Dear 'GUEST',

I'm glad that you agree with me - I still think you're being defeatist, though. Popular culture doesn't have to be cheap and tawdry. I've been to countries where it's not - Bulgaria, for example.
In that country I've walked along a street and heard wonderful music coming from an open doorway - it turned out to be a wedding with a live band. I've also been to restaurants where the radio has been on and playing fine traditional music. Even the music put on for tourists often turns out to be some of the finest that the country has to offer.

In Macedonia I've seen little kids sat on a garage roof beating out amazingly complex rhythms on old tin cans.

On the streets of Warsaw and ljubljana I've heard excellent street musicians and even traditional singers.

On the Athens Metro I once heard a marvellous accordian player (Albanian, I think) accompanied by a small boy playing a tambourine-like drum.

In Turkey restaurants in tourist resorts often play western pop music over the sound system. On slack days, when there are not many other customers, I've often asked if they can play me some Turkish music. The restauranteur always seems delighted to oblige, I become a friend for life, and I get to hear some wonderful music.

One of my ambitions is to go to one of those open-air operas in Italy - where everyone takes a picnic and bottles of good wine and 'culture' is obviously not a dirty word.

Popular culture doesn't have to be crap - other nationalities know this - why don't we? If we want something better we've got to fight for it!