"I still feel genuinely angry about what the rich did to this country under Thatcher and I'm disgusted by the attempt to rehabilitate the old bag. I was aghast when Tony Blair said he admired her and Brown invited her to tea."

Thus spake Robb Johnson in an interview in a FREE magazine I picked up in my local library. The magazine is called 'Properganda', and it's really a big advertisement for something called 'Proper Music'. Well perhaps a bit more than that, certainly this issue contained some interesting stuff. Robb Johnson, a folkie type singer with a sense of humour, is, in fact, plugging a CD box set of his stuff. Still, fair play; Robb J. once did a benefit gig for the IWW's London branch, so he's OK with me.
I looked at his website, noting the presence of a rake of free MP3 downloads -
http://www.robbjohnson.co.uk/

Also in the magazine was an article about Topic Records which is 70 years old - Many Happy Returns, Topic. I first patronised the label in the early 1960s, Dominic Behan and Stan Kelly were my artists of choice. I didn't realise that the label had such a long and radical history. A name I recognised from the article was that of Bill Leader, who recorded one of my favourite albums, 'Bert and John' in his front room. Did that record come out on Topic? I can't remember. I've still got my old vinyl copy stowed away, but I'm not going to do myself a mischief trying to drag it and a load of other old LPs out of their resting place. I listen to Jansch and Renbourn, together and separate, on CD and on media player these days. I've never understood the vinyl fetish.
'Properganda' has a website -
www.myspace.com/propermusic
worth a look.

Unlike Robb J. I was not surprised by Blair and Brown's cosying up to Lady Gaga, just nauseated.

Corrigenda, 5th August: the 'Bert and John' album was recorded by Bill Leader at Bert Jansch's flat, not Bill L's gaff. The album was released on the Transatlantic label.