Glastonbury at 40: From Avalon to Jay-Z Glastonbury

This programme contains some strong language.

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the legendary Glastonbury Festival,

welcome to a programme that celebrates many of the things we love about the world of Worthy Farm.

Attempting to impose some sense of order on the unwieldy, it's an alphabetical look back.

So let's start, literally, at the beginning. But in a mystical way.

Naturally.

Get a look at it up close, this is what it looks like!

Glastonbury has always attracted the pilgrim

because Glastonbury symbolises the spiritual quest.

Many of the legends we have, whether we take them literally or not,

are actually symbolic of man's quest for truth.

And with the amazing landscape of Glastonbury,

its ancient history,

this has always attracted people here to a site of so-called earth energy,

earth magic.

The festival, very definitely, is part of an ancient tradition.

It's one of the most wonderful festivals in Europe,

and I wouldn't miss it for anything.

CHEERING

# I sit and wait

# Does an angel

# Contemplate my fate

If you must!

# And do they know

# The places where we go

# When you're grey and old

# Cos I've been told

# That salvation Lets their wings unfold

# So when I'm lying in my bed Thoughts running through my head

# And I feel that love is dead

# I'm loving angels instead

CROWD: # And through it all She offers me protection

# A lot of love and affection Whether I'm right or wrong

# And down the waterfall Wherever it may take me

# I know that life won't break me

# When I come to call She won't forsake me

# I'm loving angels instead

# When I'm feeling weak

# And my pain walks down a one-way street

# I look above

# And I know I'll always be blessed with love

# And as the feeling grows She breathes flesh to my bones

-# And when love is dead

-I'm loving angels instead

# And through it all She offers me protection

# A lot of love and affection

# Whether I'm right or wrong

-# And down the waterfall

-Wherever it may take me

# I know that life won't break me

# When I come to call She won't forsake me

What are we doing?

# I'm loving angels instead

GUITAR SOLO

# And through it all She offers me protection

# A lot of love and affection Whether I'm right or wrong

# And down the waterfall

# Wherever it may take me I know that life won't break me

# When I come to call She won't forsake me

# I'm loving angels instead. #

CHEERING

Thank you, goodnight! I've been Robbie Williams.

Alongside Michael Eavis, the granddaughter of Sir Winston, Arabella Churchill,

was central in creating the theatre and kids worlds of the festival,

which, for some, are more important than what's happening on the music stages.

Sadly, she died in 2008.

But her legacy lives on at Worthy Farm.

We're opening here in about 25 hours.

And I know it looks like we wont make it, but we will.

I was personal assistant to Randolph Churchill,

Sir Winston Churchill's only son.

And Arabella was about eight when I first met Randolph in 1957.

Basically, Andrew Carr, who used to work for my father, went down to the farm

and decided he was going to run a free festival.

She came down when she was about 19-20

and she was a bit of a debutante figure, got into the flower power thing.

And so she turned up with some money to help and she's been around here ever since.

-And you stayed, didn't you?

-I didn't go anywhere at all.

-Made it your home, that was it.

-Yeah.

-That's great.

You've influenced my life a lot. Wouldn't have got married without you!

If it hadn't been for Arabella, there would be no festival.

She's, with Michael, the most important person in the festival.

I wouldn't want to be involved in just a music festival.

There are a lot of people there who have never been to a theatre in their life

and they're suddenly exposed to real art. It's great for anybody from 8 to 108.

Yeah, I like fire. Night-night.

CHEERING

# Woo-hoo

# Woo-hoo

# Woo-hoo

# Woo-hoo

# I got my head checked

# By a jumbo jet

# It wasn't easy

# But nothing is

# No

# Woo-hoo

# When I feel heavy metal

# Woo-hoo

# And I'm pins and I'm needles

# Woo-hoo

# Well I lie and I'm easy

# All of the time but I'm never sure

# When I need you

# Pleased to meet you

# I got my head done

# When I was young

# It's not my problem

# It's not my problem

# Woo-hoo

# When I feel heavy metal

# Woo-hoo

# And I'm pins and I'm needles

# Woo-hoo

# Well I lie and I'm easy

# All of the time

# But I'm never sure why I need you

# Pleased to meet you

# Yeah, yeah

# Yeah, yeah

# Yeah, yeah

# Oh, yeah. #

CHEERING

One of the stalwarts in Glastonbury over the years

is the bard of Barking, latterly Dorsett, Billy Bragg

who once famously punctured rock star hubris and preserved the festival ethos

by passing water in a Portaloo reserved for the exclusive use of the Manic Street Preachers.

Suitably relieved, Billy regularly performs and hosts shows all over the site.

But back in 2000, he accompanied the then editor of the Spectator,

Boris Johnson, to his very first Glastonbury in a sort of "living with the enemy" experiment.

It's just gone 10 o'clock in the morning

on the Friday of Glastonbury festival

and I'm at Castle Cary railway station,

awaiting the arrival of Boris Johnson.

-He's still on a train, my mate knows him.

-He's still on a train?

-In the first class he was, was he?

-Coach H, yeah.

-He didn't get off?

-No.

He's laughing! Little boy's chuckle "Ho, ho, ho, I forgot to get off."

Hi!

I'm sorry I'm late.

-Boris.

-How you doing?

-Welcome to Castle Cary, mate.

-What happened?

-I think I must have been in a trance.

-Shepton Mallet, my brother used to go to Shepton Mallet every year.

-What to do?

Maybe it was Glastonbury he used to go to.

You wont keep saying that, will you?

What?

-(IMITATES BORIS) Glastonbury.

-Is it about...

-You've got to say Glastonbury.

