she had sold about 250,000 albums. In the following two weeks, she was said to have sold two million.
Wonder returned to the stadium, but turned down the request to use the same equipment as the present act on the main stage, Whitney Houston. Other members of the band said they would use other people's equipment. Finally, with time running out, Wonder agreed.
Whitney finished with three encores and the next act, Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....
(SNP), started on the side stage using 3 minutes and 30 seconds of pre-approved stage time. Following SNP's performance, there was no announcement, no sound from the main stage until, out of the darkness, came the opening lines of "I Just Called to Say I Love You
I Just Called to Say I Love You
"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a song, produced, written and performed by Stevie Wonder. It was one of Wonder's most commercially successful singles....
" and a huge roar from the audience. The lights came on and Wonder went into the rest of the set. With the loss of the programmed hard disc, he shouted the change of notes to the band.
Resonant music
The concert included several well-known protest songs and others which received an added resonance from the occasion. The songs included:- Free Nelson MandelaFree Nelson Mandela"Nelson Mandela" is a song written by Jerry Dammers and performed by his Coventry-based band The Special A.K.A. - with lead vocal by Stan Campbell - released on the single Nelson Mandela / Break Down The Door in 1984 as a protest against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela...
by Jerry Dammers - BikoBiko (song)"Biko" is a protest song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was included on Gabriel's third album, Peter Gabriel . It is about Steve Biko, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977...
by Peter Gabriel - They Dance AloneThey Dance Alone"They Dance Alone " is a protest song composed by English musician Sting and published first on the 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun. The song is a metaphor referring to mourning Chilean women who dancing the Cueca, the national dance of Chile, alone with photographs of their disappeared loved...
by Sting - Sun CitySun City (song)"Sun City" is a 1985 protest song written by Steven Van Zandt, produced by Van Zandt and Arthur Baker and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid...
by Steven Van Zandt - Mandela DayMandela DayNelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each 18 July . The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010...
by Simple Minds - I Just Called to Say I Love YouI Just Called to Say I Love You"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a song, produced, written and performed by Stevie Wonder. It was one of Wonder's most commercially successful singles....
by Stevie Wonder - Brothers in ArmsBrothers in Arms (song)"Brothers in Arms" is a 1985 song by Dire Straits, appearing as the closing track on the album of the same name. It is in G# minor.-History:There are two studio recorded versions of this song: the album version which is 6:55 seconds, and the shorter version which is 6:05 seconds and features...
by Dire Straits - Wonderful TonightWonderful Tonight"Wonderful Tonight" is a song written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album Slowhand and released as a single the following year. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd, and it is mentioned in her autobiographical book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me...
by Eric Clapton - Amazing GraceAmazing Grace"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
, sung by Jessye Norman
Simple Minds wrote Mandela Day for the event and recorded it for the first time (it was later released on the album Street Fighting Years and was the AA-side of the EP Ballad of the Streets featuring the A-Side Belfast Child, a No.1 on the British charts in 1989).
Funding and organisation
The initial funding for Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute came from Hollingsworth and, specifically, from the money which he had put into the production company, Elephant House, set up with television producer Neville Bolt. But the money amounted only "to 75 per cent of what was needed as a minimum". Funding to help pay the deposit on Wembley Stadium came from a trade-union loan organised by the Anti Apartheid Movement.Wembley agreed to the unusual procedure of handing over ticket revenue as soon as it came in, and some television companies agreed to pay rights fees earlier than usual (although the BBC did not pay cash but provided facilities).
Although the aim of the day was to raise consciousness about South Africa and Mandela, the event also made a profit of $5 million. One half went to the AAM to cover its costs, including a protest march the following day; and one half to seven charities named by Archbishop Huddleston on condition that none of the money went towards the purchase of armaments.
The seven charities were: Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
, Christian Aid
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is the official relief and development agency of 40 British and Irish churches and works to support sustainable development, alleviate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster relief in South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia...
, War on Want
War on Want
War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while...
, Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
, Bishop Ambrose Reeves Trust and the International Defence and Aid Fund. With the charities in mind, a company, Freedom Productions, was set up to which the artists rights were assigned.
Rights in the event are held by Tribute Inspirations Limited
Tribute Inspirations
Tribute Inspirations Limited is a UK-registered company which owns rights in nine of the world’s largest global broadcast events, all executive-produced by TonyHollingsworth:Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday TributeThe Wall Live in Berlin...
