Didn't see Mr Mac C on tv - don't have one. (Refuse to pay a tax for the banalities of the BBC). But learned and busked 'American Pie' when it came out in the early seventies because people on the West End cinema queues and elsewhere loved it and it made me a lot of money at the time, until I got bored with it. An odd buskers song because of its length... 'Vincent' I always thought was dreadful and have suffered the covers by the sensitive and clumsy down the years in folk clubs and elsewhere in the places where these things are allowed. Freedom of expression and all that and only my opinion... I doubt that any of the singer songwriter Ewan McColl's stuff would have made the cut on the streets although 'Dirty Old Town' had a certain skiffly swing to it - 'First time' was a great pop song but too slow to play on the streets/cinema queues. The point being maybe that McLean and McColl shared mass interest (and royalties) because of their hits... Good luck to both, living and gone... Re the out of tune guitar, perhaps this was some attempt at giving the radio audience a taste of a 'singer's night?'