Raising Their Voices to Aid Armenian Orphans

More than 100 show business celebrities--from Charles Aznavour to Pia Zadora--gathered in a Hollywood recording studio Sunday to do for the victims of last month’s devasting earthquake in Soviet Armenia what pop music stars have done for starving Ethiopians, bankrupt American farmers and AIDS patients.

Although names such as Liza Minnelli, Ben Vereen, Steve Lawrence, Dionne Warwick and others who met to record “For You, Armenia,” may be more identified with Las Vegas showrooms than rock ‘n’ roll arenas, they sang and spoke of their cause with equal passion.

And passion was the principal commodity among the group--officially dubbed Friend to Friend--for their efforts to raise money and send supplies to the quake region are still in their earliest stages.

A related European effort to send help is already under way, but the Americans have no distributor for the record cut on Sunday and no network or syndicator has agreed to broadcast a special based on the session.

But the group does have Aznavour, the noted French composer whose parents were from Armenia. He spearheaded Sunday’s effort and co-wrote the song the celebrities recorded.

“I was moved by what happened and I wanted to do it for the children, so many of whom are now orphans,” said Aznavour. “I hope to raise enough money, minimum, to support the thousands of homeless children.”

Aznavour’s efforts began shortly after the Dec. 7 quake. He and George Garvarentz composed a version of the song in French and recorded it a few weeks ago with a collection of European celebrities. Sales of that record raised enough for the relief group to send 40 tons of supplies and 10 dialysis machines to Armenia, Aznavour said.

The people who gathered to make the U.S. version of the record are hoping to create a constant pipeline of supplies to help the quake victims.

The artists, some of whom brought their families, began arriving around noon and were herded into a Paramount Pictures sound stage. Many hugged and kissed each other and some spoke with newspaper and TV reporters on hand.

“This is the day of the Lord, and what better way to let people know I care?” said Vereen. “We are forgetting about differences of color, language, political ideology, and planting a seed as brothers and sisters for a greater force. We’re not sending bombs, but coming together through music.”

“When you have a God-given talent, you help,” said Minnelli. “I’m speaking more in a spiritual sense than in a religious sense. When I saw the disaster in Armenia, I thought I was going to die. Besides, when Charles Aznavour calls and says you can help, you go.”

“When I think of the schoolchildren I met over in the Soviet Union and the devastation that’s going on there now, it’s such a tragedy,” said “Head of the Class” actress Khrystyne Haje, who traveled to Moscow last year to shoot an episode of the ABC situation comedy.

Joining the Hollywood celebrities was Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), husband of absent Jane Fonda who didn’t go to the session.

“I have been involved with a lot of things in the Legislature for Armenia previous to this effort, and now, with this, I think you find a solidarity among the people that shows we cannot forget those around us,” Hayden said.

“I think it’s great that the government gets involved,” said comedian Wil Shriner, “but really, everything starts with the people.”

After about 90 minutes of meeting and talking, record producer Michael Masser led the celebrities to the nearby studio to begin rehearsals of the song.

As the group began recording, director Peter Bogdanovich was weaving his cameras in and out of the studio. He was shooting the planned video and TV special.

Within an hour, the singers were hitting their stride, belting out the anthem-like lyrics of the tune:

Your children will

Rebuild for you . . .

For you Armenia

The world is by your side

We know you will survive

We’ve opened our arms

You’ve opened up our hearts.