.
Postscript
The estimated audience for the Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute of 600 million in 67 countries was arguably an underestimate in that several broadcasters in Africa were given a free licence. However, the apartheid government did not allow the event to be broadcast in South Africa. But news of the event and its popularity reached Mandela and other political prisoners. In time, the strong ripple effect is thought to have increased pressure on the government to release Mandela, and it became increasingly likely that he would be released, albeit 20 months after the concert and 27 years after he was put in prison.Shortly before Mandela's release, Hollingsworth, Terry and Mandela's lawyer sat down in London to plan another broadcast event to celebrate Mandela's release and to call for the end of Apartheid.
Performers and Speakers
In order of appearance:- The FarafinaFarafinaFarafina is a music and dance group from Burkina Faso, established in 1978. The eight-member group is Burkina Faso's best known musical group, and one of Africa's most internationally prominent musical groups....
Drummers - Sting (introduced by Harry BelafonteHarry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
) – "If You Love Somebody Set Them FreeIf You Love Somebody Set Them Free"If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" is the first single released from Sting's solo debut album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. It is also the opening track of the album, and is featured on Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994 as well as The Very Best of Sting & The Police...
", "They Dance AloneThey Dance Alone"They Dance Alone " is a protest song composed by English musician Sting and published first on the 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun. The song is a metaphor referring to mourning Chilean women who dancing the Cueca, the national dance of Chile, alone with photographs of their disappeared loved...
", "Every Breath You TakeEvery Breath You Take"Every Breath You Take" is a song by The Police on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity, written by Sting and Andy Summers . The single was one of the biggest hits of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the...
", "Message in a BottleMessage in a Bottle (song)"Message in a Bottle" is a 1979 song by The Police, from their second album, Reggatta de Blanc.The song is ostensibly about a story of a castaway on an island, who sends out a message in a bottle to seek love. A year later, he has not received any sort of response, and despairs, thinking he is...
" - George MichaelGeorge MichaelGeorge Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
(introduced by Lenny HenryLenny HenryLenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
) – "Village Ghetto Land", "If You Were My Woman", "Sexual HealingSexual Healing"Sexual Healing" is a 1982 song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye on the Columbia Records label. It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, following the release of the In Our Lifetime album the previous year...
" - Sir Richard AttenboroughRichard AttenboroughRichard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
- speech - Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
and Richard GereRichard GereRichard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
- speech - EurythmicsEurythmicsEurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
(introduced by Richard GereRichard GereRichard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
) – "I Need a Man", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)In 1997 recorded the Finnish parody rock band Leningrad Cowboys a cover for their 1997 album Mongolian Barbeque. In that cover the mouth organ was replaced by an electric guitar for the instrumentation and the intro was so taken with the electric guitar, unlike the original this version is very...
", "Here Comes the Rain AgainHere Comes the Rain Again"Here Comes the Rain Again" is a song by British pop duo Eurythmics. It was written by group members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and produced by Stewart. The song was released as the third single in the UK from the album Touch and in the United States as the first single. It became...
", "You Have Placed a Chill in My HeartYou Have Placed a Chill in My Heart"You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart" is a song recorded by British pop duo Eurythmics. It was written by group members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, and appears on the duo's album Savage...
", "When Tomorrow ComesWhen Tomorrow Comes"When Tomorrow Comes" is a song recorded by British pop music duo Eurythmics. It was written by group members Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart and guest keyboardist Pat Seymour...
", "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)-Personnel:*Annie Lennox – vocals, keyboards, synthesisers, flute*David A. Stewart – guitar, keyboards, synthesisers, programming, backing vocals-Additional personnel:*Robert Crash - Guitar/ E-Drums/ Synth/ Robotic vocals...
", "Brand New Day" - Graham ChapmanGraham ChapmanGraham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
- speech - The Arnhemland Dancers
- Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
- speech - Amabutho Male Chorus
- Lenny HenryLenny HenryLenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
doing a Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
parody - Al GreenAl GreenAlbert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
(introduced by Lenny HenryLenny HenryLenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
) – "Let's Stay TogetherLet's Stay Together (song)"Let's Stay Together" is a song by Al Green on his 1972 album of the same name. Released as a single in 1971, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks and also topped Billboards R&B chart for nine weeks. It was ranked the 60th greatest song of all time...
