Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend

Subject: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Brakn
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 09:58 PM

Here.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 06:53 AM

Well mentioned!
Also directly after is the first of six half hour progs called the Highland sessions. Sounds to be worth a watch.
So, thats my Video set for Friday Night! (11th Nov)
Ralphie

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: John Routledge
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 08:54 AM

Thanks Brakn. Must stop deleting BBC4 newsletter without reading it!!

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Jon W.
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 01:00 PM

What channel can I get this on in Utah?

Jon W, envious

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: fat B****rd
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 02:48 PM

Thank you Brakn. I'll ask my wife if I can stay up late.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Leadfingers
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 02:56 PM

If they are going to start televising stuff like this , it might even be worth getting another set to replace the one I threw away twenty years ago !

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 03:45 AM

You don't see him around as much as you once did. Is he all right?

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Rasener
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 04:00 AM

Seemed alright to me Al, when I saw him at Cleethorpes Festival this summer.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 04:22 AM

Not about much? Good grief, he's everywhere.

'Grown up from an angry young man into a bad-tempered, middle-aged bastard' (Brian McNeill).

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 06:12 AM

that's not round here - perhaps that's why I haven't seen him for a bit. glad he's okay though.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 11:05 AM

i Think I've just died and gone to heaven....Dick G, Martin Simps AND Michael McGoldrick all in one go!!!!!!!.....ecstacy!


Sarah

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 11 Nov 05 - 04:13 AM

It's TONIGHT!!!!! I have commanded control of the television from 9.00 to 10.30 BBC4 YIPPPPEEEEE!

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 07:14 AM

It was wonderful!!!!!! .....repeated on Sunday at midnight very late but very worthwhile. The Highland Sessions series is going to be brilliant. Fridays 10.00pm for the next few weeks

Sarah

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Justin
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 07:39 AM

What a boring, inarticulate, immature person Dick Gaughan is. His 'singing' was unbearably dreadful and his politics so immature and wooden. God help folk music if this what it has to offer.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Chris b (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 08:01 AM

Eh?

And I suppose you think we should still be keeping 'Politics' out of folk music. Chorus of 'Dashing Away With A Smoothing Iron', anyone?

Bloody hell....

Wasn't perfect, mind. The sound was pretty rough, especially at the beginning, and the 'arrangement' of 'Both Sides The Tweed' sounded terribly ragged though again it probably sounded OK if you were there. And in response to Martin Simpson's comments my wife said, write reasonably, 'Why do they do it? Why do they let musicians and actors TALK?'

Still, my usual nitpicking apart, it was great to see Dick on the telly and on such great form. This is what we have extra channels for though I still pine for the days when you could still (occasionally) see something like this on 'normal' TV. I haven't seen Dick live in about 10 years but, like Mad Max, it's good to know he's out there....somewhere.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 08:12 AM

The man is brilliant, the band was good, especially Mary McMaster, WOW

eric

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Justin
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 09:26 AM

I didn't say 'keep politics out'. it's just that his were so immature and unsubtle. The band was good, spoilt by that dreadful singing.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 10:26 AM

The repeat on Sunday is at 11:10 pm according to the Guardian telly list, so if you switch over at midnight you'll get the last ten minutes at most!

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Drumshanty
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 10:55 AM

I wonder if anyone could explain to me exactly why he is thought to be brilliant? I watched the programme last night and enjoyed it (certainly didn't think that he was boring or inarticulate) but I don't understand his music. I am perfectly aware that this is likely to be a lack in my musical knowledge somewhere, but I found myself feeling confused by the incoherence and disjointed nature of the overall sound. I feel like I must be missing something important here...?

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Justin
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 12:02 PM

Drumshanty, it's not your fault, you're just giving your honest opinion.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 12:31 PM

OK Justin, what exactly do you mean, 'immature and unsubtle'? OK, you may not agree with the man but he puts his money where his mouth is - he spent most of 1984/85 playing miners' benefits at the cost of some damage to his health at the time. Or was he just being 'Immature'? True, he's not always been subtle - I thought 'By The People' came close to ruining 'A Different Kind Of Love Song' - but passion often isn't subtle - at least not in our house.

