I sympathise with the Drummer's frustration at the (possibly) undeserved publicity that Mr Kermode's skiffle group is getting. But I don't share his resentment of it.

Journalism – or any other kind of writing – is a tough way to make a living. Today you are working round the clock to deliver your copy by the deadline – tomorrow, a change in editorial policy sends you out on the street seeking a new job. It's no surprise that the stress of this life drives many writers to self-destruction through drink. If Mr Kermode chooses instead to unwind by playing skiffle in his free time, good for him. If audiences enjoy hearing him, and promoters find it profitable to hire him, good for them.

Having a name that's already known in some other arena may get a musician a few bookings, but the novelty quickly wears off. After that, you won't be asked back if you can't do the biz. Mr K may have been "lucky" to get a foot in the door through his journalism.   But as Billy Joel once said "Luck is a word that ill-informed people use to describe what happens when preparation meets opportunity." (Quoted from memory.)

Anyhow, Mr K' success indicates that skiffle - the musical root from which so many other fruitful branches have sprung - is still alive and kicking. It certainly has a following here on Tyneside, where we have an annual skiffle session at the Cumberland Arms in Byker, on the Saturday nearest to Lonnie's birthday. This time, as in previous years, it was standing room only by halfway through the evening.

A fair number of grey heads were visible, but half the people who played and sang along were not born until decades after Rock Island Line first hit the charts.   And they wouldn't let the band get away until we'd done four encores – though that was certainly due to the qualities of the music itself, rather than to our (strictly amateur) delivery of it. (I don't think it had anything to do with some of us being "middle class gits" who do things other than music to earn a living, though the Drummer might choose to disagree.)

Wassail!