Woman's Hour - Live from Glastonbury: Cyndi Lauper, Corinne Bailey Rae & DJ Ritu

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

'Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights' has become a popular placard at women's rights events around the world. The singer behind the anthem that inspired it is none other than Cyndi Lauper. She joins Anita Rani to reflect on her 40-year career, becoming a feminist figure and performing on the iconic Pyramid Stage. Corinne Bailey Rae's latest album is a complete departure from her previous work. Black Rainbows is inspired by a trip to Stony Island Arts Bank, a Chicago-based archive of black art and culture. The record spans punk, rock, experimental jazz, electronica and more. She joins Anita for a very special performance live from the Woman's Hour Glastonbury picnic table. Would you ever go to a festival on your own? Woman's Hour listeners give their tips for how to do a festival solo. Glastonbury is the biggest festival in the UK, hosting around 200,000 people over five days. It’s a massive operation that involves security, transport, food, water, and electricity-supply infrastructure and 11,000 people are there as staff and volunteers. So who are some of the women working hard behind the scenes to make it all possible? Two of them join Anita live: Jade Dunbar is the stage manager at Circus Big Top, and Martina Brown owns Jerk Village, a stall serving Jamaican food.This year Glastonbury hosts its first ever dedicated South Asian space, Arrivals. It’s been created, designed and built by a South Asian team and is a collaboration between South Asian collectives. Anita talks to revered icon of the 90s underground scene DJ Ritu and to up and coming star DJ Nadi who are both performing at Arrivals.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Emma Pearce

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I'm Natalia Melman-Petrozzella, and from the BBC, this is Extreme Peak Danger. The most beautiful mountain in the world. If you die on the mountain, you stay on the mountain. This is the story of what happened when 11 climbers died on one of the world's deadliest mountains, K2, and of the risks we'll take to feel truly alive. If I tell all the details, you won't believe it anymore. Extreme, peak danger. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4. Welcome to Woman's Hour Live from Worthy Farm and boy do we have a treat of a programme for you sitting here in the shadow of the pyramid stage. A live performance from Corinne Bailey-Ray whose latest album is her most outrageous, and more of the amazing women donning their disco pants, whether they're here or at home, for the biggest party in town. I'll be speaking to the women behind the scenes who keep the Glastonbury show on the road, an interview with the Cindy Lauper whose girl power anthem is now a rallying cry of political movements around the world not only that but I get all the tips for strutting into Glastonbury or any festival

for that matter as a solo woman how to do it not just on your own but how to do it in style and I speak to two female DJs from two different generations, DJ Rithu and DJ Nadi, performing at the new South Asian stage, making its debut this year. And of course, I would love to hear from you this morning. Who are you looking forward to seeing at this year's festival? Have you got your diary cleared

for a weekend of switching between stages on the telly? Or are you here? If you are, why don't you come and say hello? We might even pop over to your tent for a cuppa later on you can get in touch with the program in the usual way text number 84844 you can also email me via our website or you can message me on whatsapp [phone] right let me set the scene for you. Welcome to We Have a Beautiful Purple Picnic Table in our own little space in the BBC compound. We've got our bunting up behind us, handmade by one of our team. We're very resourceful at Woman's Hour.

I'm surrounded by Glasto-inspired, colourful things. And of course, the beaming beautiful faces of my guests. I say beaming and beautiful. Some of you look a little bit tired this morning. Let me introduce you. Do you mean me? Not you, Ritthi. I was actually talking about myself.

Let me tell you about the voice you just heard there was DJ Rithu. Next to her is DJ Nadi, both DJing at the Arrival stage. Leeds' finest, Corinne Bailey-Ray, who's performing for us later and will be on the West Holtz stage tomorrow. Martina Brown, who owns Jerk Village, a stall serving the most delicious Jamaican food. And Jade Dunbar, who is the stage manager, the big boss at the Circus Big Top.

Welcome to all of you. Who's camping? Are you all camping? We're all camping, it looks like. I'm camping, definitely. I'm camping. I'm camping. No choice, definitely camping.'m camping. No choice. Definitely

camping. Who's first? Who's the Glastonbury Virgin? I'm a Glastonbury Virgin. And how was your experience so far? Well, all I can say is I think this is the first time I've ever slept in the same clothes that I was DJing at the night before.

Alright, so no shower then. That's allowed. It all goes at Glastonbury. Martina, how's your experience? Have you showered? Yes. Ah, so smart. Although I didn't spend as long in the shower as I normally do. But yeah, it's my first Glastonbury trading here for Jerk Village.

And it's just a privilege to be part of the event. Well, it's the first time I've ever woken up in a teepee and made my way to work. But you know, what a commute. It's been pretty spectacular. Right, more from our guests shortly. But for now, when I say Corinne Bailey Ray, you no doubt think of this. Absolutely stunning.

The Leeds-based singer's self-titled debut record saw her become the fourth female British act in history to have her first album enter the charts at number one. Since then, she's gone on to make three more albums. The latest is a radical departure from anything she's made before. In fact, it's been called a scream through the letterbox in contrast to her previous work. Here's a flavour.

