without having EM hike his meagre talents

I reckon you are letting your prejudices show there a little. As far as I am aware whatever differences they had with him as a person and I acknowledge that one or two who knew him did, few people would regard MacColl's talents as meagre. I am with George Bernard Shaw on this one.

Remember before the Radio Ballads "ordinary" people were hardly ever allowed to appear on radio. Now of course it is commonplace and the BBC are doing four programmes about traditional carols starting next Monday in "radio ballad" style, and nowadays ordinarly people talking on radio is regarded as normal.

the South African struggle was well accounted for in the revolutionary music of radical exiles such as Dudu Pukwana, Chris MacGregor, Johnny Mbizo Dyani, Shimmy Radise, Abdullah Ibrahim etc etc

I know they escaped from S. Africa to play music. I am not sure what is so revolutionary about their particular music. Would you be kind enugh to explain?