Strike Up the Bandwagon We Are the World Raises Money, Spirits

By JAY COCKS

Cynics should run for cover. Anyone for whom the USA for Africa project has assumed a nearly impenetrable smog of sanctimony will be hard pressed to clear the air. All right, everyone got sore at Prince for not jumping in. And yes, Waylon Jennings walked out of the session, but he was bushed and besides joked later about his best friend: "That recording studio wasn't big enough for me and Willie Nelson."

Slim pickings indeed. On every other front, the success of the project continues to be phenomenal. We Are the World, currently No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, is the fastest-climbing single of the decade, and the biggest seller in the history of Columbia Records. To date, at least 4 million copies have been snapped up and often passed along. "People buy three, four, even five at a time," says Mark Tindle, marketing director of a Dallas distributor. "It's their way of giving to charity." The We Are the World album debuted this week at No. 9 on Billboard's chart. It contains nine previously unreleased tracks by participating artists, including some particularly nifty contributions from Bruce Springsteen (a searing version of Jimmy Cliff's Trapped), Huey Lewis and the News and Tina Turner. Prince even sent over a tune, 4 the Tears in Your Eyes, which is a standout.

Two million copies of the album have already been shipped to stores, and conservative estimates are that the record will continue to sell well for at least another month and a half. At that point it will probably need another single to keep it going, and, says Personal Manager Ken Kragen, one of the key organizers of USA for Africa: "We told the artists we wouldn't do anything without getting back to them. I hope we release more singles." One performer, at least, has an answer ready. Steve Perry, who thought no old song of his was "worthy for release, especially for such a cause," recorded a new tune at his own expense and handed it in with no strings attached. "It's my gift to the cause," he says. "That We Are the World session was one of the highlights of my life."

On Good Friday, thousands of radio stations, from Rome, Ga., to the Voice of America, broadcast We Are the World simultaneously; even Muzak shattered its sacrosanct format to chime in. In New York City, radio station WYNY-FM invited citizens to join a chorus on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral; hundreds showed up and let loose. In Indianapolis, three clubs donated their facilities and three local bands their talents. Latin artists, featuring Jose Feliciano and Julio Iglesias, have already made their own recorded contribution, Cantare Cantaras, which is projected to pull in $15 million for hunger relief; gospelers have cut Do Something Now; and an array of heavy- metal performers, from Judas Priest to Quiet Riot, have formed an outfit called Hear 'n Aid to record Stars, probably in mid-May.

This is a bandwagon that can use all the hopping on it can get. Twenty million dollars has been raised since March 6, according to Kragen, on behalf of USA for Africa alone. He expects to have $50 million by summer's end. By that time, the first medical and financial support should already have reached Africa, and a single song will have begun, really and directly, to save lives.

With reporting by Denise Worrell/Los Angeles, with other bureaus