Incredible. Corinne's latest record, Black Rainbows, is the product of a revelatory experience following a visit to an archive of African and African diaspora materials in the United States that she says changed her as a person and as you can hear, as an artist. The record spans punk, rock, experimental, jazz,

electronica and more and I'm delighted to say you'll hear a performance from Corinne in a moment. She's going to be gracing the West H halt stage tomorrow afternoon and she's here right next to me at the picnic table uh welcome to the program thank you very much for having me uh are you prepared for glastonbury are you uh is this this isn't your first time here is it no this is my fourth time at glastonbury it'll be my fifth performance here at glastonbury but yes i am prepared i've been on tour for a lot of this year so I feel like this is a just a continuation of sort of more stuff but of course Glastonbury's always really really special and we're doing something you know really focused on the stage

oh I cannot wait um let's talk about the music let's talk about Black Rainbows because it's altogether punkier angrier sound as I've just explained there but these are your roots aren't they because your first band was called Helen in fact you I was reading that you were inspired by L7 and Veruca Salt and I read that and I thought oh we're the same we're the same you like that music absolutely yeah I mean I grew up listening to a lot of guitar music and that's how I got into music you know I played violin as a child and then I discovered Kurt Cobain and electric guitar and then there was no going back really for me and I just love the way that anyone could get into music in that way you know that it was DIY that it wasn't prescriptive it wasn't like you had to go to jazz school to get up on stage and start a band so yeah I found a lot

of freedom in that music. And so tell me about the freedom you found in this in this record. Well I went to the Stoney Island Arts Bank as a tourist you know it's an old bank on the south side of Chicago that's going to be pulled down it was saved from demolition by this visual artist called Theaster Gates and so instead of being full of money now it's full of this historic archive there's 26,000 books that were collected by the Johnson Publishing Company who made Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine it also has all of Frankie Knuckles records in so all of his amazing house music archive and then it has these difficult and problematic objects from america's past they were collected by this black and chinese banker called ed williams so it's postcards photographs um newspaper articles it's a private print adverts

it's a private collection of 6 000 objects that were around the home and they're difficult objects and i guess you know nobody knew where to put these things and now they're in the bank and they're not necessarily on display we can go through so I went as a tourist and I was just amazed to be in this really beautiful and grand library but around all this black literature you know I've kind of done one thing or the other you know I've been in really grand libraries I'm able to see an original copy of Virginia Woolf or been in black spaces that are maybe tucked away behind a pharmacy or like the daycare but to be in a grand black library was really amazing to me and to get answers to so many questions i've actually had and maybe been told oh we don't have information about that or

that's oral history or that wasn't written down and then just to see actually there's 26 000 books about all sorts of subjects you know archaeology and history and politics and the black pioneers who went west during the civil war and really specific moments especially in american history that you may well have not known were so thoroughly documented and what did that do to you i mean first of all i think you just really opened me up as a person. But I think the thing of opening drawers and kind of touching old newspapers or seeing photographs or trying to research a story. You know, when I left the building, I felt like these objects were talking to me. You know, these little jars and little tins and little dolls.

They had a story and it was sort of fizzing with contemporary meaning. And so I couldn't get to sleep thinking about them. You know, well, who made that doll? Well, who held that doll? Or who was that girl in that photograph? And I just wanted to go back. I went back loads over seven years to collect all this information. It's quite a thing when a physical historical object does that to you

and it triggers something inside you, connects with something inside you. It really does. So much of this stuff is ephemeral. You know, it's newspapers that might have been chucked away at the end of the day, but they weren't. And so they're there from 1880, cartoons about what popular culture thought about blackness. And some of them are really, you know, problematic.

But there are other things that are really charming and beautiful. And inspired this album, because we're going to hear you play He Will Follow You With His Eyes. And it was a track that actually I could relate to because it was about 20th century beauty products aimed at black women. Tell us more about that. Yes, I found this little tin in one of the drawers. It's by this company called Valmore. And all the illustrations for Valmore were done by this black artist called Charles Dawson.

So they're really beautiful and elegant line drawings. But of course, as I looked, looking at the era, it's the 50s, the 60s, I found a lot of hair straightening creams. I found a lot of skin lightening creams. A Valmore was sold door to door. I was imagining what it was like for someone to knock on your door and sort of sell you this beauty, which is kind of white aligned. You know, it's another step.

Your femininity depends on this presentation. And it also presents, it necessitates you, it necessitates you moving away from blackness. And I thought, I really wanted to write a song about that. But Valmore had all this really intriguing advertising. You know, you'd open a page for a product, it would say things like, his eyes will follow you across the room.

Or the products would be called, you know, a perfume might be called, follow me boy. Or the products will be called, you know, a perfume might be called Follow Me Boy or Look Me Over. So I was really into this beguiling advertising, but then looking at this kind of corrosive side to it as well, you know, there's a good contrast. If your skin is fair enough, if your hair is straight enough. Yeah, but you can sort of buy it through buying these products

and, you know, how much money is spent in these kind of impossible and unnecessary achievements. and when you sat down to record this album or the music you didn't intend it to be a release was there was there freedom in that there was so much i didn't intend it to be under my own name really so i thought it was just gonna be a side project right so i don't have to think is this a catchy chorus is this song too long is it about gen something that's general enough you know it's freed me as an artist because everything is general everything freaking appeals to everybody yeah you know it doesn't have to be a song about love you know it can be a song about anything because we all have so many thoughts and things that we're processing

all the time and just the idea that there's so much you can say in music and it doesn't have to be limited to one particular subject that other people can relate or one particular style, you know, that's the freedom that I found. You know, when you're going back to, because I'm still thinking about you having that experience in Chicago, did you feel angry? I mean...

Because I'm just thinking about rage. We talk a lot about rage on Woman's Hour. And I was just wondering whether that was brought up in you and how you deal with it. I mean, there were so many different feelings. One, a major feeling for me was seeing all this amazing black middle class sort of art movement and social movement. You know, people putting on exhibitions in their homes in the 20s.

