Artist · chart history
Artists United Against Apartheid
Band United States Active 1985–1985
Artists United Against Apartheid formed in 1985 in the United States and was active until 1985. Artists United Against Apartheid has 5 chart appearances on 5 radio countdowns from 4 stations on RockLists, spanning 1985–2021. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Sun City”, which appears on 5 lists with a best position of #6. The station that charted Artists United Against Apartheid most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 2 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1985.
Artists United Against Apartheid was never really a band, more a flag planted in the ground. Steven Van Zandt, the activist and performer, and record producer Arthur Baker pulled it together in 1985 with a single target in their sights: apartheid in South Africa. That same year it put out the song "Sun City" and an album of the same name on EMI, and then, its point made, it was gone.
That brevity is the whole character of the thing. There was no career to protect here, no image to build, only a protest to get onto record and onto the radio while the issue burned. "Sun City" was the spearhead and the reason the name still turns up on rock countdowns: a political broadside that meant to make listeners pick a side, and still wears that purpose on its sleeve.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Artists United Against Apartheid on radio countdowns
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 477 | Sun City | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s |
| 1988 | 424 | Sun City | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) |
| 1985 | 31 | Sun City | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 |
| 1985 | 81 | Sun City | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1985 |
| 1985 | 6 | Sun City | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985 |
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