What was the only number one played at the first Glastonbury?
Now, I don’t believe in crystal skulls or the moon’s retrograde, but something was happening in the 1960s, and what it was ain’t exactly clear, as the fellow once said. It seems as though the centre was struggling to hold.
In the arts, there was still a commercial mainstream; how else could you explain ‘Tears’ by Ken Dodd being the third best-selling single of the decade in the UK, but somehow, utterly avant-garde tracks like ‘I am the Walrus’ were also able to make their mark on the charts.
With that in mind, a young farmer in the village of Glastonbury thought that setting up an alternative festival might be a cunning way to pay off his debts. You’d have to be heavily stoned to think that was feasible in the modern climate. Luckily, everyone at the inaugural festival was sober, which has remained the case to this day. But did the move pay off for Michael Eavis and his Amish beard? It might be a multi-million-pound operation these days, but what about its humble beginnings in 1970?
Well, in rare archival video footage, one disgruntled hippie offers up the following appraisal: ”Very poor attendance, I think mainly due to bad advertising. Could have been a gas, great show, had it been better advertised.”
Eavis had hoped that around 5,000 people would attend his ‘Worthy Farm Pop Festival‘, but in the end, it only attracted around 1,500. Looking on the bright side, as is the festival’s sunny disposition, maybe if it had swiftly written off Eavis’ debts, it wouldn’t be around today?
Beyond advertising, part of the problem the inaugural festival faced was a lack of hit-makers on the bill. The Kinks had been scheduled to perform, but they pulled out late into the proceedings – they have still never played at Worthy Farm – and they were replaced by a then-little-known Tyrannosaurus Rex. This swift replacement booking certainly proved Eavis’ knack for spotting potential future talent, but Marc Bolan and his mates hadn’t amassed a major following by 1970, and even tickets retailing at £1 (around £13.67 in 2025) struggled to shift.
The only number one played at the first Glastonbury
In fact, the debut bash was basically devoid of any names who have stood the test of time; Keith Christmas and Sam Apple Pie are quiz question answers that only Keith Christmas and Sam Apple Pie would ever get right. But ironically, the festival did begin with a number-one hit. To get proceedings off on a jolly good footing before Quintessence became the comically named first band to ever take to the Worthy Farm stage as we know it today, DJ Mad Mick stepped up as the compère to spin a few discs.
The first song that ‘Mad’ Mick Ringham played was ‘It’s All Over Now’ by The Valentinos. As Ringham recalls, I can’t remember what the pay was, though I do remember I never got the money. ”I was the first person on the stage, ahead of the bands, and I opened by playing ‘It’s All Over Now’ by The Valentinos. It’s just a random, very funky R’n’B track that had been covered by the Stones, and was a particular favourite of mine at the time.”
Ironically, the original version that Ringham spun didn’t even chart in the UK, but it was covered just two weeks later by The Rolling Stones, and it rapidly went on to be the band’s first-ever number one. And that’s as close as the first Glastonbury ever got to playing a number one hit. This curious fact is not something that should be lost sight of so easily.
Granted, the first festival might not have lived up to expectations, however, the hodgepodge alternative origins of the festival prove that alternative, independent endeavours can still make a dent in the cultural landscape—at least that’s what we have to tell ourselves at Far Out as we battle against the capricious algorithms set by the mytsic powers that be.
