It's only rock and roll but it can save people's lives

By Emma Cameron

JAKARTA (JP): It started in England in 1998 with Prime Minister Tony Blair's attempt to make the coming millennium more than just a big party, and the concept has spread to Indonesia.

The Children's Promise Millennium Final Hour Appeal will raise money worldwide through the sale of It's Only Rock N Roll, the song made famous by The Rolling Stones. The song was chosen by Mick Jagger himself, who then approached major recording labels to gain artist support for the single.

With all artists giving their time voluntarily, the list is impressive. The collaborative work comprises 42 artists, two comedians (the internationally recognized Robin Williams and Eric Idle of Monty Python fame) and five musicians (such as B.B King).

There is sure to be a favorite in there for every musical preference, with singers ranging from the pop of the Spice Girls to the Irish tones of The Corrs, from the dance beats of Jamiroquai to the grungy Natalie Imbruglia, from the soulful sound of James Brown to the hardcore Skin of Skunk Anansie.

Either in spite of or because of such diversity, the single works with an old classic being reprised to fit a new millennium.

The single, however, is not really about the music. All profits (calculated to be 28 percent of the sale price) will go to help children in need.

In the case of Indonesia, the money will go to the Indonesian Children's Safety Foundation (YKAI) to provide educational scholarships for children in need. YKAI has, so far, provided scholarships for 25,000 students who would otherwise have ended up begging on the streets.

According to a moderator at the launch, Tia Mariadi, street children earn on average Rp 5,000 to Rp 10,000 a day, meaning school often becomes a low priority for those living below the poverty line, "they don't like to go to shelters to get help, they like to go on the streets to get money."

Scholarships help to reverse the trend of institutionalized poverty by "paying" children to go to school so that education does not compete with hunger.

Indonesia was originally not one of the countries involved in the charity fund raiser. However, due to the good contacts at YKAI and the recent economic crisis, it was deemed to be a good candidate for a scheme which raises money for underprivileged children.

The single was produced by Universal Music to go on sale on Dec. 20 with CDs costing Rp 35,000 and cassettes Rp 15,000.

With no budget for the promotion of the single Tia Amiranti, who was in charge of promotions for Universal Music, found that some media organizations had difficulty with the concept of charity work, with one television station wanting to charge Rp 100 million to put the single's video clip on air.

The musicians were shot individually and then the video footage was mixed with shots of children staging a "rock concert" in a local park.

Tia has been working on the project since Nov. 1 and has managed to get promises of air play from 21 radio stations and two television stations, and sponsorship from five magazines.

The last charity project done by Universal Music was the Elton John single released after the death of Lady Diana. The difficulty this time around has been a lack of momentum without the death of a world famous princess to shatter the complacency of the consumer.

However, Tia believes the concept of charity music is a good one, especially in Indonesia, where most charities simply ask for money.

"It's annoying, they knock on your door early in the morning 'please give us some money'," she said.

The single will be promoted heavily for two months, after which it will still be available. All profits go to England an hour before the midnight of the new millennium to be tallied, after which all profits from Indonesia are returned to be distributed by YKAI.

With countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and America also involved in the scheme, the world will be watching to see just how much Indonesia cares about the future of its children.