BIKO/NO MORE APARTHEID (MAXI-SINGLE)

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Unlike other 12-inch singles of the day, this one isn't a dance club remix version of a lousy song from a former prog band trying to make it big on the Top 40 charts. Instead, this single features a live recording of Biko performed in Cleveland, Ohio on July 27, 1987. It's followed by the single-version of Biko (as opposed to the longer LP version).

Side B contains a mostly instrumental number called No More Apartheid. Gabriel sings on it, but for the most part he's just singing the words "no more apartheid" over and over. This song originally appeared on the 1985 album Sun City, released by Artists United Against Apartheid, a protest group founded by Steven Van Zandt to protest apartheid in South Africa. The original was credited to Peter Gabriel and Tamil violinist Lakshminarayanan Shankar (better known just as L. Shankar). Steven Van Zandt (also known as Little Steven) guests on guitar. The song has a nice driving rhythm to it and the usual Gabriel combination of world and rock music. It certainly would not fit on his So album, and in my opinion was a better track than anything from that album.

Clearly intended for collectors and fans. As far as I know, neither this live version of Biko, nor No More Apartheid are available on any other Gabriel compilations or albums. If you can find Sun City (out of print as of 2008), you can at least get to hear No More Apartheid. I suspect this, like other 12-inch singles, might be rare, though probably affordable (particularly if you have a turntable). I'm going to round this one up to three stars since the music is good. Otherwise, this will be more of interest to collectors and completionists.