Fair enough, Drumshanty, you gave his music a try and it didn't pull your chain. No harm done. It's nothing to do with any lack of musical knowledge on your part. I took the wife to Dublin to see Planxty last year and although she loved it she still isn't a big fan of the uilleann pipes. There's still time for my daughter, though...

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: The Unicorn Man
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 12:35 PM

UMMM. He is also playing at The Trestle Arts Base. Russet Drive St Albans AL4 0JQ Along with Redbourn's Jan Strapp and Herga's and Breezies own George Papavgeris. On Sat 19th Nov. 8.00pm £10.00 Entry . www.stalbansfolkmusic.org.uk

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 02:52 PM

Agree with Chris B. I never met Dick, and I'm really looking forward to the 19th for this reason. But I loved his singing "A song for Ireland" and "St George's Hill" and I admire any one who sticks to his principles like Dick has.

He may have no finesse, but so what - finesse is a politician's tool. Heart is the revolutionary's. The day our politicians wear their heart on their sleeve the world will be much better.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Justin
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 03:41 PM

I guess Dick's doing his best but the miners benefit concerts were 20 years ago and things have moved on and left poor Dick with his British Socialist politics which are as dead as a dodo. Just because you help the minors doesn't make you a singer.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: breezy
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 04:22 PM

Oh yes it does, but methinks you meant 'Miners'

And George Papavgeris, aka El G, will be appearing in his own right on fri 25th Nov at the Windward club in St Albans at the Comfort Hotel, Holywell hill, St Albans

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: John Routledge
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 05:17 PM

Breezy - Guest Justin's postings to this thread are much more relevant than yours:0)

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: SmileHabitat
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 07:28 PM

I also find Gaughan well past his use by date, both musically and politically.

Voice was very poor last time I saw him perform live, and the songs just aren't all that great. He did have some interesting things to say about the music, I have to agree that his politics seem dangerously simplistic and completely out of touch with where Scotland, Britain, Europe and the world are at, here and now.

Why anyone would consider a person whose politics and music haven't evolved in 20 years to be worthy of admiration, I'll never know.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Lanfranc
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 07:33 PM

I watched part of the programme, and must confess that I, too, was unmoved. Gaughan reminded me too much of the late Jimmie Miller in his political stance.

Found myself comparing Gaughan adversely with Alex Campbell or Hamish Imlach. They could make a "political" point and still be entertaining with it. Even Billy Bragg seems to have learned this.

I'd happily pay £10 (or more) to attend an El Greko concert - I'm not so sure about Gaughan.

Alan

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 12 Nov 05 - 10:28 PM

It wasn't Gaughan's politics that failed to impress - it was mostly the playing. Sort of random thrashes, that failed to yield rhythm or melody. Nothing passed the Old Grey Whistle Test.

The Highland sessions on the other hand were wonderful (if someone could have silenced the Aussie with the nylon strung guitar, and removed the piano - I hate pianos particularly in folk music).

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 01:22 AM

No-one could have silenced Steve Cooney as he was the musical director!

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Wullie (Fife)
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 01:57 AM

I agree with Justin about Dick's political stance; he just seems so naive. I think he also said something along the lines of he hopes some people will hear his songs and do something to change the world. God almighty me!
I suppose it comes from singing all your life and not getting your hands dirty in the world of work. And he still sings McNeill's lines
"but there's plenty on the dole in the land o the leal" Eh?

Having said all that, I still love a DG concert. Sorry, can't help it, there's just something about the performer that gets me all-a-tingle - the fat, mad, unwashed, daft-guitar-playing git that he is.

Incidentally, "Sail on" was pretty special but I don't think he sings it live.

