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Stars Rock for Sudan
09/04/2004 10:20 AM, E! Online
Charlie Amter
Once again, musicians are taking the lead on a cause for Africa.
A number of high-profile bands, including R.E.M ., Badly
Drawn Boy and Jet, have agreed to forgo royalties and contribute songs
to a new album to aid Sudanese refugees driven from their homes by
violence in the African country's Darfur region.
The
album, Songs for Sudan, was released Friday and is available
exclusively online at bignoisemusic.com. Saving costs on manufacturing
and distribution was a crucial concern for the project's London-based
creator Oxfam--who maintains downloading the record will speed the badly
needed money raised to Sudan quickly.
The download-only
CD is expected to raise thousands of dollars for the estimated 1 million
Sudanese refuges, who are badly in need of essentials, especially clean
drinking water. "Men, women and children are still dying every day in
Sudan," says Songs for Sudan contributor Badly Drawn Boy, aka
Damon Gaugh. "People like us might not have the power to stop the
violence but at least we can try and help the people who are affected by
it. Oxfam is already saving lives, the least we can do is help them to
save more."
While most of the contributors are bigger
stars in England than in the U.S., a few names familiar to Americans
appear on Songs for Sudan, including R.E.M., Jet, Badly Drawn
Boy, Primal Scream and David Gray .
Oxfam contends that
the crisis in Sudan is indeed an emergency, and the group implores
people to do all they can to help. The album costs around $15 U.S.
dollars, and each album purchased will pay for clean drinking water for
15 people.
"It is unacceptable that the people of Darfur
are forced to live in such inhumane conditions," Songs for Sudan
contributor Mr. Scruff told London's Guardian newspaper.
"Hopefully the money will go some way towards improving the situation."
While the crisis in Sudan has gone largely unnoticed by
the mainstream American press, European and U.K. press outlets have been
increasingly active in their efforts to draw attention to the worsening
situation in Africa's heartland. A few celebrities have chosen to throw
their weight behind the issue lately, including actor Danny Glover , who
was recently arrested in Washington, D.C., during a protest outside
Sudan's American embassy.
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