The Myponga Pop Festival was a music festival which took place on a farm near
Myponga, South Australia
Myponga is a settlement in South Australia. At the 2016 census, the locality had a population of 744, of whom 393 lived in its town centre. Myponga is located within the federal division of Mayo, the state electoral district of Mawson, and the ...
from 30 January to 1 February 1971.
Myponga Pop Festival drew approximately 15,000 people, the biggest event in Adelaide since the Beatles drew a 300,000 strong crowd in 1964. The main funder and figure in the festival organising company, Music Power, was Hamish Henry. The festival has been described as a ''"tribute to Henry's entrepreneurial genius"''. As well as organising the Myponga festival, Henry managed several of the headlining local bands, War Machine and two other Adelaide groups, Headband and Fraternity. Hamish had brought rock band Fraternity to Adelaide, South Australia and soon had them headline his Woodstock inspired festival alongside Black Sabbath.
According to ''Myponga: South Australia's first pop festival'' by Lindsay Buckland, the festival was originally to be held at Silver Lake near Mylor, South Australia. The owner of the Silver Lake site threatened court proceedings against Music Power for changing the site of the event to Myponga. As a result Alex Innocenti pulled out from the festival as an investor and organiser and was contracted to the festival for various remedial duties, not in an official decision making capacity.
Trevor Brine was the festival's booker and artist liaison.
The festival was headlined by heavy metal pioneers,
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
.
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...
was advertised as co-headline artist at the festival but he cancelled to perform in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
The compere was Adrian Rawlins, who wrote of his experiences at Myponga, and other festivals, in his book ''Festivals in Australia: an Intimate History '' (1982).
Another international act was Syrius, (from Hungary, see
Jackie Orszaczky
Miklós József "Jackie" Orszáczky (8 May 1948, Budapest, Hungary 3 February 2008, Sydney, Australia) was a Hungary, Hungarian-Australian musician, arranger, vocalist and record producer. His musical styles included jazz, blues, R&B, funk and p ...
).
According to Brine's assistant and ticket seller Alex Innocenti,
"we went down to the farm at Myponga in Hamish's great American sports car with no roof, like movie stars. The farmer says, `What do you guys want?' and Hamish says, `I want to buy your farm.' He gave him a $1 deposit and paid him the next week." Innocenti says he has no idea what's happened to Henry.
Australian artists included
Daddy Cool,
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
,
Fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...
,
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney, New South Wales. The group enjoyed success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early 1970s to become one of the most popular Australian hard-roc ...
,
Fanny Adams
Fanny Adams (30 April 1859 – 24 August 1867) was an eight-year-old English girl who was murdered by solicitor's clerk, Frederick Baker, in Alton, Hampshire, on 24 August 1867. The murder itself was extraordinarily brutal and caused a na ...
,
Jeff St John's Copperwine with
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington (26 September 194921 June 2013), also known as Gandharvika Dasi, was an Australian blues, soul and jazz singer, and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper ''Go ...
,
Company Caine
Company Caine, also styled as Co. Caine and Company Kane, were an Australian progressive rock band. They were formed in March 1970 by Ray Arnott on drums (ex-Chelsea Set, Browns, Cam-Pact), Cliff Edwards on bass guitar (ex-Cam-Pact), Jeremy Noon ...
and
Chain
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
; South Australian artists included
Steve Foster.
''
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
History
''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
'' correspondent reported that the "festival rocked to a close tonight after taking l days to warm up. The pop crowd, estimated at 8,000, started arriving at the 62-acre farm at Myponga early on Saturday morning. Most of them had brought plenty of alcohol and, although violence did not erupt, the atmosphere at the festival was tense at times."
The promoters did not make any profit.
Author Clinton Walker in his book 'Highway to Hell: The life and death of Bon Scott' described the Myponga Festival: "With a bill boasting an exclusive appearance by Black Sabbath as well as the cream of Australia's progressive bands, Myponga - bankrolled by Hamish Henry was the biggest thing to hit Adelaide since the Beatles..."
In March 2013 Black Sabbath's
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
recalled the group's debut Australian performance, "That was the Myponga Pop Festival if I remember right? Management told us we'd have an exact copy of our amplifiers there, which we thought was great, but when we got there they were nothing like our amplifiers! But you know what? You get up there and do your best and I had a good time. I remember we had a big party at the hotel and some chicks there got absolutely shit-faced and were throwing up everywhere and we had to send them home. I don't remember much on the sex front after that..."
To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the festival a monument was erected near the original festival site on Higgs Road, Myponga.
A concert was held to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Myponga Music Festival and
Fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...
at Thebarton Theatre on Thursday 18th March 2021. Original Myponga Music Festival bands Chain, Spectrum & Fraternity performed. Doug Parkinson (Fanny Adams) was also scheduled but died just days before the event.
Lineup
(Bands are listed in the order they appeared.)
Sunday, January 30th
* Uncle Jack
* Storyville
* Monshine Jug and the String Band
* Lipp Arthur
*
Daddy Cool
* Desiderata
*
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
*
Fanny Adams
Fanny Adams (30 April 1859 – 24 August 1867) was an eight-year-old English girl who was murdered by solicitor's clerk, Frederick Baker, in Alton, Hampshire, on 24 August 1867. The murder itself was extraordinarily brutal and caused a na ...
* Lipp Caine Rock Orchestra
* Geoff Crozier's Magic Freaks
* Syrius
Monday, January 31st
* Coney Island Jug Band
*
Daddy Cool
* Hippo
* Sunshine
*
Company Caine
Company Caine, also styled as Co. Caine and Company Kane, were an Australian progressive rock band. They were formed in March 1970 by Ray Arnott on drums (ex-Chelsea Set, Browns, Cam-Pact), Cliff Edwards on bass guitar (ex-Cam-Pact), Jeremy Noon ...
* John Graham
*
Sons of the Vegetal Mother
Sons of the Vegetal Mother (also known as The Vegetals to fans) were an Australian "esoteric special-occasion progressive band", formed in late 1969, with a floating line-up based around the nucleus of Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford. A side-proj ...
*
Margret RoadKnight
Margret RoadKnight (born in July 1943) is an Australian singer-guitarist. In a career spanning more than five decades, she has sung in a wide variety of styles including blues, jazz, gospel, comedy, cabaret, and folk. In January 1976 she relea ...
* War Machine
* Black Fire
*
Fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...
*
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
Tuesday, February 1st
* Fat Angel
*
Octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
* Flying Biplane
* Pigface
* Lotus
*
Chain
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
*
Jeff St. John,
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington (26 September 194921 June 2013), also known as Gandharvika Dasi, was an Australian blues, soul and jazz singer, and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper ''Go ...
, and the Copperwine
* Healing Force
*
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney, New South Wales. The group enjoyed success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early 1970s to become one of the most popular Australian hard-roc ...
*
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
See also
*
List of historic rock festivals
A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular even ...
*
List of jam band music festivals
This is a list of jam band music festivals. This list may have some overlap with list of historic rock festivals and list of reggae festivals. Jam bands are musical groups who relate to a unique fan culture that began in the 1960s with Grateful ...
References
{{Rock festivals
Rock festivals in Australia
Pop music festivals
1971 in Australia
1971 music festivals