"The clubs I was involved with were grounded in folk styles - the majority of songs were traditional, the rest were overwhelmingly similar in style and objective". So what are "the rest" to be called, if not "folk"?

That was exactly my point, that "folk" as presented in the folk clubs goes beyond traditional song and is a matter of style rather than origin. The point where modern songs performed in that style cease to be "similar in style and objective" to traditional songs is always going to be blurred, and individual opinions on where the line should fall will inevitably differ.

Folk clubs are first and foremost places of entertainment rather than scholarship - whilst an understanding of folk tradition and folk process can add to one's enjoyment (which can be said of any form of music) it is not essential in order to enjoy it. For many people, what attracts them to folk music in the first place is how it sounds and what it says, if that leads them to an understanding of its roots then so much the better.

I was not suggesting that the Kinks' "Lola" is by its nature a folksong (although it tells a story), what I was saying is that Swan Arcade's performance in a folk style made it suitable for a folk club. In the same way, Britten's treatment of "Foggy Dew" and Pears' singing style took outside the scope of folk clubs, although it cannot alter the fact that the original is folksong.