ROCK-GROUP MEMBER EXPELLED FOR REJECTING GIG IN SOUTH AFRICA

One of the founding members of the Commodores says he was drummed out of the singing group because he opposed an upcoming performance in South Africa. "I could not, with a clear conscience, climb on the back of my brothers to make a buck," Milan Williams said in a prepared statement. Williams had announced in June that he wasn't going to play the Sun City show and said he was notified of his dismissal in a letter signed by the other three Commodores on July 14. "As you know," the dismissal letter said, "the decision to play Sun City was made by a vote of the partnership after full and open discussion. You never said that you would not join the group during any of those discussions." A Commodores spokeswoman said the group planned to use the concert to make a statement against apartheid.