Somehow Wood-stock wouldn't have felt the same if it had been brought to you by Burger King.
And the Beatles' legendary gig at the Shea Stadium might not have seemed so momentous had it been in association with Pepsi.
But three decades on, sponsorship and rock are firmly intertwined.
And this year's biggest music event in West Yorkshire is the latest to embrace a spirit of commercial realism.
The Mean Fiddler Organisation, which is staging a northern equivalent of the Reading Festival in Leeds this summer, has announced it will be billed as the Carling Weekend.
More bands have also been added to the line-up for the extravaganza, which will be held at Temple Newsam Park from August 28 to 30.
Bradford rockers Terrorvision have been confirmed as one of the acts on the main stage on the final day.
Other new additions joining main stage headliners Blur, The Charlatans and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers will be Feeder, Gene, The Dandy Warhols, Beth Orton, Sebadoh, Atari Teenage Riot, Mudhoney and Pitchshifter. Other main stage bands previously announced are the Fun Lovin' Criminals, Space, Chemical Brothers, Reef, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Divine Comedy, Pavement, The Offspring and Silverchair.
And the second stage headliners have been announced as Elastica on August 28, 3 Colours Red the following day and Mansun on the final day. There will also be a Dance Stage for the first time.
The Mean Fiddler's festival director Melvin Benn said the three-year deal with Carling was crucial to the decision to launch the new event in West Yorkshire.
"They have come on board to work with genuine music festivals and are the principal reason we have been able to instigate the Leeds festival as a parallel event in the North of England," he said.
It is not the first time that a major music event in West Yorkshire has been sponsored in this way. Roundhay Park hosted the free Heineken Festival for some years and Temple Newsam had previously been home to the V97 and V98 events, sponsored by Virgin. This year's northern V99 base will instead be in Staffordshire after it was outbid for the Leeds site by the Mean Fiddler.
Tickets are £78 and can be booked by ringing the credit card hotline on (0541) 500044. They are also available at Ticketmaster, selected HMV stores and other outlets, or can be booked by post at £78.50 plus a £3.50 booking fee. Send cheques payable to Reading Festival Ltd with a stamped addressed envelope and daytime phone number to Reading/Leeds 1999, PO Box 1707, London NW10 4LW, stating clearly which event you wish to go to.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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