“Wake Up Everybody” is an R&B song written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen. In 2004, a cover version was released to coincide with the 2004 presidential election. It features a collection of music stars who urge young people to go out and vote. The song was produced by Babyface, and features various prominent R&B singers and rappers. It was an airplay-only single. It reached number 19 on the Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Artists on the 2004 recording included: Akon, Ashanti, Babyface, Brandy, Claudette Ortiz, Eve, Fabolous, Faith Evans, Floetry, Jadakiss, Jaheim, Jamie Foxx, Jon B, Keke Palmer, Marques Houston, Mary J. Blige, Miri Ben-Ari, Missy Elliott, Monica, Musiq Soulchild, Nick Scotti, Omarion, Rev Run and Wyclef Jean.
“Hallelujah!” is a 1992 song from Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, a Grammy award winning Reprise Records concept album. The song is a soulful re-interpretation of the “Hallelujah” chorus from Messiah, George Frideric Handel‘s well-known oratorio from 1741. It is performed by a choir of all-star gospel, contemporary Christian, R&B and jazz singers, along with several actors.The song was arranged and produced by Take 6 alumnus Mervyn Warren, and conducted by Quincy Jones.
The vocalists performing on “Hallelujah!” are Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Patti Austin, Bernie K., Daryl Coley, Commissioned, Andrae Crouch, Sandra Crouch, Clifton Davis, Charles S. Dutton, Kim Fields, Larnelle Harris, Edwin Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, Linda Hopkins, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Lizz Lee, Dawnn Lewis, Babbie Mason, Johnny Mathis, Marilyn McCoo, Mike E., Stephanie Mills, Jeffrey Osborne, David Pack, Phylicia Rashad, Joe Sample, Richard Smallwood, Sounds of Blackness, Take 6, Darryl Tookes, Mervyn Warren, Thomas Whitfield, Vanessa Williams and Chris Willis.
“Sun City” is a 1985 protest song written by Steven Van Zandt, produced by Van Zandt and Arthur Baker and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid. The primary means of that opposition is to declare that all the artists involved would refuse any and all offers to perform at Sun City, a resort which was located within the bantustan of Bophuthatswana, one of a number of internationally unrecognized states created by the South African government to forcibly relocate its black population.
Van Zandt was interested in writing a song about South Africa’s Sun City casino resort, to make parallels with the plight of Native Americans. Danny Schechter, a journalist who was then working with ABC News‘ 20/20, suggested turning the song into a different kind of “We Are the World“, or as Schechter explains, “a song about change not charity, freedom not famine.”
As Van Zandt was writing it, Schechter suggested that he include the names of the artists who had played Sun City in defiance of a United Nations-sanctioned cultural boycott. “I was probably still thinking of 20/20’s exposé of conservative Africanists 15 years earlier,” says Schechter. References to specific performers who had played in Sun City appeared in the demo but were omitted from the final version of the song.
When Van Zandt was finished writing “Sun City”, he, Baker and Schechter spent the next several months searching for artists to participate in recording it. Van Zandt initially declined to invite Bruce Springsteen, not wanting to take advantage of their friendship, but Schechter had no problem asking himself; Springsteen accepted the invitation. Van Zandt also had reservations about inviting legendary jazz musician Miles Davis, whom Schechter also contacted; with minimal persuasion, Davis also accepted. Eventually, Van Zandt, Baker and Schechter would gather a wide array of artists, including Kool DJ Herc, Grandmaster Melle Mel, The Fat Boys, Rubén Blades, Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Ringo Starr and his son Zak Starkey, Lou Reed, Run DMC, Peter Gabriel, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Darlene Love, Bobby Womack, Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Jackson Browne and then-girlfriend Daryl Hannah, U2, George Clinton, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Peter Wolf, Bonnie Raitt, Hall & Oates, Jimmy Cliff, Big Youth, Michael Monroe, Peter Garrett, Ron Carter, Ray Barretto, Gil-Scott Heron, Nona Hendryx, Pete Townshend, Pat Benatar, Clarence Clemons, Stiv Bators and Joey Ramone.