Worst band to have headlined the Glastonbury Festival in the last 20 years

According to someone I know who interviewed him in an article about headlining Glastonbury, The Levellers' Mark Chadwick claimed that The Stones have never played because they are "afraid of failure"

Well, to be fair, clearly the Levellers never had that fear in general.

well, sic, american indie rock had these people called "anglophiles" who worship the brit charts and kept up stocked on yawny BS like Ned's Atomic Dbag and Oasis and The Darkness. Even they weren't fucking with Skunk enuf to spread the word.

Whiney i totally remember reading about Skunk Anansie in American rock mags

Some dude's right -- they had American releases, were talked about, etc.

the mark richardson in skunk anansie was the drummer of british shitty poodle rock band Little Angels.

Skunk Anansie toured early on with pre-fame Slipknot. I remember listening to the radio 1 rock show and it was a skunk anansie tour report from the USA where skin was raving about these guys in masks and how exciting they were. This was the 1st time I heard of them. A year later and they were huge.

fwiw I'm about 90% certain that Skunk Anansie's headline set at Glastonbury only happened because someone big dropped out at short notice. They weren't *that* popular here

don't know if it's a point in our favor or yours that Slipknot were successfully foisted on the UK but Skunk Anansie couldn't make it in the states

Slipknot >>>>>>>>>>>>> Skunk Anansie, you weiner

both suck

but neither are as bad as The Little Angels were

i honestly can't find the words to describe how small of a "splash" they made in america. like spin never even reviewed one of their records.

You do know that the Glastonbury festival doesn't take place in America, and therefore this doesn't matter, right?

Skunk Anansie didn't feel like they should be headliners at the time, they were reasonably popular but not headliner material. Either they couldn't fill that third slot, or someone pulled out before they announced the lineup (they were definitely on the first published lineup at the top of the bill, I remember eyebrows being raised at the time).

I think what probably happened was that the organisers thought their next album was going to send them absolutely massive and that just didn't happen. Radiohead were not really that big in early 1997, when they would have been booked, but their set coincideded with the release of OK Computer that sent them absolutely stratospheric. Hell, even Jay-Z wasn't really big enough in Britain to headline the festival and has subsequently become huge here.

Headliners pre-95 or so are excepted from this because the festival was so much smaller.

nah radiohead a big deal already, obviously not supernova big, but "the organisers thought their next album was going to send them absolutely massive" is probably otm

like spin never even reviewed one of their records.

omigod world renowned SPIN MAGAZINE, the magazine just EVERYBODY read didn't write about them???!!!!

how did they even eat? how did they even roll out of bed in the morning?

Pulp replacing The Stones Roses in 1995, was purely off the back of Common People. It's strange to think Monday Morning, Disco 2000, Mis-shapes and Sorted for E's And Whiz were all unreleased at the time of their set, with the latter 3 being played for the first time (I think)

I didn't watch all that much MTV (lol no cable) but the few instances around that time that I caught it, I saw the video for "Selling Jesus" multiple times.

like spin never even reviewed one of their records.

omigod world renowned SPIN MAGAZINE, the magazine just EVERYBODY read didn't write about them???!!!!

how did they even eat? how did they even roll out of bed in the morning?

― my weekly race thread (history mayne), Monday, June 28, 2010 5:01 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah but in a certain era, spin pretty much defined rock for kids that were growing up to be indie rock and alternative audiences

no on knew who skunk anasie was, i vaguely remember them cuz i think they might have has some song from that movie with angela bassett where they like put weird fake memories in ppls heads, i think raph fiennes was in it

Strange Days

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow IIRC

also featured Juliette Lewis singing PJ Harvey's "Can Hardly Wait"

Juliette Lewis meets PJ Harvey! Sorta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ5NUoT6Ujs

Haha xpost. But...different song?

Apologies for my psychotic appearance at the start of the clip BTW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKnlo7sLfa0&feature=related

ta-dah

And there we go.

Anyway back to talking about when Ralph Fiennes headlined Glastonbury:

http://junkiepop.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/strange_days_560x330_msdstda_ec010_h1.jpg

hahaha MINIDISC = the hi tech format of the future

I still rue the day I talked myself into buying a minidisc recorder

I blame this movie, actually

You were distracted:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2225/2460418458_cfe392a3dc.jpg

somewhere in the office we have a copy of "evil empire" by ratm on minidisc, remember when they were selling prerecorded minidiscs?

Um....in its day minidisc was an awesome format.

The trouble is, its day lasted for about a, well, day.

I used it professionally and personally from about 1995 till about 2004.

many people still record gigs with it

people still use tape reels, too

Can't see anyone else as limp and dreary as Travis. At least Stereophonics occasionally give rocking a bit of a half-hearted go.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Ironically their debut single was called "All I Want To Do is Rock"

only 2 votes for muse? really?

i don't get what people have against skunk anansie. they don't seem important enough to hate, and most of the other lumpen britpop acts on that godforsaken list were a good deal worse.

minidisc was actually pretty good, i used on for years at work to record interviews...just thought it was funny in the context of the movie

Ironically their debut single was called "All I Want To Do is Rock"

even at that stage they were desperately toning it down - live the song had been All I Want To Do Is Fuck

i don't get what people have against skunk anansie.

whiney is just "hugging it out" and "keeping it posi"

Can I place 800,000 votes for Muse on behalf of everyone who forgot to vote thanks

oh, and nothing wrong with minidiscs btw

Even own "Loveless" on prerec.

Funny story someone told me over the weekend. Siobhan Fahey's at a party a few years ago and meets Michael Eavis. She says "Thanks for letting us headline in 92, we had a fantastic time." He looks at her uncertainly and says, "No I don't think so. What band were you in?" "Shakespear's Sister." Eavis shakes his head: "No, I think you must be mistaken. You never headlined Glastonbury." Siobhan insists they did. Eavis wracks his brain and asks who else was on the bill. Siobhan says Lou Reed was on before them. Eavis looks delighted and says, "There you go! Lou Reed must have headlined!" Finally Siobhan gives up and walks off. She can laugh about it now, apparently.

Was also reminded that Ash only headlined Sunday in 1997 because Steve Winwood pulled out. Steve Winwood?!?

Shakespears Sister headlining definitely seems bizarre now but they had some pretty big hits at the time. lol at that story...

Can't see anyone else as limp and dreary as Travis. At least Stereophonics occasionally give rocking a bit of a half-hearted go.

I actually saw that Travis headline set and it was quite sweet and enjoyable, have to say. I didn't want to see them either, but I was already there for some reason and the proximity of the cider bus and toilet facilities suddenly made it very doable. I'm not a fan but they kinda won me over a bit, I remember a cool cover of The Band's "The Weight" and all the usual singalong tunes they had at the time, it was awwwright with me... but Pyramid headline sets are always a bit like that, you usually stand at the back and watch the screens drinking cider and letting it wash all over you, other areas of the festival are more engaging, just the way it is...