Simpson and McGoldrick were great, as usual, on DG's telly show.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 04:37 AM

To put this Bush Hall gig into context, this was a BBC4 double recording where just about all the invited audience apeared to be there for Loudon Wainwright III, the second half, which was transmitted some time ago.

It must have been very depressing for DG for this reason and also because the sound was quite dreadful. Front of house, it was poorly balanced, with Mary MacMaster's clarsach plinking away far too high in the mix, Martin's Simpson's slide almost inaudible and DG's vocals badly distorted. Stage monitors were on the blink, causing Mike McGoldrick to be uncharacteristically out of time and miss cues.

This, presumably, was why it's taken six months of remixing to achieve sound of broadcastable quality. Hearing the first few LW III renditions after the interval from the bar before legging it, the FOH sound quality was noticeably better and it was thus clear who the BBC considered to be the 'star' of the night.

Brian McNeill's 'No Gods And Precious Few Heroes' is a song which DG wishes he'd written himself. 'Scotland', he says, is largely a work of fiction and the song deals with some of them. Such as people who think the line 'plenty on the dole in the land of the leal' is outdated. True, they're not actually 'on the dole'. It's far worse than that. They are long consigned to a scrapheap with no hope of work again. It's called 'incapacity benefit' and the numbers don't feature in the unemployment figures.

A song he did write (admittedly not a particularly good one) is 'No Cause For Alarm', produced when some people started to dismiss Socialism as being out-of-date:

'They're trying to say our time is past
Hell, it hasn't even started'.

DG is an angry young man who has grown up into a bad-tempered middle-aged bastard, according to Brian McNeill. To me, he's still an outlaw and a dreamer, a crucial link in the chain and long may he continue to be.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 04:56 AM

Yes, I was aware Cooney was the musical director. As a player, he was not needed.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 08:32 AM

Justin,

Things have moved on alright - fewer union members than at any time since the war, British workers the easiest to sack in Europe, 'Tax Credits' to con people into crap jobs while their skinflint employers have their payroll subsidised at the public expense, Civil Liberties under their greatest threat in a century, public sector workers bullied and brutalised into casualised and privatised jobs, whole sections of the community demonised because of their race and religion and a Labour government - A Labour government - on the verge of committing us to yet another generation of nuclear weapons. You all know the rest so I won't go on.

I'll take some good, old-fashioned bloody-minded socialism any day.

How are your ISA and your shares doing, by the way?

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 09:36 AM

DG is one of my all time heros. I first saw him in clubs some 25 years ago and he gets better and better.

Some tossers who have never heard him or know anything about him are very quick to make a judgment on a lifetime carreer on just one hour of TV. And to put down the mans politics after a few mins of very edited conversation is, frankly, stupid.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: patriot1314
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 10:16 AM

I caught the last ten minutes of the programme, enjoyed what I saw.
If I could only find a way to record to video from my freeview box we'd be laughing

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: akenaton
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 02:04 PM

Inspiring stuff Countess!!

I 've high hope for you ...Ake

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 03:08 PM

Repeated tonight (Sunday 13 November) at 11.10 pm, for those who, like me, have missed it so far.

Recording from a freeview box is probably just a matter of selecting the right AV input. Instructions should be in the manual.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Fiona
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 03:21 PM

To record from the freeview you also need two of those scart leads as I discovered (too late) the other night.

I think we should ask that nice Mr Blair to send Alistar Campbell round to re-educate Dick Gaughan and issue him with a New Labout pager so he can stay 'on-message'. I want to be able to watch though....

I liked the programme, I was there too and I enjoyed it at the time as well. It was quite different to a normal DG gig, we were well short changed with the patter!

Fiona

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 04:51 PM

It has to be said that the sound WAS awful - and the arrangements a bit ropey in PARTS (but as M Simpson said, how do you follow someone whose time has its own logic?). Still, I can't believe I was listening to the same person as some of the other correspondents here.