You know, all this massive burgeoning sort of black middle class, which I feel like I didn't know about in this country. You know, when I went to Chicago to the modern museum, we went to see all these curators and collectors and there were all these black families. You know, I think the story of blackness in the UK is very different. But in America, I was really amazed to see these sort of layers of history of learning,

you know, universities that were started just after the Civil War, all black universities, you know universities that were started just after the civil war black all black universities you know amazing achievements both here and in the u.s but what about your rage as a performer i mean rage is a really good thing to tap into i always used to say with my um with my music today sometimes i come off stage and my face is hurting so much from smiling um but before then i remember with my band that there was a real broad range of emotions and I think that's really important. And I do like the kind of, I like to be able to perform with, you know,

rage and disdain and embarrassment. Or in this song, you know, I'm being an advertising woman at the start and telling everybody how amazing this company is. And so I like to bring more wideness, more depth of character i think i think that's just more fun yeah as well as all the love and the lushness and the romance and as someone who likes to watch that very cathartic for the for the females certainly the females i

think watching you um when you said you your face was aching from smiling fake smiles genuine genuine smiles i mean so much of my music is so kind of positive and warm and it just you are just kind of beaming through the whole thing but you know there is more in me to to say and to do and so i love you know like as you'll see on the on the west halts stropping on my electric guitar and just kind of like shouting about a 1950s beauty queen that's fun for me did you feel you had to break away from the soft beautiful soulful music that we know you for i didn't feel like i had to break away from it i felt like it was really in me but and of course because i wasn't gonna put this project out under my own name i didn't feel like it had to fit in

with you know what do people think of this song compared to say put your records on or like a star so i was really able to, you know, this is a 10-minute song about the rock churches of Lalabela in Ethiopia. You know, there's a lot more freedom, which was really enjoyable for me. And how has the reaction been from the fans? The reaction's been really amazing. When we started touring it, the album wasn't out, just two songs were out, so I'd kind of gone to stage,

been like, hi, thank you for coming to this evening of mystery. You know, we're just going to, I'm'm just gonna play and I'm gonna talk but I was able to talk in each case about the songs and where they've come from and I think people found that useful and I found that useful to kind of explain you know this is where we're going this is why we're doing it and at the end of it you know I felt like there was a really there's a really good response and people saying it's not what I was expecting, but I really loved it. Yeah, we love it. We're big fans here at Woman's Hour.

Can we name check your mum? Because you take your mum on tour with you, don't you? Yes, I name check my mum. She's called Linda. Hello, Linda. Where is Linda right now? Linda is looking after our kids in the tent. They had, I mean, the kids are like same as us.

So we all went to bed at about three o'clock and then we got up, you know, to come and do this. And they were saying, is it morning? And I said, it is morning, but at the same time, you know, you might want to stay in a bit longer. So yeah, they were enjoying the sounds of drum and bass to get them to sleep last night at three o'clock in the morning. Well, isn't that just magic that that's their childhood?

I hope so. But who better than grandma to be looking after them it's great to travel with your family i mean i know lots of musicians who travel lots of people have kids who tour but then a lot of them are male artists maybe their kids at home with their wife yeah yeah so actually you know nora jones i see she travels with her kids like erica badu travels with the kids i'd see people and think oh it's possible you know and you just sort of see them with the headphones and then you see them doing a bit of homework people and think oh it's possible you know and you just sort of see them with their headphones and then you see them

doing a bit of homework and then you see it's sort of you're just kind of feeling it out and your husband's in the band with you yeah exactly

so there isn't anyone at home you know Steve and I worked together don't worry he's not listening he's sitting right there he's about to perform with us we worked together

before we were married we were friends so we have that pre-existing kind of this is our music world it's highly functioning. And then, yeah, I just feel like it's a lot of eggs in one basket and you just have to tread carefully.

It's a lot of metaphors, mixed metaphors. You don't want to tread on the eggs in the basket or else everything goes wrong. Or put them all in one basket either. They're in the basket anyway. You can't avoid that. How does playing Glastonbury compare to other festivals? You've been on tour, you've played loads. How does this one compare? Glastonbury

is a completely different festival. And I feel like with a lot of festivals, people just kind of in and out, you know, the don'ts down the side. A festival like Coachella, people don't sleep at Coachella. What do they do? Where do they sleep? They sort of sleep locally. Oh, they sleep somewhere else. Oh, in a place maybe with a pool and then they sort of come in and, you know, there's all this like golden circle, like, oh, if you can pay that, you're a bit nearer here

and, you know, you can go to that bar but not that bar. But this is very integrated Glastonbury. You know, we were trying to look for a hookup, like, oh, okay, I know we want to camp

but where's the like, you know, camp, the tip? And they were like, no, no, you have to just kind's the like you know camp that the tip and they were no no you have to just kind of be in it and that's what I found every year you just have to be in the mix so we're in the family field away from the BBC media stuff because I don't need anyone to see me crawling out of bed whatever time hoodie dark glasses exactly all of that stuff so yeah I just feel like Glastonbury it's's its own, it has its own culture.

There's a lot of optimism. And how do you feel right now as a woman in your mid-40s who you take your time, Corinne, you know? You don't, I feel like you're an artist who releases when you want to release, when it feels true to you and you give us what is true to you, you know? I don't feel you're adhering to any sort of,

you know, powerful male, you know I don't feel you're you're adhering to any sort of you know powerful male uh you know imposition it feels great to really be running things you know to come from being sort of a new artist and being you know with my first record everyone was kind of telling me not what to do the music was mine but I just didn't realize you could run so much of it you know so this year I've really enjoyed all the merchandise because I got to design it I didn't realize that was a thing you know normally just turn up and say what do you think of the t-shirts you're like yeah but I'm not too recently I'm wearing this because it's amazing because I like did this you know so just being able to do stuff I'm choosing the photographer

I'm saying that I want to work with Koto Belofo, this brilliant South African photographer. I've seen him in fashion for 20 years and that's who I want. And just making it happen and then just sort of looking at all the finances and stuff. You can take extra people. It'll cost more money. Like just being across it all.

