I wasn't able to attend the Bush House concert, but I did have the opportunity to watch and record the broadcast. I agree that the sound quality of the broadcast (can't speak about how it sounded live) did leave something to be desired, This is a perennial problem for musicians wherever they perform and is largely out of their control. In this instance however, is all the more irritating considering that the BBC has the technical resources that most gig venues just do not offer.

With regard to some of the comments made in this particular topic I should mention that I have followed DG's career for several years and have watched him play live on several occasions. Musical preference is a personal choice and I would not have it otherwise. However, I regard Dick Gaughan as one of the most influential and multiply-gifted musicians that Scotland has ever produced. This opinion is based partly on my own background in music and the numerous settings in which I have heard DG perform.

As for DG's politics being outdated, I was a student in the late 80s and as president of the students' union, in the thick of student politics. I now despair of the way in which many of the things we campaigned for have been watered down in our materially obsessed society. Individuals such as DG who are not afraid to stand up and speak out are just as relevant today as they ever were. I speak from personal experience and understanding of a side of life that few are directly aware. I am a doctor who has worked with children throughout my career(both in the UK and overseas). Many of my young patients are victims of abuse - physical, sexual and/or psychological. Despite the apparent wealth that many in our 21st century society enjoy, so many children still come from materially impoverished homes that would not be out-of-place in a Dickens' novel.

As for the references to musicians who don't get their hands dirty, I am sure this does apply to many who, for commercial reasons, pose as the sons of toil from pure working-class stock. In DG's case however, he has a long history of getting his hands dirty. It is a matter of record that at the beginning of his musical career, when it was not financially possible to survive on music alone, he continued to work in the less than salubrious surroundings of an Edinburgh paper mill. Later, he trained as a plumber. More recently, he studied web-design at college and in-addition to maintaining his own superb web site, still works on commission projects. What is less well-known is that he has also designed web sites for charitable trusts on a no-cost basis. How he finds the time is a mystery.

Dick Gaughan's politics still resonate with me and many others who work in the firing line of social deprivation and we have found him to be a tireless champion of our efforts. In the time that would jokingly be termed his 'private' life, Dick actively campaigns (as opposed to those who just write letters to the newspapers) for social justice that echoes the message that still comes through in his music. For those who suggest that he may not be seen as frequently as in previous years, the truth is he is extremely busy. As well as his live performance schedule, he is a record producer, adviser to television and film companies (check out the recent Ewan McGregor film 'Young Adam'). At-present, he is recording a new album concurrent with producing an album for another musician and writing a concerto due to be performed by a full orchestra next year! All this of course, takes some time away from touring, an activity that DG places a high value on as it keeps him in-touch with the very people who buy his albums and listen to him in broadcast. In this age of the plastic, fantastic, factory-produced noise that is promoted as 'music', Dick Gaughan (like others of his ilk) is the genuine article. That probably is enough to qualify him as being 'outdated', but give me this raw, uncompromising honesty any day.