Here’s a little song and vid I put together, in the spirit of 69, expressing my feelings about the miserable exploitation of our midwinter festival. The song can be downloaded from myspace.
October 28, 2009
Last from the archive for now
Below are a few more thumbnails of IOW69 press cuttings – some are more complete versions of cuttings already posted. Meanwhile, after the traumas of moving house, the novel is back on track (see previous articles and extract page) and will hopefully be completed within a couple of months.
October 27, 2009
Original site plan for IOW 69
Next up out of the archive is an absolute collectors’ item: the original site plan for the 2nd Isle of Wight Festival marked up by the electrician, Ken Blake. “Mr H Garood” was the original contractor who backed out of the job but was the contractor for the 1970 festival.
The ‘tents and cubicles’ area marked behind the stage was where Dylan had his caravan/dressing room.
The ‘Cs’ below that was the electrical compound where gear was stored and which afforded (with the help of a ladder) a good sideways view of Dylan as he performed.
October 27, 2009
More from the archive
Below are more thumbnails of press cuttings about IOW 69. The media were clearly uncertain how to deal with the new phenomenon of pop festivals – the Mirror was generally looking for knocking copy, while the rest had a prurient interest in the goings-on. Included is an obituary of anti-festival villain Mark Woodnutt. Never trust a Tory!
October 24, 2009
Unique cuttings archive part 1
Below are the first set of thumbnails of the comprehensive collection of press cuttings about IOW 69 found in my dad’s house. More to follow.
October 16, 2009
Loads more material coming
The clearout of my late dad’s house has turned up much more material: a treasure trove of memorabilia from IOW 69, including a contractors’ plan of the festival and a huge array of press cuttings including pictures I’ve never seen anywhere. I’ll post these as soon as I have time: the project’s been sidelined for a bit longer than planned due to my house move.
September 20, 2009
Some unique mementos of IOW 69
I’m now about half way through my novel set in the Isle of Wight festival of 1969 – more discussion of that to follow. The work’s been considerably slowed down by the fact I’m moving house and (see article below) the death of my dad, festival electrician Ken Blake. However, sorting out his house and mine has unexpectedly thrown up two rare mementos of the sixties event: an arena pass modified to include all areas (i.e. backstage) and a second pass which I think was probably used to gain access to the VIP area in front of the stage – I was in that area for the Who’s performance (fingers jammed in ears due to the ear-splitting volume). As you’ll see the pass is actually a redundant ticket from the much smaller first IOW festival at Godshill in 1968 – I imagine these must be pretty rare.
I’ve been asked to do a podcast by Ventnor Blog so may visit the island again shortly – when I do I’ll donate the passes to the festival museum at Dimbola Lodge.
September 5, 2009
40 years on – Woodside Bay then and now
Key to views on video
A – view into car park/west camp field. (Time on video): 0.48, 1.47
B – view from entrance gate into arena: 0.24, 1.52
C – road between arena and disco tent: 1.42
D – view back down Palmers Rd towards Wootton: 1.09
E – view into east camp field: 0.52, 1.21
F – view into field containing shops, info, disco tent etc: 1.30, 1.32
G – view from second gate over arena: 0.32
September 3, 2009
Pop festival electrician Ken Blake dies on 40th anniversary
The huge task of providing power and light to the 1969 Isle of Wight festival was taken on by Ken Blake, my dad, who got the gig having previously been electrician to the Island Industries Fair and Ryde Town Hall Show. Ken, a classical music fan, always credited the festival with changing his fortunes from continual struggle to relative prosperity, and it was appropriate that he died last weekend, at 88, on the 40th anniversary of the event.
Providing electricity to the 69 festival was an exhaustive job, right down to the last night of the event, which Ken spent patrolling the perimeter fences trying to save his cable and fluorescents from disappearing into the many bonfires which were lit by freezing (or maybe disappointed) punters.
Ken was supported by a small team of electricians, who (in keeping with the festival) had a friendly comraderie and were always treated as equals. Thanks to the fact that Ken wisely insisted on being paid before the event, so did they – not all contractors and workers in 1969 were so lucky.
Woodside Bay did open Ken’s eyes to some of the new music that was around. He later became a big ELP fan (Keith Emerson played Friday night with the Nice) and was proud of his unique cine footage, including the Who arriving by helicopter, which has now gone to the festival museum at Dimbola Lodge.
Just before he died I was able to show Ken some shots of the festival site as it is today, and I shall post these shortly.
August 11, 2009
Island Industries Fair: dress rehearsal for the IOW Pop Festival
The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival of Music was not the first large outdoor event with tents to take place on the island – every two years for ten years there had been an Island Industries Fair, held in 1969 at Ryde Airport. Both the standfitter/tent man for the IIF (Capt Bill Lewis) and the electrical contractor (Ken Blake) went on to do the same jobs for the Dylan fest.
I’ve been unable to find a single reference on the web for these shows, and am indebted to Chris Dorley-Brown, grandson of the IIF’s organiser, for sending me scans from the 1969 programme. The ‘Pop Festival’ is mentioned in a Red Funnel ad (see thumbnails); so is Captain Lewis, as I recall the oldest man in the UK to hold a pilot’s licence at the time. Bill Lewis brought (allegedly) the biggest marquee in the UK to the festival, which served as a disco and sleeping tent till hundreds scrambled onto it for a free view and it collapsed (see article about the site, below).
I have some home movies of Mountbatten at the IIF, taken on the same reel of Super 8 which shows Joe Cocker, the Who, Marsha Hunt and Free. Personally I found the latter names a lot more interesting.
One other boon of the IIF programme is that we now have a photo of the ill-fated Mark Woodnutt MP, first on the web!
If anyone else has any mementos of 1969, please let me know!