I mean, I've got a really good team, but I am sort of across everything. And that's another reason why it takes me so long. I am a producer. I am recording. I am engineering. I am arranging. I am recording. I am engineering. I am arranging. Like I'm involved in everything because I enjoy it.

And it means that you come out with something that you're really proud of and is exquisite. Thank you. And we are delighted that you took the decision to say yes to us and yes to performing for us. I can't wait. What a treat. Shall we do it?

Yes, let's do it. Oh my goodness me. Corinne, I'm going to... Thank you. Thank you. What a joy. Thank you very much. What an absolute pleasure. So this is He Will Folly With His Eyes about Val Moore.

At the beginning of the song, the person is very much in love with the concepts of Val Moore and everything it can bring. And then halfway through, something else happens, which you'll see. Wonderful. Whilst Corinne is about to take her place at the microphone, I'll tell you that she's about to perform alongside her husband, Steve

Brown and Kyle Bolden on guitar. Ladies, don't you long for love? What a magnificent treat. Thank you Corinne. That was something else.

Thank you Kyle. Thank you Steve. Thank you. Oof. What a moment. Now Glastonbury is the biggest festival in the UK. Hosting around 200,000 people over five days. It genuinely is like a little city designed for fun it's a massive

operation that involves security transport food water and electricity supply infrastructure 11,000 people are here as staff and volunteers it is hard to imagine how it all functions the logistics are mind-boggling so who are some of the women working hard behind the scenes to make it all functions. The logistics are mind-boggling. So who are some of the women working hard behind the scenes to make it all possible? Well, two of them join me now. Jade Dunbar is the stage manager at Circus Big Top and Martina Brown owns Jerk Village, a stall serving Jamaican food.

Welcome, Jade. Welcome, Martina. Jade, let's start with you. What do you do at Glastonbury? I'm the stage manager for the Circus Big Top in the theatre and circus area. How long have you been doing that? How'd you get that job? Oh, I've been doing it a very, very long time. I started off as a teenager actually working in theatre and circus and the job was given to me by the late Arabella Churchill. Okay, that is Winston Churchill's granddaughter. It is. All right, Jo, you're going to have to fill us in. So what was Arabella Churchill's connection to circus? So Arabella started the Theatre and Circus area.

She was one of the founders of the Festival of Michael Evers. And so then you were working with her? So I came with... How do you join the circus? It's one of those things as kids we all think, oh, yeah,, in fact some part of me, especially after hanging out with you yesterday because I went to the circus to see what happens at the circus area. I still felt the urge to kind of run away a little bit. So how did you join the circus? So I joined the circus actually with my family. My father was with the circus and I was with Jerry Cottle Circus when I was younger so that's how I became part of the circus and joined it but with that my parents were working here and you just

start volunteering start helping out and it moves on from there does is that how it happens do you have to be part of circus lineage because yesterday and you can see this on our Instagram actually um Jade facilitated me uh learning how to juggle with a clown um I mean I was amazing you were absolutely natural um but he was ninth generation clown unbelievable how many do you have to be from circus lineage to to become part of it no absolutely not you just have to have a passion and want to run away with the circus. And you're accepted for whatever you are, just as long as you can have a skill set or something to deliver, something to entertain. So what's the skill set to get you from a teenager who was hanging out and volunteering to then becoming the female boss of the entire circus area at Glastonbury? I mean, that must take some tenacity, some serious skills there. I personally feel that Arabella saw something of herself when she was younger in me.

But at the time, it was all males running the different venues in theatre and circus, and I became the first female. Now we are mainly females, actually. It's completely swapped around in the theatre and circus area. And is that by design? Is that something you've done consciously? Absolutely not. That's by the skill set of the women that are there that have come up through as things have evolved and moved on. But you obviously see this,

because those women were still there before. It's just that it wasn't, it's shifted. You know, it's because you see it. The dynamics have shifted, absolutely. And Haggis McLeod, who I work for, who is my boss, he's really equal on that. And he's really happy to just accept anyone as long as they have the skill sets to deliver what they're doing.

And what does that do for the experience? Because when you started out, it was predominantly men. And now it's 50-50. It's absolutely, it's really empowering to be able to know that actually there's no judgment on anything and that as a woman you can, if you have the ability, you can deliver on it. And it's not just women behind the scenes. You've got loads of female performers.

I saw a wonderful troupe of young women who were on unicycles and performing and banging drums. There's a lot of women performing. Yes, absolutely. And this year, over the last few years, you find there's more and more women coming yes absolutely and this year um the last few years you find there's more and more women coming up through being able to do that we've had a lot of young circuses come up so wookiee hole this year wookiee hole circus they've come up and they're pretty much all females now that are coming up through the same with circus with the kids from there but also there's a lot of shows these days where you find it's really a 50-50 mix.

So how many years have you been at Glastonbury? I've been at Glastonbury since I was a child. We don't want to age you, but give us the years. 79 onwards. Okay, from, all right, yeah, right, 40, 45 years, something like that. So a long, long time. I won't say that Corinnene was born in 79 but i've

just done it uh martina how about you how many years have you been at glastonbury well i've actually worked at glastonbury previously but this is my first year trading at the jerk village and i'm so excited congratulations uh what made you want to come to glastonbury to serve the masses jerk your jerk chicken specifically? Well, not only do we have the best jerk chicken, obviously I'd say that because it's Jerk Village, but being a part of this experience, I've been trying to apply for four years and I just always wanted to be a part of the event. And it's just amazing to actually be here right near.

