Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp, Peter Hammill and more on WOMAD 1982 live album

(Image credit: Evening Standard / Getty Images)

Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp and Peter Hammill are just three of the artists who will feature on a new live double album recorded at the original WOMAD Festival in 1982.

Live at WOMAD 1982 will be released through Real World on July 29 and also features performances from the event from Simple Minds, Echo And The Bunnymen, The Beat, The Chieftains and more.

“Our dream was not to sprinkle world music around a rock festival, but to prove that these great artists could be headliners in their own right,” recalls Peter Gabriel. “We wanted to show that wherever you were born, whatever colour or language, whatever religious or sexual persuasion, powerful passionate and joyful work would have a warm welcome in WOMAD.”

WOMAD, which stood for World of Music, Arts and Dance, took place in July 1982 at the Royal Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, and featured 60 bands from over 20 countries. The intention behind the festival was to acknowledge the influence of non-Western music on successful Western bands and musicians.

The event famously ran into financial trouble, which was the precursor to Gabriel reuniting with his former Genesis colleagues at Milton Keynes Bowl in October of that year for the Six Of The Best concert, which bailed out the festival, which has gone from strength to strength ever since.

WOMAD 2022 takes place at Charlton Park, Malmesbury between July 28 and 31. Tickets available to purchase here.

Live at WOMAD 1982 is available as 2CD and 2LP (in gatefold package with fold-up replica 1982 festival poster).

Pre-order Live at WOMAD 1982.

Various Artists: Live at WOMAD 1982
1. The Musicians of the Nile - Tabla Iqae
2. The Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
3. Pigbag - Big Bag
4. The Drummers of Burundi - Kama K’iwacu
5. Peter Gabriel - I Have the Touch
6. Robert Fripp - WOMAD II
7. Tian Jin Music and Dance Ensemble - Raindrops Pattering on Banana Leaves
8. Echo and the Bunnymen - Zimbo (with the Royal Burundi Drummers)
9. The Musicians of the Nile - Taksim Arghul
10. Salsa de Hoy - Salsa de Hoy
11. Rip Rig & Panic - You’re My Kind of Climate
12. Mark Springer - Key Release
13. The Chieftains - Cotton-Eyed Joe
14. Simple Minds - Promised You a Miracle
15. Ekome - Gahu
16. Peter Hammill - A Ritual Mask
17. Peter Gabriel featuring Ekome - Biko
18. Sasono Mulyo - Gamelan Gong Kebyar
19. Prince Nico Mbarga with the Ivory Coasters - Wayo In-law

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.