The voice has always been a love or hate thing (I'm definitely in the "love" camp - the sheer passion of his delivery is magical) - deal with it. And the shifting rhythms underpin the lyrics with great intensity. Something tells me it's all down to whether you can stomach the man's voice and the man's politics. Sad if you can't - maybe Justin needs a touch of Gaughan's sense of history and then he might not see the 20 years since the miner's strike as such a gaping chasm. Where I come from, we're certainly still living with the consequences of that dispute. Meantime, there are new problems and new issues that "New Labour" are causing rather than solving. Give me an "unsubtle" socialist over a cunning career politician any day.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: shepherdlass
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 04:55 PM

Sorry, the last message under the name of GUEST was actually from me (with a temporarily lost cookie). Just thought I'd mention that before anyone suggests the comments were sent under a cowardly pseudonym - I'm proud to line up politically with the "unsubtle and immature" Mr G.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 05:18 PM

Well said Countess, Chris B and unnamed Guest. I'm with you.
S:0)

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 06:09 PM

It turns out that BBC4 has altered its schedule, so the Radio Times listing is out-of-date. Times are now 11.55 pm Sunday 13, with a further repeat at 3.05 am Monday morning 14 November.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 06:37 PM

So that's why I've got Jarvis Cocker instead!
Well I'll be watching Eliza Carthy - and probably sound asleep by 3am.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: RobbieWilson
Date: 13 Nov 05 - 07:07 PM

For what it's worth I thoroughly enjoyed both programmes. My only big frustration with the Gaughan thing was its brevity. The mans got soul and I can understand people who think that music is just lightweight entertainment not relating to him.

Over the years Dick Gaughan has given me a lot, musically and politically. How many of the superior commentators here can say the same thing. It's easy to sneer but do nothing.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: breezy
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 05:36 AM

Sat 19th George El G Papavgeris is playing a support spot at the DG concert in St Albans

But you all knew that

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: John Routledge
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 05:42 AM

Saw the repeat which I enjoyed immensely - almost as a historical document - despite poor sound.

The very conflicting viewpoints above remind me of the recent debate about foxhunting rather than a debate about music.

As Gaughan himself indicated his songs are essentially political stories and messages which in his view were merely different forms of Love Song.

Hope that I got that right.

Waiting with interest for rest of series.Thanks Brakn.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: GUEST,Scabby Douglas
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 06:01 AM

I watched this programme, and was unimpressed with the sound mix, and if it was as badly-monitored for the performers as has been suggested, then I can understand more clearly why such a gifted guitarist as Martin Simpson seemed to have such a problem accompanying Dick on "Big Muddy".   Yes, as has been noted, DG does have a distinctly personal approach to phrasing and rhythm, but it was as though Martin Simpson could not hear what was being played by Gaughan...

Dick's own guitar was not well reproduced, despite (if I remember correctly) 2 instrument mics being used. I did wonder if the prevalence of pickups on all manner of acoustic instruments these days has lead to the decline in knowledge of how to record a completely acoustic guitar...

That is speculation on my part , and not intended as a slur or anyone's skills - I just know that what I heard was woolly and indistinct....

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 06:14 AM

I've no idea why the BBC chose the title 'A Different Kind Of Love Song'. The concert included no songs from this 1983 album which was, by and large, an anti Cold War polemic. DG always makes his music immediate and relevant to the present. As he remarked in the film, he doesn't himself go in for historical preservation (not that he's against anyone else doing so should they wish).

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: breezy
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 06:48 AM

'a distinctly personal approach to phrasing and rhythm'

Is that a sensitive way of saying he cant keep time and fails to breathe at the right time?

In other words, musically inept?

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 07:07 AM

No No No Breezy ...he is wunderful!!!! His phrasing on songs like Song for Ireland and Westland Winds is quite magical. Ok the band idea was not brilliant (apart from the fact I got to see 3 of my favourite musicians at once) but as Martin said he's really a solo artist and a very fine one at that.