But you had a little bee in your bonnet, didn't you, about the type of food that's served up at festivals? Yeah, no, absolutely. So I remember going to a festival about 10 years ago now and the quality just wasn't there. And I thought, I tasted some, you know, sorry to say, but it was a fellow West Indian trader. And I said, this is not great. You know, the quality wasn't very good.

Do you think they'd anglicised it? Pretty much, yeah. So it wasn't very tender. And I they'd anglicized it pretty much yeah so it wasn't very tender and i just thought i can do better than this so that's why i started jerk village and my business so tell us about the food well you're here to taste them also i know you can't taste it of course i mean you know i've got a microphone but i can i can uh i can multitask in fact we've got everyone here so we've gotne, have we got some cutlery? Yeah, cutlery's right here. Oh, look at this.

So, tell us what's in this one. So, in this one, this is curry goat. Curry goat. That's slow cooked for around three hours. It smells amazing. That's scotch bonnet that you can probably smell. It's flavoured with some thyme and some curry powders and all sorts of spices and seasonings.

I won't be giving it away, but I'll allow you to taste it. Right, get stuck in, everybody. There's some chicken there. Tell us about your jerk chicken, Rob. I mean, the jerk chicken is homemade as well, and I brought you guys some jerk sauce here. Just to say, this recipe really was brought down through my grandmother. This is important to know.

And also my mother. She's probably smiling that you're tasting her food. Mum's name. We always like to get mum's name. Well, I have to say a big shout out to Eileen Brown. She's really got me here.

It's amazing. So this is chicken that you're tasting. As you can see, it's slow cooked over charcoal grill. Hang on. What's that? That's a reaction. It's so good.

Like you say, so much at times at festivals, the chicken's dry. Yeah. But that's so moist. It's beautiful. Thank you so much. And it's not just like spicy. That's right.

Nuddy. It's not, it's mussel. That's delicious. Yeah, that first mouthful. Well, I know where I'm going to make a special beeline to. And how, what's your day job? Yeah, so I also have a day job. I work in social housing as a senior manager there. And so I'll say it's a day job? Yeah, so I also have a day job I work in social housing

as a senior manager there and so I'll say it's a day job but in the night you know, my passion is really food and I'm bringing that to the UK I do travel up and down the country just bringing food to the masses mainly at festivals

but we also do some you know, kind of private events too but we love festivals I just tasted the delicious so do some, you know, kind of private events too. But we love festivals. I just tasted the delicious curry goat. That is Scotch bonnet. Yeah, that's absolutely. Excuse me whilst I just talk amongst yourselves.

No, so that's, as I said, that's slow cooked for about three hours. And it's all freshly made here, by the way. There's nothing that's pre-cooked. It's all freshly made here. So you have a very serious day job, but you also have a passion to do this. It's all freshly made here, by the way. There's nothing that's pre-cooked. It's all freshly made here. So you have a very serious day job, but you also have a passion to do this. It's not easy. How easy has it been to put this together?

No, it's not easy. So the prep for Glastonbury actually started when I got confirmation. I was in the car screaming for about three hours. I was screaming. It means that much to you? It means that much to me. It's the festival. It's actually one of the goals of the business.

When you do festivals, you know that Glastonbury is the big one just because it's the people and just the the you know all the work that goes behind it so it's amazing too so I'm going to sing your praises because I know this about you you've got an art you've got a brilliant team we met Tyrone yesterday who literally actually wears a gas mask whilst he's at the drum because it's so smoky. Brilliant. Lovely tip. But you do everything. Explain what you've been up to. Pretty much, yeah.

Give us a list of what it takes to put the jerk, just the jerk chicken stall together. It all starts with the administration, you know, the health and safety that has to be, you know, legally correct. And then it just goes to the ordering and all the kind of driving, the ordering of vans, the, if you see the stall today, it kind of driving, the ordering of vans. If you see the stall today, it's bright and it's coloured, colourful.

We've got scaffolding and the branding of the stall as well. Going to the cash and carry. Going to the cash and carry. How much chicken did you buy? About 80 boxes of chicken legs. We've got 10 goats here. We've got about 20 bags of rice so it's a really really heavy operation we do put everything into it i put everything into it so um yeah yeah smashing it it's only it's only day what two three it's day three now so how's the reaction been oh

it's been amazing just to taste everyone's that's come across it's actually come back and said how nice our food is and it's so good to hear and sing some praises. It is incredible. And Jade, very quickly, it is a joyful place, but can also be very stressful because there are 200,000 people here. It's a small city. And not one person, I have not seen one person

with a frown on their face or lose it. And how do you manage that? How do you manage to run a team organize it and remain calm it's like the best of a family coming together that come together and they absolutely love each other they might only see each other once a year but it is literally like a massive family gathering and they're just so happy to be together to see each other to go and see what's out and around in the festival enjoy it but also they're so happy to be together, to see each other, to go and see what's out and around in the festival, enjoy it, but also they're so happy to sort of enjoy the fact that we waylay people

when they come into the Big Top, and they see magic literally happening in front of their eyes. And the variety of performers, I mean, my tent's open from 10.30 in the morning through to 2 a.m. There's only five minutes set and strike between every show, and literally it doesn't matter if it's one person a singer a full piece band or a massive big circus show we get it on she gets it on and i saw it happen with my own eyes she had a walkie talkie in one hand a phone and another and she was like ushering people around it's magic to watch thank you both the food is spectacular she She's also got... I'm enjoying it. There's rumours of rum punch.

