‘SUN CITY’ SALES OFF ‘WORLD’ PACE

“Sun City,” the anti-apartheid single featuring an all-star pop lineup, has arrived in record shops amid news reports of growing violence and tension in South Africa, but with scant media attention for the record itself.

The result was that weekend sales--though “good” in most of the two dozen stores checked by The Times in Los Angeles and Orange counties--were well behind the initial pace of the “We Are the World” single in March.

Where the Tower Records store in Sherman Oaks sold 400 copies of “We Are the World” in the first three days, the store’s shipment of 150 copies of “Sun City” was only half sold by mid-day Sunday. Most store employees surveyed, however, predicted the sale gap will narrow as more people learn about the new record.

“I just think more people were aware of ‘We Are the World’ by the time it hit the stores,” Jay Smith, the singles buyer at Tower Records in Sherman Oaks, said Sunday. “Once the word gets around about who’s on this record, sales should jump a lot. This record will get a lot of club play because it is very dance-oriented. That, too, should help.”

The “Sun City” lineup of nearly 50 musicians includes Bruce Springsteen, U2’s Bono Hewson, Miles Davis, Pete Townshend, Pat Benatar, Jackson Browne, Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Herbie Hancock, Lou Reed, Run-D.M.C and Ringo Starr.

Unlike the politically neutral “We Are the World,” the new single--written and co-produced by Steve Van Zandt--is aggres sively political. It attacks both the South African government for its separatist racial policies and the Reagan Administration for not applying more pressure on that government. At one point, the song declares Reagan’s “quiet diplomacy ain’t nothing but a joke.”

The song’s chorus also vows “I ain’t gonna play Sun City,” a reference to the casino resort city in Bophuthatswana where numerous pop stars, including Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt, have performed. Bophuthatswana is one of several controversial “tribal homelands” set up for blacks by the South African government.

Early in “Sun City,” David Ruffin, sings, “Relocation to phony homelands.” Benatar adds, “Separation of families I can’t understand.” Eddie Kendricks sings, “23 million can’t vote because they’re black,” and Springsteen cries, “We’re stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back.”

Though it was too early for sales estimates, Van Zandt said response from radio has been “very positive.” By phone Friday from New York he added, “I must admit I’m a bit surprised by the high amount of stations that went right on the record--even in the most conservative parts of the country.”

On the larger issue of social activism in pop music, he said, “I think social concern is very much alive in people, even the age group that is called yuppies or whatever. . . . Maybe they aren’t going to march in the streets or burn their draft card any more, but I think a part of them is still ready to respond. . . .”

An album, featuring songs written for the project by Hewson and Gabriel, and a TV promotional video are both due around Nov. 1. Proceeds from the project will be donated to The Africa Fund, a nonprofit United Nations-approved group.