-Is it Glastonbury or Glass-tonbury?

-It depends where you come from.

-Perhaps you can clear this up. Is it called...

-What do you say, do you think Glastonbury or Glass-tonbury?

-Glastonbury.

-Glastonbury.

Glass-tonbury is a hunting, shooting, fishing brigade.

Oh, Christ.

Oh, bloody hell, I'm surrounded by nudists now.

-This is Richard.

-Yeah, yeah, hi. Hi, Richard, how you doing?

I fully support your right to be naked.

-I'm right behind it.

-Boris, have you ever gone naked anywhere?

Yeah, I used to, yeah.

At home, on the farm.

Boris, I wanted to bring you up here because this is the stone circle field.

Let's look at the economics of this. We've got 120,000 people here,

they're paying £87 a head for three days.

-That is...

-He jumps over the wall.

He's an entrepreneur, he's an honest entrepreneur.

-He's a free...he's what?

-She's a worker.

-She's a worker.

Did you pay for your ticket?

I'm just boondoggling off the BBC.

This is a capitalist extravaganza!

A feast of humbug and hypocrisy, where lefties like Billy Bragg

pretend they're doing it for the good of the people...

When Boris says the words "humbug" and "hypocrisy" it's time to switch off.

He's gone off the deep end, he's far off the deep end.

-This is Billy Bragg and Boris Johnson reporting from Glastonbury.

-Glass-tonbury!

CHEERING

# In the day we sweat it out on the streets

# Of a runaway American dream

# At night we ride Through mansions of glory

# In suicide machines

# Sprung from cages on highway 9

# Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line

# O-oh

# Baby this town rips the bones from your back

# It's a death trap It's a suicide rap

# We gotta get out while we're young

# Cos tramps like us Baby, we were born to run

# Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend

# I want to guard your Dreams and visions

# Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet ribs

# And strap your hands across my engines

# Together we could break this trap

# We'll run till we drop Baby, we'll never go back

# Wo-oah

# Walk with me Out on the wire

# Cos, baby, I'm just a scared and lonely rider

# But I gotta find out how it feels

# I want to know if love is wild

# I want to know if love is real

# Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard

# The girls comb their hair in rear-view mirrors

# And the boys try to look so hard

# The amusement park rises bold and stark

# Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist

# I wanna die with you, Wendy on the streets tonight

# In an everlasting kiss

1, 2, 3!

# The highway's jammed with broken heroes

# On a last chance power drive

# Everybody's out on the run tonight

# But there's no place left to hide

# Together, Wendy we can live with the sadness

# I'll love you with all the madness in my soul

# Someday, girl, I don't know when

# We're gonna get to that place

# Where we really want to go

# And we'll walk in the sun

# But till then tramps like us Baby, we were born to run

# Tramps like us Baby, we were born to run

# Tramps like us Baby, we were born to run

# Oooh, ooh

# Oooh, ooh

# Ooh, oh, oh Oh, ooh, oh

# Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh

# Woah, oh, oh

# Woah, oh, oh Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ooh. #

Glastonbury!

CHEERING

CHEERING

It's wonderful for them because they're all given free tickets

and they can go and watch any show they want.

Maybe they go to the seaside.

They go and chill out somewhere.

Maybe they go swimming.

I don't think they put 'em on a train! I would say to the farm next door.

Maybe they join in and we don't see them.

I think the vibrations from the bass helps them in their milkingness.

Maybe they make a new type of yoghurt, Glastonbury yoghurt.

I don't know what they do with all the cows.

Maybe they're not cows, maybe they're human.

The cows are still there, they're dressed up as people.

They go to the houses of the kids who come to Glastonbury and stay with their parents.

Maybe they're aliens!

-I would expect that the cows don't like Glastonbury very much.

-I should shut up!

It might, though quite possibly might not amuse you to know

that the building the 300 dairy cows of Worthy Farm are kept in over the festival period

is called the moo-tel.

You see what they did there?