It will appear. There's definitely rum punch here. Now, here's a question for all of you listening. Have you ever gone to a festival on your own? Would you consider it? What would your worries or concerns be? It's often a pilgrimage for mates, groups, gangs, partners, families. But Leslie, a Woman's Hour listener, got in touch with the programme

and wanted to tell us how she does the festival solo. When I met her earlier, she looked incredible. She was wearing a 1950s negligee, a leotard that was apparently very hard to get on in the tent, bright pink lipstick, parrot green hair. I had to ask her to teach me the ropes. The 101 of what I need to survive Glastonbury alone. So the days of my feet sticking out a pop-up tent

has gone so good mattress many layers. Mattress? How do you get a mattress in here? A flat blow-up one. Okay yep. So layering because it's British summertime as we know it can be scorching it can rain be comfortable that's the main thing especially when you've got a little bit of arthritis getting it getting in and out of the tent, wellies, sensible footwear, there's a lot of walking and a massive smile and open your arms to everybody because everybody's here. There's every walk of life. You're utterly inspiring. Why, thank you very much. I try my best. I've got a feeling there might be a horde of solo female travellers coming to Glastonbury

next year. I really hope so. Come on girls, let's do it. And if you want to join the Lesley gang, let's all just dye our hair parrot green. Absolutely. Although it's normally bright orange for the rest of the year. She was such a joy to hang around with. Utterly inspiring.

Thank you for getting in touch. I'm going to read out a couple of your messages. Anita. Oh, here we go. I'm here at Glastonbury with my sister volunteering as an Oxfam steward we're both in our 60s and having a great time I've been coming for 30 years and Sarah says please give a shout out to all the workers at Glastonbury my daughter Aoife is currently serving the breakfast

baps burgers and halloumi fries from a food truck at the Worthy View campsite um 84844 is the number to text uh Kim says my wonderful friend debs uh is amongst one of the many paramedics who volunteer their services at glastonbury so many of you getting in touch keep your thoughts and feelings coming in even if you're not here tell us what you think uh now how about this for a cv emmy tony grammy award winning her album was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100. She's sold over 50 million records, a self-proclaimed feminist, campaigner and activist. I'm talking about none other than Cyndi Lauper. Best known for her songs Time After Time, True Colors and of course Girls Just Want To Have Fun, now seen on placards at women's rights rallies.

Tomorrow, Cyndi performs on the iconic Py seen on placards at women's rights rallies. Tomorrow Cindy performs on the iconic Pyramid Stage here at Glastonbury and here she is. Welcome to Woman's Hour, Cindy Lauper. Thank you. There's so much that I want to talk to you about but let's start with Glastonbury. Come on, I'm very excited. Wow. I know, what is it about this festival that attracts everybody from around the world, megastars from the States like yourself, to a field? It's fun. A field in Somerset. Well, it's not just a field.

It becomes something else. Yeah. And there's everybody there. There's all these musicians and volunteers, and the spirit is great there. The video for Girls Just Want to Have Fun spoke volumes to me as a little girl up in Yorkshire. And you were doing things effortlessly back then. Something that we talk about now a lot, diversity. And you were just doing it in the video and also the way you looked, you just unapologetically yourself. So where does that

strength and conviction in your own self come from? Well, when I was growing up, I watched the women around me, and it was Italian-American households. So my father, when he was with us, he always had books, and he loved history and he had instruments. Oh, gosh, he always had instruments. And then he left and then it became very Italian-American because my grandparents lived upstairs. And we lived in a mother-daughter, sister-brother, whatever house, you know. And I watched them and they never got to fulfill their dreams at all because they were told things that you couldn't go to school. My mother, my mother had a nice voice, a really beautiful voice. And she got a scholarship to go to a special high school in Manhattan.

But my grandfather was very conventional and felt only whores went to school in Manhattan. My aunt wanted to be a model, so you can only imagine what they thought that was, right? So the women, your aunt, your couldn't they weren't able to fulfill their potential they were disenfranchised yeah yeah so my sister was growing up she wanted to play drums she wanted to be peter pan and what did you want to be me oh i was just going to be singing you know you were also told as a young female that you were going to cook and clean for the rest of your life. And I always look at them and think to myself, for you, maybe not for Even when you entered the music industry, Cindy, you're able to retain who you are and your own identity.

Women are often put into boxes, aren't they? I did not accept the first thing that was brought to me. I would not accept certain things. I wanted to have my own creative license. I didn't mind compromising. I didn't mind biting a bullet. I didn't want to bite the whole bazooka gun, you know? I was like, look, it's my name in the front, not in the back that's that big. It's two inches or an inch and yours is like not. And be able to have my own creative input in my own career because I sing to be free. I mean, really, to be free. Back to Girls Just Want to Have Fun, though,

because when that was brought to you, it was written by Robert Hazard. Is it true that you found the original lyrics misogynistic and you changed them? Well, it was not the same point of view. Two, I did try and sing it like him, and it sucked. You might as well just listen to his version. So I decided one more shot. So I said, okay, now we take it apart and put it back together. You play this. But you change the lyrics as well. Well, yeah, you have to.

It's not a guy singing it. And I realized that instead of, oh, daddy, dear, we are the fortunate ones, you could literally say, oh, mama, dear, we are not the fortunate ones because we're not. You know, you've got to also understand when they said to me, you know, think of what it could be. It could be an anthem. You know who they were talking to? I burnt my training bra at the first woman's demonstration at the Alice in Wonderland statue.