" - Joe CockerJoe CockerJohn Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
– "Unchain My HeartUnchain My Heart (song)"Unchain My Heart" is a song written by Bobby Sharp and recorded first in 1961 by Ray Charles and in 1963 by Trini Lopez and later by many others. Sharp, a drug addict at the time, sold the song to Teddy Powell for $50. Powell demanded half the songwriting credit. Sharp later successfully fought...
" - Jonathan ButlerJonathan ButlerJonathan Butler is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music.-Biography:...
- "True Love Never Fails" - Freddie JacksonFreddie JacksonFrederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s...
- "Jam TonightJam Tonight"Jam Tonight" is a 1987 single by Freddie Jackson. The up tempo single was Jackson's sixth release to make the number one position on the Hot Black Singles chart, "Jam Tonight" also peaked at number thirty-two on the Hot 100.- References :...
" - Ashford & SimpsonAshford & SimpsonNickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
- "Ain't No Mountain High EnoughAin't No Mountain High Enough"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...
" - Natalie ColeNatalie ColeNatalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...
- "Pink CadillacPink Cadillac (song)"Pink Cadillac" is a humorous song by Bruce Springsteen which though a minor item in his canon of recorded music was a prominent concert number during Springsteen's 1984-85 Born in the U.S.A. Tour...
" - Al GreenAl GreenAlbert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
, Joe CockerJoe CockerJohn Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Jonathan ButlerJonathan ButlerJonathan Butler is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music.-Biography:...
, Freddie JacksonFreddie JacksonFrederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s...
, Ashford & SimpsonAshford & SimpsonNickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
, and Natalie ColeNatalie ColeNatalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...
- "He's Got the Whole World in His HandsHe's Got the Whole World in His Hands"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New, in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina...
", "Higher and Higher" - Lenny HenryLenny HenryLenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
- Introduction for Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
and Hugh LaurieHugh LaurieJames Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director... - Fry & Laurie (Stand-up comedy)
- Phil Collins All Stars (House Band)
- The Phantom Horns - Johnny Thirkell, Gary BarnacleGary BarnacleGary Barnacle is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work Gary Barnacle (born 1959, Dover, England) is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work...
, Peter Thoms, Simon Gardner - Tracy ChapmanTracy ChapmanTracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
(1st appearance) - "Why?", "Behind the Wall", "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" - Wet Wet WetWet Wet WetWet Wet Wet are a Scottish pop rock band that formed in the 1980s. They scored a number of hits in the British charts and around the world. The band is composed of Marti Pellow , Tommy Cunningham , Graeme Clark and Neil Mitchell...
(introduced by Daryl HannahDaryl HannahDaryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
) - "Wishing I Was LuckyWishing I Was Lucky"Wishing I Was Lucky" was the debut single by Wet Wet Wet. It was taken from their 1987 album Popped In Souled Out. It was released on 6 April 1987 and was their first hit, peaking at #6 on the UK Singles Chart....
" - Tony HadleyTony HadleyTony Hadley is an English pop singer-songwriter, occasional stage actor and radio presenter who gained celebrity as the lead vocalist for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet.-Early life:...
- "A Harvest for the World" - Joan ArmatradingJoan ArmatradingJoan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
- "Love and AffectionLove and Affection"Love and Affection" is a song by Joan Armatrading. Her fourth single, and her third for A&M Records, it was her first chart success. It reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1976. One of her best known recordings, it has been described as a "deceptively feisty ballad... an instant...
" - Midge UreMidge UreJames "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...
- "Dear GodAnswers to Nothing-Personnel:*Midge Ure - guitars, keyboards, vocals*Mark King, Steve Brzezicki - bass*Mark Brzezicki - drums*Robbie Kilgore - additional keyboards*Kate Bush - vocals on "Sister and Brother"*Craig Armstrong - piano on "Sister and Brother"...
" (w/Phil CollinsPhil CollinsPhilip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
& Mark BrzezickiMark BrzezickiMark Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders and many others...
) - Paul CarrackPaul CarrackPaul Carrack is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Carrack has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others including Nick Lowe, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well...
