John Hasted

John Barrett Hasted obtained a scholarship to study at Winchester College, where he won the science prize for developing a method of measuring velocity and distance by means of reflected sound waves, which in effect is a principle later used in radar and sonar technology.

Inspired by what he learnt at the WMA, Hasted founded his own Oxford Workers' and Students' Choir and they performed spirituals, labour movement anthems, and other material with political and social content.

Hasted's understanding and ideas on the technical possibilities of sound waves meant he was later sent to a Research Station in Malvern where he worked with a specialist team on the development of a portable radar set which had to be efficient as well as compact and most importantly, hardy and durable to withstand transporting to a warzone, be it by wheeled vehicles or being air dropped by parachute or in a glider for later assembly and use.

During his time at the Malvern research station, Hasted met Professor Frederick Lindemann (later Lord Cherwell), who was Winston Churchill's scientific adviser.

Alongside his interest in atomic energy, Hasted continued his musical pursuits and in 1946 he happened to hear an Almanac Singers' vinyl record that a friend had picked up in New York.

He wrote in his autobiography, Alternative Memoirs, "The Almanac Singers were the outcome of a whole tradition, entirely different from our own: group singing, to the accompaniment of two guitars and a five string banjo.

He completed his doctorate successfully and later moved to London where he met other music-minded enthusiastic people who were interested in his ideas of attempting to combine folk music and left-wing politics.

During this time Hasted's politics had also changed, he had seen how the Labour government of Clement Attlee had failed to bring about the social reform he and many other voters in 1945 had hoped for and supported.

The simplicity of the song made it easy to follow and it did not take long for Hasted to add a further verse to it and encourage the British youths to sing along.

In Alternative Memoirs, Hasted mentions that "The Ramblers lasted only a few of years as a group, but the sound we made was solid, since Bert had a high-up voice, and I was bass baritone.

"We shall not be moved", "Down by the Riverside (Ain't Goin' Study War no More)", and the one I knew as a Trad Jazz tune, "When the Saints go Marching in".

He continued putting his political ideas to music by writing songs titled "Talking Rearmament", "When Asia Came to Geneva", "Conscripts Forward!"

By attending these summer music schools Hasted started meeting and forming friendships with other left-wing folksingers, including Karl Frederick Dallas and Eric Winter, whom he first met in 1953.

At the suggestion of Hasted, together with John Ambrose, Eric Winter founded Britain's first folk magazine, Sing, which was to run for twenty years (1954 – 1974).

Hasted also reviewed publications by other stalwarts of the folksong revival, such as Ewan MacColl's small book of industrial songs, The Shuttle and the Cage.

In Hasted's memoirs he recalls "How strange skiffle must have sounded to American ears, with all the differences of expression, accent, musical habit, even melody, that the young British imposed.

Working with me were two strongly contrasted singers, Redd Sullivan, who would have wanted nothing more than to have travelled with Leadbelly; and Shirley Collins, the girl with the pure Sussex bell-like voice.

Its pages contained political songs and practical advice on how to play guitar or construct a washtub bass, yet they also included lots of traditional material, often contributed by Bert Lloyd.

"Byker Hill", "The Methody Parson" and "The Young Sailor Cut Down in His Prime" are just three of the vernacular songs we owe to his efforts to recover the workers' music of the past.

Hasted found himself straddling these extremes, as he loved the music of Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie, but he also favoured the melodies of traditional ballads and the heritage of industrial song.

In 1956, during the Suez Crisis, there were a number of demonstrations in London, and Hasted, participating in one of these was singing protest songs in Whitehall when his trusty Martin guitar was broken by an overzealous policeman.

He still had time to pursue his musical interests, and while in New York he met Millard Lampell of the Weavers and folk-guitarist Jerry Silverman and visited Woody Guthrie in hospital in New Jersey.

They set up and ran weekend workshops at Battle of Britain House, near Ruislip where they taught various aspects of music, including singing and playing instruments.

He took part in the protest marched that lasted for days on the road between the atomic weapons research facility at Aldermaston and Trafalgar Square, where the London Youth Choir performed to hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.

His own special contribution to the struggle was to house and operate the illegal pirate radio station Voice of Nuclear Disarmament, which was done in utmost secrecy.

People that heard him sing said he had a good voice, but Hasted was averse to being recorded as a singer because he felt self-conscious about his 'educated' accent which he believed was not the right for interpreting the folksongs he loved in the purest, most authentic form.

Hasted was competent instrumental musician as a guitar and banjo player and a good singer, however it was his influence on the younger generation of English folksingers that was most important, he was a pioneer, a leader who inspired people and the effect on the music scene was huge.

It was astonishing how Hasted was able to devote so much time to combine his full-time participation in folk music, skiffle and left-wing politics with his job as an atomic physicist.

Despite his misgivings and the emotional strain of putting aside doing something he loved, Hasted abandoned his role as one of the mainstays of Sing and took a step back from being an active musician.

His last appearance at The Topic Folk club at Unity Hall Rawson Square was on 24 January 1959, in a special concert form members and guests.