Artists United Against Apartheid - Release

Release

For a time, they were making the record without a record company or any outside financial support. Van Zandt financed much of it while producer Arthur Baker (notable for his work with Afrika Bambaataa and New Order) donated studio time. Manhattan Records, under Bruce Lundvall's direction, came on board, acquiring the record and enabling them to pay some of the bills. A committed record company attorney, the late Rick Dutka, also donated his time, along with noted music industry attorney, the late Owen Epstein as well as Van Zandt's assistant, Zoë Yanakis. Also, the cream of New York's recording engineers, studio musicians and recording studios donated their time.

Schechter's connections with ABC News posed some risks. "I couldn't tell ABC what I was doing on the side," recalls Schechter. "They would not have approved. I knew I couldn't propose a story about Sun City either, because I had stepped over the line and become part of the story. I tried and mostly succeeded in keeping my name out of the papers and my mug out of the video. I was terrified that 20/20 would dump me if they knew what I was doing, especially if my affiliation with ABC was dragged into it, even though the network had nothing to do with the project. I worked even harder at ABC, producing more stories than many of my colleagues, so I couldn't be accused of slacking off."