I was there. And I burnt it not just for me, but for my mother and my grandmother. Right? The women whose shoulders I stand on. So, that's who they were talking to. They may not have realized that was who they were talking to, but that's who they were talking to. That's all they really want. It's not fun. And now it's become a political anthem.

But it always was. Always was. For me, it was. And for me. But now to see, how does it feel to see it written on placards? Girls just want to have fundamental rights. Well, when I saw that, I called up my manager, poor thing, again. And I said, listen, the signs, we have to listen.

And they overturned Roe v. Wade. And we need to fight back. And for our agenda, why don't we start a girls just want to have fundamental rights fund? And we did. And we raised money, raised like $150,000. Because when they shut down all of that, all the clinics, they shut down cancer screening, postnatal care, prenatal care and safe and legal abortions. Cindy is talking here about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which saw millions of women in the U.S. lose the constitutional right to an abortion. This is a topic with strong feelings on all sides. Many will have welcomed the decision, of course.

I asked Cindy what her reaction was when she heard the news that it was being overturned. Well, I thought, oh, that's interesting. We have basically fundamentalists who are in the Supreme Court who forgot that there's such a law like the Constitution, which is separation of church and state. And now we have to follow their religious beliefs, which is not my religious beliefs. I want to have my civil liberties. I want to have sovereignty over my own body. There are nine judges who sit on America's Supreme Court, six of whom were appointed by Republican presidents. The other three were picked by Democratic presidents. The overturning of Roe v. Wade was helped by the court's conservative

majority. You recently announced you're embarking on your last tour, the Girls Just Want to Have just want to have fun, farewell tour. Why stop? Because I'm strong right now, and to go around the world is a lot. And I want to go out in celebration and in style. I cannot wait to see you perform on that stage. It's going to be fun. I don't know what the weather's going to be like, so that's why I've got to have like a... You need a Mac and you need your wellies, you'll be fine.

OK. And I'm delighted to say she's not going to need a Mac or wellies because so far, so good. Cindy Lauper there, she'll be gracing the Pyramid Stage tomorrow at 2.30. Now, this year at Glastonbury, it's hosting its first ever dedicated South Asian space. It's called Arrivals. Now, it has to be said, it's not the first time South Asians have played at Glastonbury, Asian Dub Foundation in 1996. Anoka, along with Talvin Singh, Nitin Soni. There was the Brazian stage in 2006 when Anushka

Shankar played. But this is the first year there's a dedicated area for the Desi crew. Four days of DJs, all of South Asian heritage. And I'm so happy to say, joining me are two of the female acts performing, Doyen of the scene, DJ Rithu, and one of the newbies, new rising stars, DJ Nadi, who are both performing at Arrivals. Welcome to Woman's Hour.

You were performing last night Rithu. How was it? How was Arrivals? How was it? Well there was a huge queue of people waiting to get into the stage or the area the Arrivals area and they were just up for everything. They were absolutely wonderful, full of love, full of ecstasy but not the kind you might be thinking about, Anita. And they were just absolutely... I was not thinking about that. You were in line as well, weren't you? I was there.

You were there? Yeah, I saw Bobby Friction play. I was there last night. Describe it for us. From the outside, it was just really exciting to be amongst all our peers, but then also all the regular festival goers and punters who were just like, as soon as one person,

it was that mob mentality, we all were at the line, four of us, and then we'd look behind us and it was just like a crowd of people gathering before Ritu's set at nine o'clock. I ran over from my set at Romshack to make it. To see Ritu. To see Ritu, yeah. Why did you?

Well, we're like sisters now, where we've gone back to back together in Berlin for a Daytimers takeover. Daytimers is the music, the South Asian DJ collective that you're part of. Yes, yeah, exactly. And I started with six friends four years ago, and now we're here at the festival,

and we've got this stage, which is incredible, with two other huge collectives, Dialed In and going south. The South Asian DJ music scene are having a real moment right now. So you said six years ago during lockdown. So four years ago during lockdown, we were all just frustrated that there were so many of us South Asian musicians and artists, but we weren't really in the mainstream eye at all.

We're not. We're not. And it felt like, obviously, the Asian underground in the 90s was always around. It was always cool to be Asian. Well, we had a moment. We had a moment. And that kind of faded in the 2000s, I feel. And I've gone straight into it.

No, do it. I think there was a lot of political and cultural unrest at the time. Obviously, there was race riots, 9-11, 7-7. And I do think that those political factors had a part to play in why maybe Islamophobia was on the rise and a lot of South Asians sort of dissipated from the scene. But I don't think we ever left. We were always there, just not in the mainstream eye.

And now the moment is sort of happening again because we've decided to forge that space and I think it's something to do with the fact that you are a younger unapologetic generation who are just going out there and creating it for yourselves exactly and also I have to say because people like did do pave the way yeah but i don't think we just had a bit of a moment you know um actually the asian underground scene started to formulate in the late 1980s yeah it went on into the mid you know 2000s it was much more than a moment and we were completely unapologetic about what we were doing and we have to remember as well that there was also the bunga scene there was also lots of incredible artists, solo artists.

For example, Najma Akhtar, who did the whole kind of... And played at Glastonbury. Guzzle and jazz thing, yes. And Najma, in fact, performed at Glastonbury long before some of the other artists that you mentioned, Anita. So, anyway, it's really good to see the Daytimers and the Dialed In Collectives coming back and effectively giving us another moment.

