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Golden moments of Glastonbury Festival
25 Jun 2009Glastonbury Festival's first acts take the stage today and some golden musical moments are promised over the weekend.
Here are a few from the festival's 29-year history:
T-Rex, 1970: Marc Bolan arrived at the festival, known in its early years as Pilton Festival, in a velvet covered car. When organiser Michael Eavis went to stroke it Bolan screamed: "Don't touch my car, man."
Bananarama, 1982: Fresh from their first taste of chart success the girl group played Glastonbury in '82. Legend has it that backstage they asked for somewhere they could wash but because there was no running water they were instead handed a bowl of water.
The Smiths, 1984: The Mancunian masters of miserable played through a hail of gladioli and scores of fans made it on to the stage to drape themselves over lead singer Morrissey.
Suzanne Vega, 1989: Both Vega and bassist Mike Visceglia received threats in the days leading up to the festival, saying they would be shot at while on stage. But the pair refused to pull out. Both wore bullet-proof vests - but a gunman did not show up.
Pulp, 1995: The Sheffield band were called up late in the day after the Stone Roses had to pull out when guitarist John Squire broke his collarbone in a mountain biking accident. But, despite the disappointment of some, Pulp played an acclaimed set and went on to become one of Britpop's biggest successes.
Robbie Williams, 1995: Fresh from quitting boyband Take That Williams was eager to work on his rock star image. He even persuaded Britpop champions Oasis to let him on stage to dance along - but it backfired with the Guardian describing the episode as "more than faintly pathetic".
Radiohead, 1997: Troubled by equipment failure and cold, wet weather, Radiohead have called this one of their most difficult performances. But Mr Eavis calls it Glastonbury's finest ever set.
Sir Paul McCartney, 2004: Young and old, punk or hippie everyone enjoyed a sing-a-long with Macca who played plenty of Beatles' classics.
Jay-Z, 2008: The American rapper caused controversy when picked as a headliner, attracting the scorn of Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher. His presence was also blamed for slower ticket sales. But when he took the stage - opening with his own version of Wonderwall - the crowd were mesmerised.
