FANS IN THE PARKFor UK fans the 1969 British National Convention GALACTIC FAIR, held at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford over the Easter weekend of April 5th - 7th, and the moon landing would have been the biggest events of the year, but they weren't the only ones. For young fans of the time there was also the free concert put on by the Rolling Stones, whose offer to perform at the London Worldcon four years earlier had been turned down.
The concert took place in London's Hyde Park on July 5th - two days after the death of former band member Brian Jones and eleven days before Apollo 11 blasted off for the moon. Colour photos by Bill Burns, b&w from Stan Nicholls.
JOHN EGGELING: Apart from Dave and Moy there was Derek Stokes, and Eileen Costelloe, Derek Stokes' girl friend Diane and her sister whose name I've forgotten, Eileen Costelloe's brother, Kevin, and Cathy Nugent. No sign of Dave Baldock in the photos, though I sure he was there. Also present, in their long, black, hooded robes, and with their black Alsatian dogs, were members of Process, a group of Luciferian worshipers based in Mayfair. They published an interesting magazine, also called Process, though it didn't carry fiction. All very surreal when seen though a cloud of hash smoke.
STAN NICHOLLS: Ken Brookes, along with Dave Baldock (later Baldock-Ling), at one point ran a small magazine distribution company called Blown, supplying London shops with mags including New Worlds. (Their worst seller apparently. Ken once told me that one shop returned more copies than they'd been given.) MIKE ASHLEY: I was at the Stones concert in Hyde Park in 1969. Didn't know that Stan and John were there. I was with John Quattromini and Bob ('Poj') Hough. What was surreal about it all was that before the Stones were on, there was King Crimson. John, Poj and I were ambling around the Park before finding somewhere to sit and suddenly the ethereal tones of "In the Court of the Crimson King" began to waft through the Park. Pure magic.
More photos of fans at the event can be found on Bill Burns' website:
MIKE ASHLEY: Gosh, I did miss some of the gang -- not surprising in the crowds. I always enjoyed the company of Dave and Moira. STAN NICHOLLS: Here's another Hyde Park photo, from I think 1970, when Pink Floyd played. L-R: David Griffiths, Dave Baldock-Ling, me, John E, a just visible Diane Lister, and Derek (Bram) Stokes. Moy Read took the photo.
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