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At
the height of the flower-power era, hundreds of thousands of music
fans came from all over the world to chill out in the fields of the
Isle of Wight.
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| Boarding
the IOW ferry |
They packed
onto the Isle of Wight ferry from the mainland for up to five days
(although some stayed considerably longer) of live rock, communal
living, free love and mind-bending substances.
Besides all the peace, love and latrines, there was the music - non-stop
performances from some of the greatest pop musicians of any era.
The first festival was held at Godshill - featured Smile, Jefferson
Airplane, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Halcyon Order.
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| Bob Dylan |
Bob
Dylan and The Band played at the 1969 festival at Wootton. Joe Cocker
and Moody Blues also played at the 2-day gig.
In 1970 it reached it's climax. Festival-goers forked out £3 for
five days of music at Afton Down.
Among the line-up that year were The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Who
(Mungo Jerry were on the bill but decided not to play!) and the
debut performance of Emerson, Lake And Palmer.
Acts at the 1970 festival played to a crowd of around half a million
people. That's more than Glastonbury and Live Aid put together!
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| Desolation
Row |
The
Island struggled to cope with the extra population. Some of the
more conservative residents were initially none too pleased at having
their tranquil pace of life upset - there were even threats that
acts would be shot when on stage.
None
of that put off the festival-goers. They were busy setting up their
community. A 'street' called Desolation Row emerged - a line of
shelters set up under the hill. There was even a hippy wedding conducted
at the local church by the vicar Robert Bowyer.
A medical tent was packed with people coming down from LSD trips
and recovering from the effects of other drugs, or just living in
a giant, not particularly hygienic, campsite.
Hippyvision
- Archive footage of BBC South's Mike Purton with festival-goers. |
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Southern Ways
- Watch Andrew Harvey's 1999 report on the 30th anniversary
of the original IOW Festival. |
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But the 1970 event wasn't all pot and peace. There were punch-ups,
fires broke out and the police had to take action when Hells Angels
tried to impose their own brand of law and order.
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| Hmmmm! |
The summer
of '70 was memorable for many reasons - but is gradually disappearing
into a psychedelic haze.
This year's event in Newport is unlikely to have the wild excesses
of the hippy era, but with top bands once again heading for the Isle
of Wight, it should should stir some memories of when festivals rocked
the world.
Were you at any of the original Isle of Wight festivals?
E-mail us at southampton@bbc.co.uk
with your memories (although if you can remember it, you probably
weren't there!)
| Michael
May |
I
was at the 1970 Festival aged 17 with 3 other friends. We were
in sleeping bags for 5 days near the front. The first 2 days
were for up and coming bands but the last 3 had some of the
great bands of the time.
The highlight for me was the visual effect of Sly and the Family
Stone and Jethro Tull. The Moody Blues were sheer class and
I remember a great Saturday evening of The Who and Ten Years
After. I still visit the Isle of Wight because my father lived
there for several years. It is a special place and that festival
was without doubt the finest. Woodstock may have hit the headlines
but for me the 1970 festival had the best line up of bands ever
assembled. |
| Mark
Stevens |
Me
and a friend went to the IOW Festival in 1969. We were both
17 years old and set off with a Two-man tent and a primus for
the few days planned. I have 2 pretty vivid memories - we arrived
at the site on the Friday and because there were so many people,
the organisers put a "free" concert on Friday evening.
As I remember, there were 3 groups, Pentangle, Bonzo Dog Doo
Da Band and finally, Nice. All 3 acts were superb and the atmosphere
was brilliant. The other memory is of the Sunday, where not
having slept, properly for over 2 days, I fell fast asleep soon
after Bob Dylan (the headline act) started playing. I missed
the whole of his set! |
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