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
In June 1970, Mungo Jerry crashed into the UK singles charts with ‘In The Summertime’. A couple of weeks earlier, Peel had witnessed the band's national debut at the Hollywood Festival, where he had introduced the acts on the first day (see Gigography 1970). Obviously impressed, he played the single on Top Gear and a week later led off his show with the record.
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 when Colin East of the band was interviewed in Record Mirror in 1971 he commented; "Just at the moment we would be happier if Peel gave us a play because he seems to have ignored us since 'In The Summertime' - we get the impression he doesn't like us anymore... ". 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).
When the BBC banned Mungo Jerry's Lady Rose single in May 1971, because one of the songs, Have A Whiff On Me, was believed to have a drug reference, Peel in the Melody Maker, published on 29th May 1971, condemned the organisation for banning it, stating that it was on overreaction and could set a dangerous precedent. 
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None
== Sessions ==
*None
== Live ==
*26 July 1970: Concert show. Also appearing: Jo-Ann Kelly & Bob Hall, Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts. Simon And Steve were supposed to perform, but could not make it.
#No set details available
== Other Shows Played ==
* 23 May 1970: In The Summertime (single) Dawn
* 30 May 1970: In The Summertime (single) Dawn
== See Also ==
*Singles
*Singles Reviews
*UK Singles Chart Number Ones
*Gigography 1970 
*Gigography 1972
*Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia: Mungo Jerry
Category:Artists