Mungo Jerry

"'How many examples have there been in the longish history of rock festivals of bands turning in that blinding performance that defines them in your head for ever? There have been a few, oddities such as Mungo Jerry at the Hollywood Festival (Hollywood in the West Midlands) and, weirder yet, Police skanking up a storm at Pink Pop, near Maastricht, but as they say, er … that’s it.' (JP, article on the Reading Festival, Guardian, 1995-08-28; reprinted The Olivetti Chronicles, hardback, p.243)"

thumb|320px|right|In The Summertime

Mungo Jerry burst into the UK singles charts with ‘In The Summertime’ in June 1970. A couple of weeks earlier, Peel had witnessed their national debut at the Hollywood Festival, where he introduced the acts on the first day (see Gigography 1970). Obviously impressed, he played the single on Top Gear and a week led off his show with the record.

But while ‘In The Summertime’ would go on to spend seven weeks at the top of the UK charts, Peel appeared to take little further interest in the band. Mungo Jerry won the Melody Maker Best New Band award for 1970 and notched up several further chart hits in the first half of the decade, but it is not known whether Peel ever played them on his show again after May 1970, although it seems likely that he witnessed their performance at the 1972 Reading Festival (see Gigography 1972).

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Sessions

 * None

Other Shows Played

 * 23 May 1970: In The Summertime (single) Dawn
 * 30 May 1970: In The Summertime (single) Dawn