# She came from Greece

# She had a thirst for knowledge

# She studied sculpture

# At Saint Martin's College

# That's where I...

# ..caught her eye

# She told me

# That her dad was loaded

# I said in that case

# I'll have a rum and Coca-Cola

# She said fine

# And then in 30 seconds' time

# She said...

# I want to live like common people

# I want to do

# Whatever common people do

# I want to sleep with common people

# I want to sleep

# With common people, like you

# Well, what else could I do?

# I said, I'll see what I can do

# I took her to a supermarket

# I don't know why

# But I had to start it somewhere

# So it started there

# I said

# Pretend you've got no money

# She just laughed and said

# Oh, you're so funny

# I said, Yeah

# Well, I can't see anyone else

# Smiling in here

# Are you sure

# You want to live

# Like common people

# You want to see

# Whatever common people see

# You want to sleep with common people

# You want to sleep with common people, like me

# But she didn't understand

# She just smiled and held my hand

# Rent a flat above a shop

# Cut your hair and get a job

# Smoke some fags and play some pool

# Pretend you never went to school

# But still you'll never get it right

# Cos when you're laid in bed at night

# Watching roaches climb the wall

# If you called your dad

# He could stop it all, yeah

# You'll never live

# Like common people

# You'll never do

# What common people do

# You'll never fail like common people

# You'll never watch your life Slide out of view

# And dance and drink and screw

# Because there's nothing else to do

# Sing along with the common people

# Sing along and it might just Get you through

# Laugh along with the common people

# Laugh along even though They're laughing at you

# And the stupid things that you do

# Because you think that poor is cool

# Like a dog lying in a corner

# They will bite you and never warn you

# Look out

# They'll tear your insides out

# 'Cos everybody hates a tourist

# Especially one that Thinks it's all such a laugh

# Yeah and the chip stain's grease will come out in the bath

# You will never understand

# How it feels to live your life

# With no meaning or control

# And with nowhere left to go

# You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright

# Whilst you can only wonder why

# Rent a flat above a shop Cut your hair and get a job

# Smoke some fags and play some pool Pretend you never went to school

# But still you'll never get it right

# Cos when you're laid in bed at night

# Watching roaches climb the wall

# If you called your dad he could stop it all

# You'll never live like common people

# You'll never do what common people do

# You'll never fail like common people

# You'll never watch your life Slide out of view

# While you dance and drink and screw

# Because there's nothing else to do

# I want to live with common people like you

# I want to live with common people like you

# I want to live with common people like you

# I wanna live with common people like you

# I want to live with common people like you

# I want to live with common people like you

# I want to live with common people like you

# I wanna live with common people like you

# I wanna live with common people like you

# I wanna live with common people like you

# I wanna live with

# I wanna live with

# Common people like you

# La, la, la, la, la

# La-a-a-a-a

# La, la, la, la

# La-a-a-a

# La, la, la, la, la, la

# Woah, la, la, la, la, la, la

# Oh, yeah. #

CHEERING

This is a special LBW broadcast,

just to inform the listeners at home what exactly is happening in this,

the circus and theatre outfield.

CHEERING

We also have a rather large... looks like a trapeze

but it might be cricket nets, we haven't decided.

I saw two people this morning going under the name of acrobats,

but you know me, Jonathan, I don't hold with all that clamouring about.

MONKEY CRIES

Signing off for LBW, thank you very much for listening. Goodbye.

# I've been keeping my eyes on your movements

# Can't see no room for improvement

# Why you all over there on your Jack Jones

# You need to let me get

# Behind your backbone

# Cos I'm the man for the job

# Let me work it

# I won't waste no time

# I'll make it worth it

# 100% I'll make it perfect

# You got a body to die for

# Lemme work it

# Now it's murder on the dance floor

# I wanna take this

# Further than the dance floor

# I ain't forceful

# But I'm still hardcore

# You're gonna give me Everything I ask for

# It's not a long ting

# You're the boom ting

# Maybe more than a hotel room ting

# I'll never know if I just walk past

# I really wanna dance

# So I guess I'll just ask

# She ain't no ho

# Look at those thighs

# It's in her eyes she's good to go

# She can satisfy

# My mind, body and my soul

# Come and dance with me Come and dance with me

# Come and dance with me Come dance with me

# I see you glance at me

# That's why I'm askin, B So let's party, B

# Come and dance with me

# If I'm out on my own

# Then I can look at you

# Looking at me

# If I'm out on a date

# Then I just shut my eyes

# Then I can see

# Get away from the bar

# Tell your boyfriend hold your jar

# And dance with me

# I see you glance at me That's why I'm askin', B

# So let's party, B Come and dance with me

# Yo, it goes on and on

# I see you get excited Like this is my song

# You think I wanna get involved

# You are not wrong

# Cos I've been waiting For this moment all night long

# So I creep, creep, creep Back to your seat

# I've got my left eye Checking out the scenery

# And my right eye Right where it needs to be

# No matter how I look at it

# You look good to me

# Still, I'm looking for The perfect view

# The way I see it That's right next to you

# I know you probably heard it before

# But still I love it When you flex like that for real

# So don't start doing what you do When you do it

# I just wanna be a part of it When you do it

# I feel like a wally If I don't just do it

# And I can't go through it So let's get to it

# She ain't no ho

# Look at those thighs

# It's in her eyes

# She's good to go

# She can satisfy

# My mind, body and my soul

# Come and dance with me

# Come and dance with me Come and dance with me

# Come and dance with me

# I see you glance at me That's why I'm askin', B

# So let's party, B

# Come and dance with me

# I know you didn't come out To stand and stare

# You wore new shoes And you did up your hair

# You made a real effort Tonight and it shows

# I can tell by your face You don't wanna be alone

# Cos the mood is right

# And the time is now

# If you can't do it I'll show you how

# All you gotta do is get loose

# Let go just throw A couple of shapes

# Put your skills on show

# And, baby

# You can dance with me

# Come and dance with me Come and dance with me

# If I'm out on my own

# Then I can look at you

# Looking at me

# If I'm out on a date

# Then I just shut my eyes Then I can see

# Get away from the bar

# Tell your boyfriend hold your jar

# And dance with me

# ..That's why I'm askin', B

# So let's party, B Come and dance with me

# If I'm out on my own

# Then I can look at you

# Looking at me

# If I'm out on a date

# Then I just shut my eyes Then I can see

# Get away from the bar

# Tell your boyfriend hold your jar

# And dance with me. #

APPLAUSE

The full wonder, spectacle and scale of the festival site can be perhaps best appreciated from the air.

And though some may think it's a privilege to hover aloft in a helicopter,

I can tell you it's often a stomach churning, nausea inducing experience.

You might imagine, therefore, that manning this plucky mission would be decided by rota,

pun sort of intended.

However, due to a succession of feeble excuses, from my various co-presenters,

such as "pregnancy" and being too big to fit into the cockpit,

it is muggins here who keeps getting sent up there.

Hmm...unless they're anxious to get me out of the way for a while...

Many ceremonial processions have come in from Glastonbury tour into the site, down the centuries.

No more important than the ceremonial procession that took place this morning

as Dame Shirley Bassey herself

touched down on the hallowed ground of Glastonbury.

