There have been comments made on the Spinners' quality.
Other performers have been mentioned as being more deserving of awards.

These may or may not be true, but the point is that those other (possibly better) performers were WITHIN the folk community.
The Spinners may be considered a little bland by some but they 'out there', they were the accessible gateway to folk music for many. It was The Spinners that had people looking in the 'Folk' section at local record shops as much as any other performer (and probably more than most).

As Bernard put it "...they brought folk to people who otherwise may have missed out..."

W