- "How Long?" - FishFish (singer)Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
- "KayleighKayleigh"Kayleigh" was a number two UK hit for British neo-progressive rock band Marillion in 1985. It remains the group's most successful single in terms of chart position. The single was kept from the UK Number 1 spot by charity single "You'll Never Walk Alone" by supergroup The Crowd in the summer of...
" - Paul YoungPaul Young (singer and guitarist)Paul Antony Young is an English pop musician. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & The Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, his following solo success as a solo recording artist turned him into a 1980s teenage pop idol...
- "Don't Dream It's OverDon't Dream It's Over-12": Capitol / 12CL 438 United Kingdom :* also available on CD and MC-Personnel:*Neil Finn: Vocals and guitar*Nick Seymour: Bass guitar*Paul Hester: Drums and backing vocals*Mitchell Froom: Keyboards-Release history:- Charts :...
" - Curt SmithCurt SmithCurt Smith is an English musician. He is best known for forming the band Tears for Fears, along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. Also a solo artist, he released his third album Halfway, Pleased in May 2008....
- "Everybody Wants to Rule the WorldEverybody Wants to Rule the World"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by the British New Wave band Tears for Fears.It was the band's ninth single release in the United Kingdom and seventh UK Top 40 chart hit, peaking at number two in April 1985...
" - Bryan AdamsBryan AdamsBryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
- "Somebody" - Bee GeesBee GeesThe Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
- "You Win AgainYou Win Again (song)"You Win Again" is a 1987 song written and performed by the Bee Gees. Barry Gibb wrote the melody while brother Maurice conceived the drum sounds that open the track....
", "I've Gotta Get a Message to YouI've Gotta Get a Message to You"I've Gotta Get a Message to You" is a song recorded by The Bee Gees in 1968, which became their second number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, and reached number eight on the U.S. pop chart....
" - Ali McGraw and Philip Michael ThomasPhilip Michael ThomasPhilip Michael Thomas is an American actor. Thomas's most famous role is that of detective Ricardo Tubbs on the hit 1980s TV series Miami Vice. His first notable roles were in Coonskin and opposite Irene Cara in the 1976 film Sparkle...
- Introduction for Jonas GwangwaJonas GwangwaJonas Mosa Gwangwa has been an important figure in South African jazz for over 40 years. He first gained significance playing trombone with The Jazz Epistles... - Jonas GwangwaJonas GwangwaJonas Mosa Gwangwa has been an important figure in South African jazz for over 40 years. He first gained significance playing trombone with The Jazz Epistles...
- Salif KeitaSalif KeitaSalif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...
(introduced by Lenny HenryLenny HenryLenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
) - Youssou N’Dour - "Pitche Mi"
- Jackson BrowneJackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
and Youssou N’Dour - "When the Stone Begins to Turn" - Sly & Robbie and Aswad - "Set Them Free"
- Mahlathini and the Mahotella QueensMahlathini and the Mahotella QueensMahlathini and the Mahotella Queens was a South African mbaqanga supergroup composed of:...
- UB40UB40UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
(introduced by Gregory HinesGregory HinesGregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Born in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang...
) - "Rat in Mi Kitchen", "Red Red WineRed Red Wine"Red Red Wine" is a song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond. It has been covered by Tony Tribe, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, and more famously by British reggae group UB40, whose version topped the U.S. and UK singles charts...
" - UB40UB40UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
and Chrissie HyndeChrissie HyndeChristine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
- "I Got You BabeI Got You Babe"I Got You Babe" is a 1965 #1 single by American pop music duo Sonny & Cher.-Background and composition:Sonny Bono, a songwriter and record producer for Phil Spector, wrote the lyrics to and composed the music of the song for himself and his then-wife, Cher, late at night in their basement. Session...
", "Breakfast in Bed", "Sing Our Own Song" - Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
- One Woman Show - Tracy ChapmanTracy ChapmanTracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
(2nd appearance) - "Fast CarFast Car"Fast Car" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released as a single in April 1988 from her self-titled 1988 debut album Tracy Chapman...
", "Across the Lines" - Billy ConnollyBilly ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
- speech - Hugh Masakela/Miriam MakebaMiriam MakebaMiriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
- "Soweto Blues" - Miriam MakebaMiriam MakebaMiriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
- "Pata PataPata Pata"Pata Pata" is a song by South African singer Miriam Makeba. The song was written by fellow southern African artist Dorothy Masuka and first released by Makeba in 1957 when she still lived in South Africa. The song was released in the United States in 1967 for her studio album of the same name...