I want to give you the recognition you deserve, though, Rithu, because you also set up Outkast Records, who signed with Insorni. You're also in the background for Asian Dub Foundation and you've done so much. So I want to know a little bit about your experience as a woman in this scene. Well, which part of the scene?

I mean, the club scene, the music scene, all these South Asian underground scenes? You were doing radio shows, playing South Asian music on the BBC at the end of the 80s, and also being part of the South Asian music scene as one of the few women in that scene so what was that experience like? At times it's been a lonely experience I have to say it still is actually and I do feel that there's very much a need for people like

myself I mean this is something that DJ Paulette talks about in her new book, about having to write herself back into history. And I think as women in the music industry generally, and certainly in Clubland, and certainly in the South Asian music scene, we don't just need to write ourselves back into history, we also need to write ourselves into the present and the future. Yeah, Paulette, who's been on Woman's Hour's house talk about her book as well so how do you feel about the arrival stage then and performing it and what and what nadi and the day timers are up to um the minute that day timers that i became aware of them after they went viral with a boiler room set in august 2021 if i remember rightly um i mean i just thought wow who are they yeah just so exciting and then I was absolutely thrilled

that once the world reopened post post lockdown we could all meet finally we could all meet and then the daytimers bunch started to put on live events and they actually they're so respectful of pioneers that have gone before them that, you know, they included me amongst other people. Quite right. And they're so inclusive of women. Yes, they are. And everything, inclusive, full stop. Because I often find, because this is obviously very personal to me because it's the scene I grew up in and changed my life.

And I know a few of the women like Sweety Kapoor who are behind the scenes as well, who are never name checked. It's always the boys that you hear about. Yeah, but they're the pioneers who've been in the background running this thing. Which is why it's so wonderful to see, Nadi, you and your collective, because there's so many girls DJing. There are, yeah.

So many beautiful brown women behind the decks. Definitely. Inclusivity clauses that mean that we have to have balanced lineups always, and that includes trans, non-binary people as well, and not just women, you know? Cis women. So, yeah, it's definitely a big deal for us to ensure that.

How does everyone feel a bit about, I mean, it's like, what time is it now, 5 to 11? Is it, I think we need to taste, have a little bit of a rum punch. Shall we do it? And when are you performing next, Nadia? So, last night I was at the Rum Shack and today, so tomorrow it's actually at Shangri-La Arrivals at 3am with Shivam Sharma

we're going back to back I love Shivam excellent and Rithu how about you are you on again I'm racing back to London to perform at the

Wallace Collection tonight and tomorrow at Pride during the daytime and then the Southbank Centre in the evening

and I've only had about three hours sleep so I just hope I can get through the next three gigs back in London. Rock and roll, rock and roll. Definitely rock and roll. Fantastic that you are here. Thank you for coming to Women's Hour.

And here's to it not just being a moment. Yeah, definitely. And it's not a moment. You're correct. It started way back when, probably when South Asians first landed in Britain in the 50s, actually. We never left. We've always been here.

We've always been there. We've always known we're cool. Shall we drink some rum punch, all of us? Corinne, are you in? 50s, actually. We never left. We've always been here. We've always been there. We've always known we're cool. Shall we drink some rum punch, all of us? Corinne, are you in? I'm definitely in. Ruthie, would you like some of this? So who are you excited to see, Corinne? Are you someone who goes and...

I like to just wander around Glastonbury. Some of my nicest Glastonbury memories have been sort of sitting by the side of a road and someone comes up in a bicycle-powered cinema, silent cinema, you know, and you just watch the screen and it's kind of two o'clock in the morning, you know. So I get to see music all the time. But Glastonbury's more than just about watching acts for me.

It's just, it's a friendly person. It's somebody who helps you out when you're stuck in the mud. You know, it's like you say, multi-generational, seeing people who've been here for a long time, Greenfields, a man making you a toasted sandwich with no clothes on, all that stuff Very carefully, how about you Nadi? I'm about to

we are both about to beeline aren't we to go see Asha Pimpley in a second, Asha's on at West Holtz and then also Aruj Afdab Charlie XCX, all South Asian women by the way. Yes, Martina you can have time or are you just going to be cooking up a storm? I'm going to be cooking up a storm, I'm going to be there after 3am Shangri-La set if everybody wants to come down

and I'm just gonna you know make sure that I feed everybody that I can and we'll be here to support you. And you're not going anywhere until you've given me the exact concoction for this delicious rum punch. I mean the co-owner made this Andrew, but I will say that there's a very, very famous Jamaican rum, which I can't name, but, you know, that is, if you cut probably my flesh, you'll just see rum pouring out.

So, you know, actually that one that you're tasting now, it's actually got two rums in it. Lively up your set, ladies, and be careful on that circus yeah don't get don't be climbing any ladders or you know getting into that hamster wheel that i saw yesterday jade oh absolutely not with that one i can tell you do you get time to see anybody i don't get a lot of time but i'm pretty much of the same opinion for me it's being waylaid when i'm walking past

something and i don't have anything to deal with. And just seeing the wonders and the variety of what Glastonbury has to offer. And for me, it's those people. Absolutely. And of course, if you are sitting there going, but we're not there. Well, it's all on the BBC. It is coverage back to back.

You can watch it all on iPlayer. We will be back tomorrow for a weekend Woman's Hour. But also, you can catch up with what i've been up to what woman's hour been up to on our instagram and if you fancy doing it alone be inspired see the solo glasto video thank you to all my guests enjoy the rest of your friday that's all for today's woman's hour join us again next time hello i'm india akerson and this funny thing happened to me once i was born and so were you. And the thing is, from the moment egg met sperm,

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