CHEERING

# The minute you walked in the joint

# I could see you were a man of distinction

# A real big spender

# Good looking, so refined

# Say wouldn't you like to know what's going on in my mind

# So let me get right to the point

# I don't pop my cork for every man I see

# Hey, big spender

# Spend

# A little time with me

# Wouldn't you like to have fun, fun, fun

# How's about a few laughs, laughs...

# I could show you a

# Good time

# Let me show you a

# Good time

# The minute you walked in the joint

# I could see you were a man of distinction

# A real big spender

# Good looking, so refined

# Say wouldn't you like to know what's going on in my mind

# So let me get right to the point

# I don't pop my cork for every man I see

# Hey, big spender

# Hey, big spender

# Hey, big spender

# Spend

# A little time with me. #

CHEERING

Oh, fabulous. My first time, and I can understand why everybody comes here.

I will come again.

E, in our decidedly non-mystical A to Z format,

stands for Eavis, of course.

And though you'll see plenty of the genial Glasto grandee, Michael, in this programme,

E also represents the next generation in his youngest daughter, Emily.

I was born here

18 years ago.

And the festival has been going on for 28 years so

they were well in the swing of it by the time I arrived.

I love the festival.

I do love it.

But I do get that really sick feeling on the Thursday and Friday when people are walking in.

I do feel kind of like, "Oh, my God", you know, "This is it."

Let's just hope nothing goes wrong.

I used to hate the festival, I haven't loved it all my life. When I was 3, 4, 5 and 6,

I used to shout. My dad used to take me round in the Land Rover

and I used to kind of shout out the window and say,

"Why don't you just go away, back to your own gardens?"

And "What are you doing here?"

In 2007, the festival expanded and Emily was given her first stage to programme and manage.

They named it The Park.

The Park here is originally my great, great, great, great grandparents' home.

It feels like almost a kind of full circle thing,

but it's a brilliant opportunity, to be able to put something down on the site

and have a vision about it.

It's looking into the future, as well. We've just got a four year license and this is part of it.

It's just really exciting.

# What made me behave that way

# Using words I never say

# I can only think it must be love

# Well, anyway

# It's looking like a beautiful day

# Someone tell me how I feel

# It is silly wrong but vivid right

# Oh, kiss me like the final meal

# Yeah, kiss me like we die tonight

# Cos holy cow I love your eyes

# And only now I see the light

# Oh, lying with you half awake

# Stumbling over what to say Well anyway

# It's looking like a beautiful day

# When my face is chamois-creased

# If you think I'll wink, I did

# Laugh politely at repeats

# Yeah, kiss me when my lips are thin

# Cos holy cow I love your eyes

# And only now I see the light

# Yeah, lying with you half awake

# Stumbling over what to say Well anyway

# It's looking like a beautiful day

Are you ready, Glastonbury?

CHEERING

# So throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# For life

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# For life

# Holy cow I love your eyes

# And only now I see the light

# Holy cow I love your eyes

# And only now I see the light

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right

# Throw those curtains wide

# One day like this a year'd see me right. #

# Sitting on a fence is a man who Looks up to his guardian...#

This is the epicentre for all things security at Glastonbury.

These people are responsible for the famous Glasto fence

that stands at 15ft, runs for 5 miles and was purpose built for this festival over 2 months.

There are watchmen all over the camp and there's 15 watchtowers,

but is it working? Let's find out.

It's make or break for the festival.

If we go back to 2000, it's been no secret that history shows

there's been more and more people coming on to the site.

The fence was down for long periods of time,

there were many more people than should have been included in the license.

And therefore, we had to do something this time to make sure we kept to the numbers on the license.

This is a major, major success story for us, a staggering success.

The marketing strategy, "Don't come without a ticket," because this, because that, because whatever,

The moral argument, the charitable argument. As you say, the fence is a big, big subject this year.

It's actually worked, people have believed us.

It's a nightmare! Usually I'm over the fence by now!

We'll be in there after, that's all that matters.

I'll find my own way in. Touch wood.

You seeing this? Get it all on camera.

Obviously there's a lot less people now, with security being tight.

DO you feel Glastonbury has lost anything? It's still magical being about all day,

do you feel anything has been taken off?

I think there's a possibility that that, sort of, pulse may sort of slow down a bit.

When it was full like last time, when lots of youngsters came in without tickets

they were quite good fun.

Sometimes you used to come up here and it'd be a free for all and a bit intimidating,

you'd bring out your girlfriend and things like that, so this year it's much more relaxed so far, yeah.

One person got over it today because a whole crowd of people actually bunked one up

and he went over.

And because his friends were dispersed by these people, he felt lonely and climbed out again.

It was exactly 20 years ago that the Green Fields started on this site.

It came from the Green Gatherings, which was an ecological movement

that started in the 70s, I suppose.

It was a very political time, the early 80s,

and we were all passionately trying to raise awareness.

Michael kindly gave us a field for the first Green Field.

Apart from adding an enormous amount of creativity,

it allows people to discover what is in them.

When I come into the Green Fields, I suddenly feel, ahh...

Homeopaths, herbalists.

Good morning, Captain Banana.

This is the element garden.

We've even done a special pit for the earth, so that you can really get close up and connected with it.

You can get a Thai massage, spiritual healing,

or you can simply sit and chill to a little bit of music.

The message is still the same. That this planet is very precious,

we have to protect its resources, and we have to care for each other.

