The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

15.3 Fun in the Mud

The Glastonbury Festival is one of the highlights of the UK music scene, taking place annually in June. It’s particularly renowned for two things: the sheer amount of mud festival-goers can expect to find themselves caked in after spending a weekend in a British field, and the legendary Pyramid Stage, where world-famous acts perform to crowds of thousands.

A list of headliners from 1970-present can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaston...
For the purposes of this task, only acts who performed in some capacity will be accepted. This excludes those who were scheduled to be headliners but were later replaced, and those who did not perform in 2020 due to the festival's cancellation.

Choose an option.
Required: state the option.

Option 1: Read two books, one book A and one book B.

Book A: Read a book whose author has a name part that matches part of a headlining Glastonbury act. The word must match exactly, "the" "and" and "'N" are not included.
Example: Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon – Kings of Leon
Required: state the act.

Book B: Read a book with a word in the title or subtitle that matches part of the name of a headlining Glastonbury act. The word must match exactly, "the" "and" and "'N" are not included.
Example: The Black Echo – Echo & the Bunnymen
Required: state the act.

Option 2: Read one book that satisfies the requirements for both A and B options.
E.g. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson (Manic Street Preachers/Jackson Browne)
Strange Weather: Four Short Stories by Joe Hill (Weather Report/Joe Cocker)
Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown (Black Uhuru/Echo & the Bunnymen)

You may use the same word for both author and title, provided the word can be found in the name of two different acts. (e.g. "black" in both Black Uhuru and the Black Crowes).

You may use the same act for both author and title, provided two different words are used (e.g. "Florence" and "Machine").

List of headliners, adapted from the Wikipedia entry:

Tyrannosaurus Rex
David Bowie
Tim Blake
Peter Gabriel
Hawkwind
Ginger Baker
Van Morrison
Jackson Browne
Curtis Mayfield
UB40
The Smiths
Weather Report
Black Uhuru
Echo & the Bunnymen
Joe Cocker
The Boomtown Rats
The Cure
The Psychedelic Furs
Level 42
Elvis Costello
The Communards
Suzanne Vega
Happy Mondays
Sinéad O’Connor
Carter USM
Shakespears Sister
Youssou N’Dour
The Black Crowes
Christy Moore
Lenny Kravitz
Levellers
Oasis
Pulp
Radiohead
The Prodigy
Ash
Primal Scream
Blur
Bob Dylan
R.E.M
Manic Street Preachers
Skunk Anansie
Travis
The Chemical Brothers
Coldplay
Rod Stewart
Stereophonics
Moby
Paul McCartney
Muse
White Stripes
Coldplay
Basement Jaxx
Arctic Monkeys
The Killers
The Who
Kings of Leon
Jay-Z
The Verve
Neil Young
Bruce Springsteen
Gorillaz
Stevie Wonder
Beyoncé
U2
The Rolling Stones
Mumford & Sons
Arcade Fire
Metallica
Kasabian
Florence and the Machine
Kanye West
Adele
Foo Fighters
Ed Sheeran
Stormzy
Billie Eilish
Kendrick Lamar
Guns N’ Roses
Elton John


This list only includes those who have actively performed (or are due to perform this Summer) as headlining acts at Glastonbury. It does not include those who were due to perform but were later replaced, or those who were unable to perform due to the festival being cancelled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reserved.

This thread is now open.

1 book option Thanks in advance

will this work Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970 by David Browne

Arcade Fire/Jackson Browne

Yep, that works.

Just to confirm that I've understood correctly, would this work for option 2:

The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street by Karen White

Manic Street Preachers (headliner 1999) / White Stripes (headliner 2005).

Thanks!

Yep, that works perfectly!

I too need to confirm that I have understood correctly. Would this work for Option #2

The Witch of Bourbon Street by Suzanne Palmieri

You've got it exactly right :)

Jayne wrote: "Yep, that works perfectly!"

Thanks

Does "Z" from Jay Z count as a match?

If so, would I be able to use The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann as the 1 book option?

Jay Z / David Bowie

I've just double-checked the spelling of the name Jay-Z, and unfortunately the original list has a typo (in that it's lacking the hyphen). Alas, I'll have to disallow it. I'll correct the listing, sorry about that!

SRC Moderator wrote: "This list only includes those who have actively performed (or are due to perform this Summer) as headlining acts at Glastonbury. It does not include those who were due to perform but were later replaced, or those who were unable to perform due to the festival being cancelled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic..."

So do I understand correctly that the two years of pandemic headliners are disallowed for this task? No Taylor Swift in other words?

The 2020 acts are disallowed for this task as no performances went ahead that year. 2021 headliners are allowed as there were performances, albeit in the form of a livestreamed film.

I'll update the task wording to clarify.

Jayne wrote: "The 2020 acts are disallowed for this task as no performances went ahead that year. 2021 headliners are allowed as there were performances, albeit in an online-only format.

I'll update the task wo..."

I assumed that was the case, but it wasn't specifically disallowed, so I thought I'd ask. Appreciate the quick response. Thank you.

If you do Option 2, can you use the same word in title as you are using in authors name?

For example:Autobiography Of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, Or Black Hawk by Black Hawk

Using Black for both title and author

I think as long as the same word comes from two different sources (e.g. in your case, Black Uhuru/The Black Crowes), that works.

I was hoping to avoid double-dipping, so I'll update the task wording.

Does the word have to be exact, ie The Killers as I have a book called The Snow Killer.

Many thanks x

Yes, the word has to match exactly.

Can I have Black Heart for Black Uhuru?

That works!

No Secrets - David Jackson David Bowie?

Yes, that works too.

Jayne wrote: "Yes, that works too."

Thank you for both helps. I've added them to my kindle to read :D

Surnames-wise we have Morrison, Smith, and Moore in the list which gives some great and prolific authors like Toni Morrison, Zadie Smith and Alan Moore. Lots of books to choose from!

It has to be an exact match, so Zadie Smith doesn't work (it's The Smiths, sorry!), but good find for the other two!