" - Courtney PineCourtney PineCourtney Pine CBE is an English jazz musician. At school he studied the clarinet, although he is known primarily for his saxophone playing. Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing the flute, clarinet, bass Clarinet and keyboards...
& IDJ Dancers - Simple MindsSimple MindsSimple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
(introduced by Emily LloydEmily Lloyd-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
& Denzel WashingtonDenzel WashingtonDenzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
) - "WaterfrontWaterfront (song)"Waterfront" is a 1983 single from Simple Minds, the first release from the album Sparkle in the Rain.Featuring a new, rockier sound, "Waterfront" scaled the charts in various countries around the world, including hitting #1 for two weeks in New Zealand. It also reached #13 on the UK Singles Charts...
" - Simple MindsSimple MindsSimple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
featuring Johnny MarrJohnny MarrJohnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
- "Summertime BluesSummertime Blues"Summertime Blues" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran. It was written in the late 1950s by Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. Originally a single B-side, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on...
" - Simple MindsSimple MindsSimple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
- "Mandela DayMandela DayNelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each 18 July . The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010...
", "Sanctify Yourself", "East at Easter", "Alive and KickingAlive and Kicking (song)"Alive and Kicking" is a song by the rock band Simple Minds, released as first single from the band's 1985 album, Once Upon a Time.Following on from the success of previous non-album single, "Don't You ", "Alive and Kicking" was released as a single, reaching #3 on the U.S...
" - Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Simple MindsSimple MindsSimple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
& Youssou N'DourYoussou N'DourYoussou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...
- "BikoBiko (song)"Biko" is a protest song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was included on Gabriel's third album, Peter Gabriel . It is about Steve Biko, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977...
" - Steven van ZandtSteven Van ZandtSteven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
, Simple MindsSimple MindsSimple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
, David SanbornDavid SanbornDavid Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
- "Sun CitySun City (song)"Sun City" is a 1985 protest song written by Steven Van Zandt, produced by Van Zandt and Arthur Baker and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid...
" - Jerry DammersJerry DammersJeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers is a British musician who is a founder and keyboard player of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A...
, Simple MindsSimple MindsSimple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
- "Free Nelson MandelaFree Nelson Mandela"Nelson Mandela" is a song written by Jerry Dammers and performed by his Coventry-based band The Special A.K.A. - with lead vocal by Stan Campbell - released on the single Nelson Mandela / Break Down The Door in 1984 as a protest against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela...
" - Harry EnfieldHarry EnfieldHenry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
(Stand-up comedy) - AmampondoAmampondoAmampondo is a South African percussion ensemble which was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa Cape Town in 1978. The other founding members were Simpiwe Matole; Michael Ludonga; Mzwandile Qotoyi; Leo Mbizela and Mandla Lande.-Origins:...
- Whitney HoustonWhitney HoustonWhitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
(introduced by Corbin BernsenCorbin BernsenCorbin Dean Bernsen is an American actor and director, known for his work on television. He is best known for his roles as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series L.A. Law, and as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych...
and Jennifer BealsJennifer BealsJennifer Beals is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former...
) - "Didn't We Almost Have It AllDidn't We Almost Have It All"Didn't We Almost Have It All" is the second single from Whitney Houston's second album Whitney, and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1988 Grammy Awards. The song was written by Michael Masser and Will Jennings and was released in August 1987...
", "Love Will Save the DayLove Will Save the Day"Love Will Save the Day" was the fifth single by American singer-songwriter Whitney Houston from her second multi-platinum studio album Whitney. The single was released in July 1988 by Arista Records....
", "So EmotionalSo Emotional"So Emotional" is a song recorded by American pop/ R&B singer Whitney Houston. The song was the third single from her second album Whitney, and was released on November 12, 1987....
", "Where Do Broken Hearts GoWhere Do Broken Hearts Go"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" is the fourth single from Whitney Houston's second album, Whitney. The ballad was released in February 1988. The song was written by Frank Wildhorn and Chuck Jackson. Wildhorn approached Jackson about the opportunity to write for Whitney Houston...
", "How Will I KnowHow Will I Know"How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,...