# You...you can be mean

# But I, I'll drink all the time

# Cos we're lovers

# And that is a fact

# Yes we're lovers

# And that is that

# Oh, nothing

# Will drive them away

# We can beat them

# For ever and ever

# We can be heroes

# Just for one day

# What d'you say?

# I...

# Well I wish I could swim

# Like dolphins

# Like dolphins can swim

# Oh nothing

# Will keep us together

# We can beat them

# For ever and ever

# We can be heroes

# Just for one day

# What d'you say?

# And, boy

# I could be king

# And you

# You would be my queen

# Though nothing

# Would drive them away

# We could beat them

# Just for one day

# We can be heroes

# For ever and ever

# Boy

# I can remember

# I remember

# Standing

# Standing by the wall

# By the wall

# And the guns

# The guns shot above our heads

# Over our heads

# And we kissed

# As though nothing could fall

# Nothing could fall

# And the shame

# It fell on the other side

# We can beat them

# For ever and ever

# We can be heroes

# Just for one day

# What d'you say? I say

# We can be heroes

# We can be heroes

# We can be heroes

# Just for one day

# We can be heroes

# Though nothing

# And no one will help us

# Maybe we're lying

# Then you'd better not stay

# But we can be safer

# Just for one day... #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# ..Oh-oh oh-oh

# Oh-oh oh-oh

# Oh-oh oh-oh

# Oh-oh oh-oh

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Glastonbury's hippy roots are still much in evidence today

and key to the event's unique atmosphere.

Someone who knows all about that is an outdoor type

who often planned ahead and carried a lit primer stove on his head, who played the first Glastonbury.

I came to the first Glastonbury Fair...

# Noo-o-obody's here to help you now. #

It was a sort of culmination of the whole underground current that had happened during the 60s.

Why I liked performing at the Avalon area is because that's got more of the atmosphere

of the original one.

I am the god of hellfire!

And I bring you...

# Fire

# I'll teach you to burn. #

The original festival was really a community feeling.

There were people wandering around naked, which was lovely, even the church guy said,

"Well, I could find nothing against it. They were just innocent people being naked."

Woo! I got mother, and I can be insane in this world, yahoo!

The original festival was really a community feeling.

A community of people who were willing to let go

of their normal preconceptions of life and just live in a way

that was very experimental for the duration of the festival.

Yeeeee-oow!

Woah!

Come on!

Yeah!

# I'm so messed up I want you here

# In my room I want you here

# Now we're gonna be face-to-face

# And I'll lay right down In my favourite place

# Now I wanna

CROWD # Be your dog

# Now I wanna

# Be your dog

# Now I wanna be your dog

# Well come on!

# Come on, baby

# Now I'm ready to close my eyes

# Now I'm, I'm ready to close my mind

# Now I'm ready to feel your hand

# And lose my heart On the burning sands

# Now I wanna be your dog

# Now I wanna be your dog

# Now I wanna be your dog

# C'mon

# I need love

# I need love

# Now I'm ready to close up my eyes

# And now I'm ready to close my mind

# And now I'm ready to feel your hand

# And lose my heart On the fucking sand

# Now I wanna

CROWD # Be your dog

# Now I wanna

# Be your dog

# Now I wanna be your dog. #

# What up? Come on!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Woo!

CHEERING

This ain't right, Mr camera.

J is all about two men.

Both sorely missed, but forever remembered at Worthy Farm. John Peel loved Glastonbury,

though it didn't stop him getting grumpy from time to time.

But first, a man who was in his element sitting by a camp fire, wearing a big, straw festival hat.

Joe was a man of the heart and of the soul.

And of poetry

and he was opposed to any injustice, and that's basically what he was.

Festivals, like, it's one of my favourite things to do,

and I'm always thinking, "This is not meaningless."

Joe really wasn't stuck back in '77,

he was always actively looking for ways forward.

Joe did embody something essential about Glastonbury.

Even if you didn't see him at Glastonbury, you kind of got a vibe of him.

We all went to Joe's funeral,

and I saw the family there and Joe's wife, Lucinda, suggested they should do something on the farm.

So we went down into the Lost Vagueness fields, which is where he spent a lot of time,

and we found a nice little corner in the farm there, full of bluebells and woods and things,

and we decided to put the stone there.

Here is the major effect of Glastonbury, and I've been coming for 20 years,

and only realised it about 2 days ago.

It's inspiration.

# Midnight to six man

# First time from Jamaica

# Dillinger and Leroy Smart

# Delroy Wilson, your cool operator

# Ken Boothe for UK pop reggae

# Backing bands sound systems

# If they've got anything to say

# There's many black ears Here to listen

# But it was Four Tops all night

# With encores from stage right

# Charges and the bass knives And the treble

# Onstage they ain't got no roots Rock rebel

# Onstage they ain't got no...roots Rock rebel

# Dress back, jump back This is a bluebeat attack

# 'Cos it won't get you anywhere

# Fooling with your guns

# The British army Is waiting out there

# An' it weighs 15 hundred tons

# White youth, black youth

# Better find another solution

# Why not phone up Robin Hood

# And ask him for some Wealth distribution

# Punk rockin' in the UK

# They won't notice anyway

# All too busy fighting

# For a good place under the lighting

# New groups are not concerned

# With what there is to be learned

# All in suits And they think it's funny

# Turning rebellion into money

# All over people change their votes

# Along with their overcoats

# If Adolf Hitler flew in today

# They'd send a limousine anyway

# I'm the all night Drug-prowling wolf

# Who looks so sick in the sun

# The white man in the Palais

# Just lookin' for fun

# Baby

# Just looking for fun

# Oh, mister

# Just leave me alone

# Just lookin' for fun

# For fun

# Ah

# Ah Oh, ah

# Ah. #

CHEERING

MICHAEL EAVIS: John Peel had been around here for years and years and years,

so when he died, I thought that one thing we could do to pay him a real tribute

was call the new bands stage after him.

So it's the John Peel Stage from now on.

John was what people think of when they think of Glastonbury.

