It's a shame that some notable folkies have gone down the "politics" path. [John MacKenzie]

That struck a chord with me as well, John. I'm not sure if my memory serves but, I believe Martin Carthy finished the programme by saying that MacColl had performed a service by reconnecting folk music to politics - or words to that effect. There's nothing that puts me off music more than an overt political message - though I can live with some satire and humour. When I heard the bit in the programme about the members of the Critics Group being told to go away and write a song about Vietnam "by next week", I felt disgusted. Not because I'm apolitical - far from it - but because, in essence, it was no different from Suffolk gentry telling their farm workers how to vote in the 1930s and 1940s (see "Akenfield" by Ronald Blythe).