", "He/I Believe" (duet with her mother Cissy HoustonCissy HoustonEmily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
), "I Wanna Dance with Somebody", "Greatest Love of AllGreatest Love of All"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer...
" - Salt-N-PepaSalt-N-PepaSalt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....
(introduced by Meat LoafMeat LoafMichael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
) - "Push ItPush It (Salt-N-Pepa song)"Push It" is a song by the group Salt-N-Pepa, released as a single in 1986. It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987 and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA...
" - Derek BDerek BDerek Boland , better known by his stage name Derek B, was a British rapper. His most commercially successful releases were "Goodgroove" and "Bad Young Brother" in 1988.- Biography :...
- "Free Mandela" - Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
- "I Just Called to Say I Love YouI Just Called to Say I Love You"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a song, produced, written and performed by Stevie Wonder. It was one of Wonder's most commercially successful singles....
", speech, "Dark 'n Lovely" - Fat Boys and Chubby CheckerChubby CheckerChubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
- "The TwistThe Twist (song)"The Twist" is a twelve bar blues song that gave birth to the Twistdance craze. The song was written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side but his version was only a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at 28 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" - Harry EnfieldHarry EnfieldHenry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
(Stand-up comedy) - Billy ConnollyBilly ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
(Stand-up comedy) - Dire StraitsDire StraitsDire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
featuring Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
(introduced by Billy ConnollyBilly ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
) - "Walk of LifeWalk of Life (Dire Straits song)"Walk of Life" is a 1985 song by the British rock band Dire Straits. It appeared on their best-selling album Brothers in Arms. It subsequently appeared on their live album On the Night. It was released as a single in November 1985 but had first been available as the b-side of "So Far Away" released...
", "Sultans of SwingSultans of Swing"Sultans of Swing" was the first single release of the British rock band Dire Straits. First released in 1978, its 1979 re-release caused it to become a hit in both the UK and USA....
", "Romeo and Juliet", "Money for NothingMoney for Nothing (song)"Money for Nothing" is a single by British rock band Dire Straits, taken from their 1985 album Brothers in Arms. It was one of Dire Straits' most successful singles, peaking at number one for three weeks in the United States, and it also reached number one for three weeks on the U.S. Mainstream...
", "Brothers in ArmsBrothers in Arms (song)"Brothers in Arms" is a 1985 song by Dire Straits, appearing as the closing track on the album of the same name. It is in G# minor.-History:There are two studio recorded versions of this song: the album version which is 6:55 seconds, and the shorter version which is 6:05 seconds and features...
", "Wonderful TonightWonderful Tonight"Wonderful Tonight" is a song written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album Slowhand and released as a single the following year. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd, and it is mentioned in her autobiographical book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me...
", "Solid Rock" - Jessye NormanJessye NormanJessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...
- "Amazing GraceAmazing Grace"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
" (Finale)
Further appearances included Grupo Experimental de Dansa, H. B. Barnum
H. B. Barnum
H. B. Barnum is an American pianist, arranger, record producer, songwriter, and former child actor....
, Mick Karn
Mick Karn
Andonis Michaelides , better known as Mick Karn, was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter, who came to fame as the bassist for the art rock band Japan, from 1974 to 1982....
, Mark Kelly
Mark Kelly
Mark Kelly is the keyboardist of the progressive rock band, Marillion. He was raised in Ireland until he moved to England with his parents in 1969....
, Ray Lema
Ray Lema
Raymond Lema A'nsi Nzinga, known as Ray Lema, is a Congolese musician born March 30, 1946 in Lufu-Toto, Bas-Congo Province.Lema is a pianist, guitarist, and songwriter. He worked for the National Ballet of Zaire, as it was then called, and in 1979 was invited to the United States by the...
, and Steve Norman
Steve Norman
Steve Norman is an English musician who plays saxophone, guitar, percussion, and other instruments, for Spandau Ballet.-Early career:Steve Norman was initially a guitarist in the group with Gary Kemp...
.
Further reading
- M. Rainbird Pub. in association with Associated Media: Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute : with Artists Against Apartheid in support of the anti apartheid movement, Wembley Stadium, Saturday 11 June, London. Concert booklet. OCLC 23081366
- Lahusen, Christian. 1996. The rhetoric of moral protest public campaigns, celebrity endorsement, and political mobilization. De Gruyter studies in organization, 76. Berlin: W. de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110150933