Still in rapture

Sarah

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 08:24 AM

It's always a personal thing, music. I couldn't pass this thread by without saying I love Dick's music. I've caught him playing live down in Devon twice in the last couple of years and I can testify to the fact that he is a thoroughly nice man as well!

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Pete MacGregor
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 10:16 AM

Breezy - keeping time is for dancers. Not really much to do with singing at all.
PM

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: SmileHabitat
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 09:48 PM

"DG always makes his music immediate and relevant to the present."

And part of the problem with performing topical music, especially the political stuff, is it sounds dated rather quickly.

I didn't see this programme. I have seen DG perform live a number of times, have met the man a coupe times, and have corresponded with him online. I think I know him well enough to critique both his music and politics.

I don't find him all that curmudgeonly, or even a bastard. Quite the contrary, on a personal level, he has always been quite polite and gracious with me. He seems to be a generous performer.

But none of that changes the fact that his voice (which I once enjoyed) seems to be gone (at least in the last live performance I heard, and I've heard from others who are fans that it wasn't just an off night). Much of his music now sounds dated. And while I agree the world could certainly use some new form of socialism, I don't think the old school socialism will pass muster nowadays. Nor should it. The world has changed a tremendous amount in 20 years time. Sadly, I don't know that DG has kept up with it.

I do have problems with the political worldview of a lot of musicians who have spent their entire adult lives "not getting their hands dirty" (or dry and chapped from doing the washing up, as one female friend would say) as someone mentioned above. I really don't think most of the male folk musicians of DG's generation especially, get what people are enduring these days, whether working or not.

It is almost as if the whole world passed DG by, in the blink of an eye.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Effsee
Date: 14 Nov 05 - 10:01 PM

He's our Pete Seeger.....and we are thankful for him!

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 09:50 AM

I've no idea why the BBC chose the title 'A Different Kind Of Love Song'. The concert included no songs from this 1983 album
I was a bit confused by this post CR so I rewatched the programme and A Different Kind Of Love Song was recorded on my copy!

Actually just an excuse to remind people that Dick's at Walhamstow on Sunday

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 10:31 AM

Haven't seen it, Kev. He didn't sing it at the actual concert as far as I remember. Then again, maybe he did but the sound was so bad I didn't recognise it. Or perhaps it's taken from the sound check (if they had one, which is doubtful). Or, more likely, after the interval. I'm told he joined LW III onstage at one point after I'd left.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 11:08 AM

Now wiped the prog so can't check to see if LWIII is lurking in the background or if just the soundcrew are there.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: The Unicorn Man
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 03:20 PM

Well, we shall all see in a few days how it will turn out. I am doing some stewarding of some kind, so I should see most of the second half. DD

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: breezy
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 03:51 PM

Hello Martin

Hows the singing coming along?

Will you be wearing that usherette's uniform as well ! ?

At least you'll get to see George Papavgeris who will have his own gig at Windward on fri 25th at the comfort in St Albans.

his latest song 'Anytown ' is well worth hearing. as well as his song that was used as an encore by Bailey, Carthy and J K at the south Bank last week.

have all the tickets gone yet do you know?

With any luck alison will give you a support spot at her next concert.

hope it goes well

jeremy taylor on Sunday 27th Nov last chance, as the club will close then.

hope you come to support Hilary on Friday.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Jamie
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 10:44 PM

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.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: shepherdlass
Date: 16 Nov 05 - 06:25 PM

Well said, Jamie. There are still a few of us grateful for Gaughan's strong voice of conscience in the wilderness of modern Britain.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan BBC 4 next weekend
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Nov 05 - 06:36 PM

I am entirely with Gaughan's politics, and have also worked in two papermills, one in Sweden and one in Kent, England). But his playing reminded me of spandau ballet (the original meaning, not the band): the occasional frenetic burst without apparent connection to the timing of other movement.

Not one tune could I walk away whistling any part of - and this is not a comment on my whistling.