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In our June LINGER issue we take a look back at the history of the music festival. Pop this playlist on as you have a listen to really immerse yourself in the moment – and take a read of the stories behind our selection below.

Listen to the playlist on Spotify here.

DJ: Julian Owen

The Wailing Boat by Ted Heath

Recorded at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival (1959)

Up Jumped the Devil by The New York City Ramblers

Recorded at the Newport Folk Festival (1961)

It’s All Over Now by The Rolling Stones

Studio version of a song they played at the National Jazz & Blues Festival in 1964

Light my Fire by The Doors

Their first hit, heading up the charts as they played the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival in 1967

Shake by Otis Redding

Live at Monterey (1967). Has there ever been a better festival set opener? Look up Monterey Pop, filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker’s magisterial overview of the pioneering Californian gathering.

Woodstock by Matthews Southern Comfort

With a respectful nod to the Joni Mitchell original, which isn’t available on Spotify

Oh Happy Day by The Edwin Hawkins Singers

On the same June weekend that Woodstock rocked upstate New York, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone headed a stupendous line up of funk, gospel and soul as the Harlem Cultural Festival hit the city – this is a live recording from that event (aka the Summer of Soul) in 1969.

So Long, Marianne by Leonard Cohen

Live at the Isle of Wight in 1970.

54-56 Was my Number by Toots & The Maytals

One of the stars of the 1970 Caribbean Music Festival at Wembley. As featured in Reggae, an evocative look at reggae’s impact on Britain

I’ll Take You There by The Staple Singers

Recorded at Wattstax in 1972 – in 1972, the celebrated Stax label put on a Los Angeles benefit concert to commemorate the Watts riots, showcasing its stellar soul roster.

Kama K’iwacu by The Drummers of Burundi

Recorded at the first WOMAD in 1982

It’s Like That by Run-D.M.C. Vs. Jason Nevins

The old school rappers headlined the first Creamfields in 1998, the year after Jason Nevins’ remixed their 1983 debut single

If It Makes You Happy by Sheryl Crow

Recorded at the notorious Woodstock 99 and thereby drenching the “… it can’t be that bad” payoff in irony

Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

Recorded at Glastonbury 2000

The Best of the Festivals playlist on Spotify

How the author and illustrator’s codes were finally cracked with a little help from history

You might not necessarily associate the unassuming author of Peter Rabbit with ciphers and code-breakers, but if we learned anything from our Looking Back feature on Beatrix Potter in our March issue, it’s that she is the last person you should assume anything about at all.

After her death, a series of notebooks full of tightly curled, tiny cipher were discovered by a family member. The coded books were written by Potter between the ages of 15 and 30, and utterly defeated the relative who uncovered it, so they enlisted the help of Potter Superfan Leslie Linder.

Even so, it took Linder years of scrutinising the tiny, indecipherable handwriting to find a breakthrough, which turned out to be the year 1793 and the Roman numerals XIV (16). He worked out that it must refer to the execution of Louis XIV in 1793, and from there he was away… Well. We say ‘away’...

Though it transpired the ‘code’ that had eluded everyone for years was a simple alphabetical cipher of the type Scouts might use, Potter’s handwriting was so small, it was years until the code was fully broken and Potter’s teenaged thoughts about artists, museum, exhibits and more, were finally uncovered.

The code is a simple switch of letters for other letters, some numbers and a few symbols, too. You can find a full list here if you wish. And Atlas Obscura has still more information on the code

Now, what’s the Potter Code for ‘Mr MacGregor’s juiciest radishes: this way’? Asking for a (furry) friend.

You can read more about Beatrix Potter in our March issue’s Looking Back pages. The exhibition Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature is on at the V&A until 8 January 2023.

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