My reference was not in fact to Nic Jones but to Barry Dransfield who suffered financial loss in the 90s recession when his instrument repair business went under. While Bulmer has, inexplicably, relented in just a few isolated cases and allowed certain artists to re-release their own material, mostly he (and his sidekick Neil Sharpley) have not and have been deliberately obstructive. Why? Who knows but the answer sure lies not in business practice but in the realms of psychology.

This is why Tony Rose re-recorded some of his favourite songs on Bare Bones shortly before his death, just to get them out there. It's why Topic put out Shining Bright, a re-recording by various artists of the songs of Mike & Lal Waterson's Bright Phoebus. There's a stack of rare archive material (see the Leader entry on the MusTrad site for a full catalogue) from other traditional artists no longer with us mouldering in some Harrogate shed. Efforts by independent labels to do deals and get it remastered and released have been rebuffed. Most recently, CM even tried to prevent by injunction the release of Topic's Game Set Match, the recording which paid for Nic Jones' much-needed knee operation.

Punish Bulmer? No, I don't give a toss about someone I have not seen for 30 years. I want artists to have a fair deal (those who are still left) and for the world to be able to hear all this wonderful music. In the meantime, Mr Greenhaus must surely see why he ought not to touch Bulmer's tainted, tatty CD-Rs. And the BBC should know better than to advertise his mail order company on their website. What goes around comes around. Eventually.