He kind of embodied what Glastonbury the experience should be about.

So he'd go out and experience all the bizarre and unusual things and see all the unusual bands.

We've got, for me, what has been the highlight of the entertainment so far,

and you may spot a vaguely familiar face amongst the crowd, too.

-Legs.

-Yeah. Dancing, I'm told.

This is the wonderful, magnificent Kanda Bongo Man.

HE SINGS

John was one of those people who didn't mince his words.

If he didn't like a band, then he told you, which is the beauty of him.

-Also I'm looking forward to Yes.

-Are you?

Do you have a relationship with Yes?

No! Well, only one of deep and unremitting hatred.

I always felt quite protective towards him.

Cos when he was there, he felt quite vulnerable,

and he'd kind of trek off and you'd think "I hope he gets back OK!"

and then he'd come back with blood dripping down his leg

where he'd fallen into a ditch.

The low point was about five minutes ago, rushing to get to the studio,

-when I fell into a ditch full of...

-Not too wide.

No, I made that mistake yesterday. But there you go.

I just miss his bulk being there, and listening to him talking

and being sarcastic about the things I really liked.

We'll be back at 11.35 with live music from Blur,

also Roni Size's Reprazent, and there's constant coverage

all day long and all night long on Radio 1.

You realise this is the end of the world we're witnessing here. Good night.

# I wanna hold you... #

Yeah, good night, John. So let's start K

with one of Peel's favourite performances.

Come on!

THEY SING

Thank you!

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS We love you!

See you next time!

MUSIC: "Baggy Trousers" by Madness

ALL: Welcome to the Kidz Field!

This is a great place to be.

It's the biggest free kids' festival in the whole of Europe.

So it's pretty big.

# Oh what fun we had But at the time it seemed so bad?

# Trying different ways To make a difference to the days... #

I like my face painted.

It's really got lots of art stuff and I like art.

I haven't done anything yet.

# Oh what fun we had But did it really turn out bad... #

MUSIC: "End of the Century" by Blur

I made a puppet, a necklace and some fairy wings.

The helter-skelter, definitely. It's so twirly and tall.

Everyone's having a great time.

No-one's in a mood or being down.

We love the Kidz Field!

MUSIC: "Smile" by Lily Allen

I like getting my hair braided and my face painted

and I like all the crafty stuff like puppets.

I loved going on the helter-skelter because it's really fast and fun.

I like going in the theatre place because it's nice and funny.

ALL: Bye!

Sometimes cruelly referred to as the oldies' slot,

the list of legendary fogies who have played the Pyramid Stage at teatime on Sunday

reads like a veritable care-home of fame.

A great performance here can add an extra ten years to the career of a leathery exhibitionist pensioner.

# I fell in to a burning ring of fire... #

In 1994, it was the craggy Man In Black Johnny Cash

who walked the ley line.

# Don't mind the raindrops... #

If not the world, it was certainly Pilton that Tony Bennett ruled back in 1998.

Everybody over here!

# Loving you whether, whether

# Whether times are good or bad... #

Soul great Al Green kept it together in 1999.

# You are always on my mind... #

And it was the turn of tax-avoiding country codger Willie Nelson in 2000.

Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks?

2002's festival crowd witnessed Isaac Hayes

deliver a set of prime funk and hot buttered soul.

-# Get up

-Get on up

-# Get on up

-Get on up... #

Soul brother number 1, the hardest-working man in show business,

Mr Dynamite or the Godfather of Soul,

the late James Brown took the festival to the bridge in 2004.

# I... I looked in her eyes... #

'60s pop messiah Brian Wilson brought Good Vibrations

and some much-needed Californian sunshine to 2005's rain-soaked event.

# Good vibrations. #

# Diamonds are forever

# Forever, forever... #

In 2007, it was the Welsh diva herself,

with her diamond-encrusted treasure chest of pop gems.

# Then I saw her face

# Now I'm a believer... #

And in 2008, it really did seem

as though Diamond could be forever.

# My my my, Delilah... #

And last year, Dame Shirley's fellow countryman

and Grade II listed lothario Tom Jones

left the hair dye behind and got the festival crowd's knickers in something of a twist.

This year, the honour falls on one of the great poets of pop, Ray Davies.

THUNDER

# Why does it always rain on me?

# Is it because I lied when I was 17? #

OK, OK, I know - we've got to have

M for Mud.

Personally, I'm bored with endless news crews

patrolling the site, hoping for shots of knee-deep slurry

to make you feel smug that you're at home in your armchair.

But get this! It washes off, you know!

We don't come out permanently encrusted.

Still, you wanted mud, you got mud. Happy now?

The water level was up to the bonnet of the Land Rover.

No fishing. No diving.

# Why does it always rain on

# Oh? #

# When you were young and your heart

# Was an open book

# You used to say

# Live and let live

# You know you did, you know you did You know you did

# But if this ever-changing world in which we're livin'

# Makes you give in and cry

# Say live and let die

# Live and let die

# Live and let die

# Live and let die

# What does it matter to you?

# When you got a job to do

# You got to do it well

# You got to give the other fellow hell

# You used to say Live and let live

# You know you did, you know you did You know you did

# But if this ever-changing world in which we're livin'

# Makes you give in and cry

# Say live and let die

# Live and let die

# Live and let die

# Live and let die. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

ALL: Welcome to the NYC Downlow.

Are you excited about coming in to the disco?

This is where the magic happens.

NYC Downlow incorporates disco and indeed a lot of performance,

which is why a lot of us are here.

# Come on, let's do it Let's dance

# Let's dance upon the floor. #

Work it like you own it, yeah!

Shake what your momma gave you, uh-huh!

