September 19, 1970: The 1st Glastonbury Festival

September 19, 1970: The 1st Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is held in Pilton, Somerset, England. The Kinks and Wayne Fontana were supposed to be the headliners, but both backed out. So it was not surprising that only 1,500 people attended a show whose headliner turned out to be the as-yet-unknown T. Rex. Al Stewart, also not yet especially famous, also performed at that 1st show.

The 1971 festival had David Bowie, Traffic with Steve Winwood, Fairport Convention, and Woodstock performer Melanie. That got the ball rolling, and since then, crowds of over 200,000 have attended, with the Pyramid Stage being the centerpiece. In addition to rock and other music, the Festival hosts dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.

The festival is not held every year, so canceling the 2020 show because of COVID was only a big deal because it was the 50th Anniversary.

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September 19, 1970 was a Saturday. This was also the day of the premiere of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I have a separate entry for that event.

These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Yankees scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th to win it, although they didn't hit a home run. Horace Clark and John Ellis each had 2 hits and 2 RBIs. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Shea Stadium. Luke Walker (not Luke Skywalker) outpitched Gary Gentry. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell each went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 8-4 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Ernie Banks did not play.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader with the Washington Senators at Fenway Park in Boston, 7-3 and 11-3. Carl Yastrzemski only got 1 hit over the 2 games, but he got an RBI from it.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Frank Robinson also appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and drew a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-4 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Pete Rose went 0-for-2 with 3 walks. Johnny Bench went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Jim McGlothlin was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with a home run. Hank Aaron did not play.

* The Minnesota Twins, which would have been Mary's team, were on the road, and beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Would you believe me if I said that Luis Aparicio hit a home run and Harmon Killebrew didn't? That's what happened in this game, although Killebrew did have an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Rod Carew did not play.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Lou Brock went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 3-0 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk. Gaylord Perry pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 6-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the California Angels, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-2, but drew 2 walks.

There was also college football that day. Not for preseason Number 1 Ohio State, who didn't open their season until the following week. But these games were among those played:

* Number 2 Texas beat the University of California (a.k.a. Cal), 56-15 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Number 3 Southern California (a.k.a. USC), fresh off beating then-Number 3 Alabama in what became known as "The Sam Cunningham Game," were themselves sort-of upset, held to a 21-21 tie by Number 9 Nebraska at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 4 Stanford beat San Jose State, 34-3 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. Even though these schools' respective stadiums are just 15 miles apart, this is not a rivalry. Certainly not like Stanford vs. Cal, 40 miles apart, the regular-season finale known as "The Big Game."

* Number 5 Mississippi (a.k.a. Ole Miss) beat Memphis State (now the University of Memphis), 47-13 at the Liberty Bowl (now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium) in Memphis.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Northwestern, 35-14 at Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field) in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois.

* Number 7 Penn State beat Navy, 55-7 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Number 8 Michigan beat Arizona, 20-9 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

* Number 10 Missouri beat Minnesota, 34-12 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. It was never mentioned if Mary Richards went to college, although the University of Minnesota is a strong possibility.

* Number 12 Louisiana State (a.k.a. LSU) were upset by Texas A&M, 20-18 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 13 Kansas State were upset by Kentucky, 16-3 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

* Number 19 Georgia were upset by Tulane, 17-14 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

* Alabama were now unranked, and took their frustrations out on Virginia Tech, 51-18 at Legion Field in Birmingham.

* North Carolina beat North Carolina State, 19-0 at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Baylor beat Army, 10-7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* And Rutgers beat Lafayette, 41-16 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. Princeton did not start their season until the following week, and beat arch-rival Rutgers, 41-14 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.

Also, in English soccer, Arsenal beat Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion, 6-2 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London. 

September 16, 1977: The Death of Marc Bolan

September 16, 1977: Marc Bolan is killed in a car crash in Barnes, Southwest London. He was just short of turning 30.

Mark Feld (no middle name) was born on September 30, 1947 in Stoke Newington, East London. There are varying stories as to why he took on the stage name Marc Bolan, and his own was that Decca Records chose the name -- possibly as a contraction of "Bob Dylan."

He became the lead singer of the "glam rock" band T. Rex. His songs "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" and "20th Century Boy" became classics in the early 1970s. I still don't know what "Well, you're built like a car, you got a hubcap-diamond-star halo" means, but it sounds like a cool thing to say to a girl.

He had never learned to drive, and the Mini 1275GT he died in was driven by his girlfriend, American soul singer Gloria Jones, the mother of his son Rolan Bolan. In 1964, Gloria had a minor hit with the original version of "Tainted Love." Marc was posthumously elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As for the other members of T. Rex: Bass guitarist Steve Currie also died in a car crash, in 1981 at 33; Ian McDonald, the saxophone player on "Get It On (Bang a Gong)," officially a member of King Crimson at the time and Foreigner later, died in 2022. As of September 16, 2022, keyboard player Rick Wakeman (later of Yes and Asia) and drummer Bill Legend are still alive at 78. So are Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, formerly the leaders of The Turtles, who sang backup on "Get It On (Bang a Gong)." So are Gloria Jones and Rolan Bolan. Rolan was practically raised by Marc's friend David Bowie along with Gloria, and is now a singe rand songwriter himself.

On the U.S. version of the TV series Life On Mars, New York detective Sam Tyler, an unwilling time traveler stuck in 1973, met Jim Croce and warned him about small planes. In the original British version, set in Manchester, Sam met Bolan and, forgetting that Gloria was the driver, said, "Drive carefully, especially in Minis."

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September 16, 1977 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Don Gullett outpitched Fernando Arroyo. Paul Blair hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4 with a walk. Rusty Staub hit a home run for the Tigers.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Dan Schatzeder (5 hits over 6 1/3rd innings) and Don Stanhouse combined for a 6-hit shutout. Tony Pérez and Gary Carter hit home runs. Willie Stargell did not play.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Lee May and soon-to-be American League Rookie of the Year Eddie Murray hit home runs. The Boston run came on a home run by Carl Yastrzemski.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mike Schmidt hit a home run.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-4.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 9-7 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rod Carew entered the game as a pinch-hitter before moving to 1st base, and went 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs. This raised his batting average to .383, and he finished at .388.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Gene Richards singled Gene Tenace home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Dave Winfield went 1-for-5.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Pete Rose went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Johnny Bench went 1-for-2 before leaving the game.

* The Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Indians won the 1st game, 6-3. The Jays won the 2nd game, 6-5.

* And the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs were rained out at Shea Stadium. As the next day, Saturday, already had a rain-forced doubleheader scheduled, this game was made up as part of a doubleheader on the Sunday. The Mets won the opener, 5-4. The Cubs led, 4-2, going into the bottom of the 9th, but Ed Kranepool doubled home Mike Vail and Steve Henderson, and an error allowed John Stearns to score the winning run.