What was he to do with songs he had collected and wanted to sing?

Had he been honest with what he told everyone else to do, he wouldn't have sung them. His philosophy was that you should only sing songs from your cultural background. I don't mind that (although I absolutely disagree with it) but I agree with Richard that *inventing* a cultural background is bogus. As I've read, he had a standard Mancunian accent when he was a kid.

Graham.