You know, with your moustache, you can get in for free.

# Sunday morning I'm waking up

# Can't even focus on a coffee cup

# Don't even know who's bed I'm in

# Where do I start Where do I begin?

# Where do I start Where do I begin?

# Where do I start Where do I begin?

# Where do I start Where do I begin?

# Where do I start Where do I begin?

# Where do I start Where do I begin? #

-JOHN PEEL:

-What we're going to hear is the English National Opera

with Act 3 of Wagner's Valkyrie. It's performed in English

rather than the original German,

and over 100 musicians and singers on the stage,

and they're going to be doing it in modern dress combats, I'm told,

rather than in helmets and breastplates. I was looking forward to them.

THEY SING "Ride of the Valkyries"

This is the largest live opera event ever to have taken place.

MICHAEL EAVIS: Wagner said that this music was written for masses of people,

and where else can you get masses other than Glastonbury?

SHE SINGS

A lot of people out there!

Absolutely incredible, isn't it, to get so many people on board.

WILD APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

# You gotta roll with it You gotta take your time

# You gotta say what you say Don't let anybody get in your way

# Cos it's all too much for me to take

# Don't ever stand aside Don't ever be denied

# You wanna be who you'd be If you're coming with me

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I'm gonna take me away and hide

# I'm thinking of things that I just can't abide

# I know the roads down which your life will drive

# Will drive

# I find the key that lets you slip inside

# Lets you slip inside

# Kiss the girl She's not behind the door

# Not behind the door

# But you know I think I recognise your face

# But I've never seen you before

# You gotta roll with it You gotta take your time

# You gotta say what you say Don't let anybody get in your way

# Cos it's all too much for me to take

# I know the roads down which your life will drive

# Will drive

# I find the key that lets you slip inside

# Lets you slip inside

# Kiss the girl She's not behind the door

# Not behind the door

# But you know I think I recognise your face

# But I've never seen you before

# You gotta roll with it You gotta take your time

# You gotta say what you say Don't let anybody get in your way

# Cos it's all too much for me to take

# Don't ever stand aside Don't ever be denied

# You wanna be who you'd be If you're coming with me

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

# I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

Glastonbury's iconic Pyramid Stage has a history more mythical

than even the most legendary performers

who've trodden its sacred boards.

Making its new-age debut at the festival in 1971,

the original Pyramid Stage played host to the likes of Hawkwind,

Traffic and David Bowie.

Instrumental in organising that festival,

and the man behind the stage's celestial design concept

was Andrew Carr.

We had a discussion about what the stage would look like,

and the pyramid is sort of a symbol of the ancient wisdom.

But it wasn't just the shape of the stage

but also its positioning that was of huge importance to the hippie revellers.

Now there's a ley line from Glastonbury

to Stonehenge to Canterbury.

And that line runs just behind the Pyramid.

The stage was remodelled slightly in the early '80s,

but despite the good vibes created by the Pyramid's karmic inheritance

occasionally ley lines got crossed

and it suffered the effects of negative energy.

The Pyramid that I grew up with was the one which went up to 1994 and then burnt down.

I remember looking out the bedroom window and I just saw the flames.

And that was the worst moment for me.

That was about two weeks before the festival started.

Rising like a phoenix-thing from some of those ashes

came a new Pyramid, which spiritually enhanced

the festival experience into the new millennium.

But whatever your thoughts about the Pyramid's mystical powers,

it seems that setting foot on its hallowed boards

can often transform a good band into a great one

and a performance into a transcendental moment of pop history.

Mud. Mud is come.

Mud. Mud is here.

Mud. Getting deep.

Mud. Mixed with beer.

Hippies in the hedgerow Rockers down the pub

Wander down the country lanes

Can't you feel the love?

Rubber boots and rucksacks Tutus and tattoos

The legend that is Glastonbury rumbles into view.

Weeks of perfect weather Ground as dry as bone

It's gonna be a winner, man You know it's carved in stone.

Wednesday starts the heatwave Thursday still the same

So why the hell on Thursday night does it decide to rain?

Thunder flashing, lightning Torrents from above

Squelching down the country lanes Can't you feel the love?

Mud. Mud has come. Mud. Mud is here.

Mud. Getting deep. Mud. Mixed with beer.

Mud. Do we care? Mud. Are we strong?

Mud. Glastonbury. Mud. Bring it on!

# We get some rules to follow

# That and this, these and those

# No-one knows

# We get these pills to swallow

# How they stick in your throat

# Tastes like gold

# Oh, what you do to me

# No-one knows

# And I realise you're mine

# Indeed a fool of mine

# And I realise you're mine

# Indeed a fool of mine

# Ohhhhh

# I journey through the desert

# Of the mind with no hope

# I found low

# I drift along the ocean

# Dead lifeboats in the sun

# And come undone

# Pleasantly caving in

# I come undone

# And I realise you're mine

# Indeed a fool of mine

# And I realise you're mine

# Indeed a fool of mine

# Ohhhhh

# Heaven smiles above me

# What a gift there below

# But no-one knows

# Gift that you give to me

# No-one knows. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

This programme is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Glastonbury Festival.

But things were obviously different at the very beginning -

well, not the dawn of time, exactly, but at the first festival.

One of the bands to play that event at Worthy Farm was Quintessence.

I bet you were wondering what else we'd put in for Q, weren't you?

We were quite popular in those days

so we had a lot of audience down there, so it was a good gig to do.

# They grew as tall as trees... #

We knew the bands, so Marc Bolan was playing there, I knew Marc Bolan.

It was quite a close community, really,

of the audience and the bands, I think. Everyone knew everyone else.

