CONCERT CAN’T COUNT ON ITS ACTS

Some of the pop music artists advertised as performing in a Los Angeles anti-drug concert this month won’t be on the bill, after all.

Promoter Tony Verna acknowledged Thursday that some artists listed in newspaper advertisements for the Concert That Counts have backed out of the 11-hour show scheduled for April 26 at the Coliseum.

With the latest defections, six acts have withdrawn from the troubled concert in the last month.

“Yeah, they pulled out,” Verna said in a telephone interview. “Acts come in and drop out. What can I do about it?”

He said that scheduling problems with the acts developed after ad copy was delivered to The Times for publication in last Sunday’s Calendar.

“I am not out to deceive anybody,” Verna said. “I’m not into any deception at all. I mean, I’m not getting anything out of it.”

Verna said that other commitments forced the music group Toto and lead vocalist Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band to drop out of the lineup of 24 acts that were listed in the concert ad.

Singer Michael McDonald has bowed out, too, according to his publicist, Lori Gorman.

Gorman said that McDonald was scheduled to make a cameo appearance with Toto. Since Toto is no longer on the bill, she said, McDonald will not be participating in the event.

McDonald and Wilson are listed in a smaller ad scheduled to appear in Sunday’s Times, however. Both last week’s ad and Sunday’s include order information for concert tickets costing from $25 to $65 each.

Verna’s Global Media Ltd. has not released figures for concert ticket sales, despite repeated requests from a reporter.

Confusion has plagued the concert for weeks, almost since the day that Global Media announced plans for a show to “deglamorize drugs” and “to shift the awareness of the youth of the world” toward positive ways of creating a fulfilling life.

Verna and Concert That Counts partner Hal Uplinger were instrumental in the TV production of last year’s successful Live Aid concerts from Philadelphia and London.

Their coming anti-drug effort in Los Angeles was quickly dubbed by the press as Live Aid II, but the show has not lived up to that billing.

Such mega-stars as Madonna and George Michael of the now split-up Wham! pop group were among those Verna earlier claimed would participate in the show. They eventually disassociated themselves from the concert, and only a handful of major stars remain on the talent roster.

None of the top stars--James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Mr. Mister, for instance--will be appearing on stage at the Coliseum. Their performances will be televised via satellite to the stadium.

Acts scheduled to perform on stage at the Coliseum include Animotion, Bon Jovi, Dennis De Young, Marillion and Tommy Shaw.

Briefly in February, the concert had the public support of First Lady Nancy Reagan. She dropped out, however, over the issue of objectionable lyrics in the songs of some of the performers.

In March, Global Media moved the site of the concert to the Coliseum from the Rose Bowl when the Pasadena City Council refused to make concessions in the stadium’s standard contract for musical events.

Scheduling and parking problems at the Coliseum also forced Global Media to open its doors to persons attending a custom car show that will be held simultaneously at the Sports Arena next door.

On March 13, Verna released a “confirmed” concert lineup of entertainers that included the four acts that withdrew this week along with two other groups, the Fixx and Berlin, which dropped out before the concert ad appeared.

One of the acts on the list was heavy-metal band Quiet Riot, which had never agreed to perform at the show, according to the group’s manager Warren Entnar, and should not have been included in either last Sunday’s ad nor the March 13 announcement. The group is not listed among concert participants in the ad appearing in Sunday’s Calendar.

“After Quiet Riot was listed in the newspaper on the confirmed list, we sat down and discussed the possibilities of doing the show,” Entnar said. “But unfortunately Quiet Riot has other pressing obligations so the group has to decline taking part in this event.”

Verna said that his discussion with Quiet Riot led him to believe the group would be participating.

“Quiet Riot does not make or break my concert,” Verna said, noting that he did not learn of the error in time to pull the group’s name out of the advertisement.

Although 20 acts still appear to be confirmed for the show, none has a history of box-office success great enough to fill a 92,000-seat stadium. Verna said he plans to announce additional acts with wider audience appeal within the next few days.