Pip Radish

Snail - I think Jim's quite specifically said that he doesn't think that what you do results in crap standards.

Really? I must have blinked and missed it.

Jim Carroll

Thank you Pip - that's what I have been saying all along.

Good. So, Jim, you are not saying that having a policy and practice of giving a floor spot to everybody who wants one results in crap standards. I am delighted to hear it. It leaves me a little confused by your previous statement -

In which case I don't feel the need to apologise for my remarks about promoting crap standard.

Pip Radish

But I don't know what stops amateurish performers turning up at your club.

Of course amateurish performers turn up at our club. They are (or most of them) amateur. I am an amateur. The word Jim is using is not amateurish, it is CRAP. We do not get CRAP performers turning up at your club. Sorry if that offends anybody, but that is the way it is.

Jim Carroll

he is prepared to advocate bad practice for other clubs.

I have never advocated any sort of practice for any other club. I have frequently championed the right of any club to organise its affairs in any way it sees fit. I have merely reported what we do and the results we observe. Despite your denials, you do seem to be saying that what we do is bad practice and results in crap standards.

Thanks for the kind comments, Will. Every club has its own culture and ethos which is self perpetuating. An invitation to perform is an invitation to join that culture. We have a group of residents who care very nuch about what they do. We have a loyal following of floor singers who have an equal commitment to what they are doing. That is the environment that new floor singers meet. I would hope that they would take inspirition from it rather than being scared off. If on the other hand, the club culture says that intonation doesn't matter and it's OK to read your words from an exercise book then that is the message that newcomers will get.

I don't see that I need to justify my position. Jim says that to take the desire to perform as sufficient reason to give someone a floorspot is promoting crap standards. I know from personal, practical experience that he is wrong. That's all there is to it.