It was sort of flying by the seat of your pants.

It was coming to a field where they were building the stage -

I remember going up and doing scaffolding myself to make sure...

Help make sure we had a stage to play on.

The stage was actually tied to an apple tree - right behind me, that apple tree there.

It was tied to that tree.

And it was very makeshift. Didn't even have a roof on it,

so thank God it didn't rain.

Marc Bolan turned up in a velvet-covered car.

I was on the gate and taking the pound off all these people, I put my hand on his car -

"Man, you don't touch my car!" he said. He nearly...

He nearly charged at me from the car window.

He scared me, I thought, "What a horrible chap!"

And anyway, having said all that, he did a wonderful job,

and it's one of the best sets I've ever seen in my life.

Andy, can you turn on the lights so we can see the people? We haven't seen them yet.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

Thank you. Hello!

# Karma police

# Arrest this man He talks in maths

# He buzzes like a fridge

# He's like a detuned radio

# Karma police

# Arrest this girl

# Her Hitler hairdo

# Is making me feel ill

# And we have crashed her party

# This is what you get

# This is what you get

# This is what you get

# When you mess with us

# Karma police

# I've given all I can

# It's not enough

# I've given all I can

# But we're still on the payroll

# This is what you get

# This is what you get

# This is what you get

# When you mess with us

# For a minute there

# I lost myself

# I lost myself

# Phew, for a minute there

# I lost myself

# I lost myself

# For a minute there

# I lost myself

# I lost myself

# Phew, for a minute there

# I lost myself

# I lost myself. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

Thank you!

Watch this nail.

There are many brands of hazardous and vaguely mentalist

life-threatening cabaret acts to be found at Glastonbury

and malicious producers have traditionally been all-too-eager to

flout the BBC's otherwise impeccable health and safety regulations

by subjecting their precious presenters to death-defying acts

in the name of entertainment.

Of course, being the essence of cool,

it takes more than that to make us look stupid.

SHRIEKS OF DISGUST

Oh my God, take it off me, take it off me!

Sword-swallowing with Billy Bragg. Here we go.

Billy Bragg.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

MUSIC: "Black Betty" by Ram Jam

# You've done too much Much too young

# Now you're married with a kid

-# When you could be having fun with me

-Oh no

# No gimme no more pickni

# You've done too much Much too young

# Now you're married with a son

# When you should be having fun with me

# We don't want, we don't want We don't want no more pickni

# Ain't he cute? No he ain't

# He's just another burden On the welfare state

# You've done too much Much too young

# Now you're married with a kid

# When you could be having fun with me

# No gimme, no gimme No gimme no more pickni

# Call me immature Call me a poser

# I'll spread manure in your bed of roses

# Don't want to be rich Don't want to be famous

# And I'd really hate to have the same name as you

# You've done too much Much too young

# You're married with a kid when

# You could be having fun with me

# Gi we de birth control We no want no pickni

# You've done too much Much too young

# Now you're chained to the cooker Making currant buns for tea

# Oh no, no, gimme no more pickni

# Ain't you heard of the starving millions?

# Ain't you heard of contraception?

# Do you really wanna go with the sterilization?

# Take control of the population boom

# It's in your living room

# Keep a generation gap

# Try wearing a cap. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

One of the landmarks seen regularly on TV over the weekend

is the mythical and majestic Glastonbury Tor.

The hill, not the tower.

"Tor" is in fact a local Celtic word meaning "conical hill",

and perched on the top, St Michael's tower

was once part of a church there in the Middle Ages.

Once again, we're back with the myths and legends of the Vale of Avalon.

My name's Ruby Blues and welcome to Trash City. Let me show you around.

This is our giant Easter Island head,

which is the centre of Trash City.

You are in Trash City.

Any minute now, the Wacky Race parade is about to begin.

So that's everything you need to know about Trash City, come on down, we're open dusk till dawn.

# I dreamt that the Boogieman Went down on Mr Spock

# Sugar was'a flowin'

# Shock it to em, sock

# I dreamt I saw a moo cow Jump across the moon...#

Hi, I'm Haggis. I work on site sanitation. It's a dirty job, but someone's go to do it.

There was one occasion when...basically what happened,

there is a valve on the machine and it was set to blow instead of suck.

The handle was lifted and out it came, it sprayed on to the dance tent.

# Drive boy, dog boy Dirty numb angel boy

# In the doorway boy She was a lipstick boy

# She was a beautiful boy And teenaged boy

# And all in your innerspace boy

# You had hands, girl, boy And steel boy

# You had chemicals, boy I've grown so close to you

# Boy, and you just groan boy She said comeover, comeover

# She smiled at you, boy

# Let your feelings slip, boy But never your mask, boy

# Random blonde bio High density rhythm

# Blonde boy, blonde, country blonde

# High density You are my drug, boy

# You're real, boy Speak to me, boy, dog

# Dirty numb cracking, boy You get wet, boy

# Big big time, boy Acid bear, boy

# Babes and babes and babes And babes and babes

# And remembering nothing, boy You like my tin horn, boy

# And get wet like an angel Derail

# You got a velvet mouth You're so succulent and beautiful

# Shimmering and dirty Wonderful and hot times

# On your telephone line On your telephone

# And I love you Naked as an angel

# Look at me, your mom Squatting pissed in a tube hole

# At Tottenham Court Road I just come out of the ship

# Talking to the most blonde I ever met

# Shouting Lager, lager, lager, lager

# Shouting Lager, lager, lager, lager

# Shouting Lager, lager, lager, lager

# Shouting Lager, lager, lager

# Shouting

# Mega, mega, white thing Mega, mega, white thing

# Mega mega, white thing