I remember many happy Saturday nights in the late 1970s at Birmingham's Star Folk Club which was held in the premises of The Communist Party, just yards from the city centre. Great music, plenty of drinking, merriment and other things perhaps best not mentioned.
The upstairs room was basic, with a hard floor and plain tables and chairs set out cafe style. The only real downside was the club's choice of beer - Watney's Red Barrel, "The Red Revolution".
As well as wonderful guests from the U.K. and Ireland,the residents and visitors included the best of the locally based traditional singers - Mick Hipkiss, Dave Phillips, the Campbells, Tommy Dempsey, Nick Fenwick, Nigel Denver and Aiden Forde etc. Dave Phillips had a wonderful rich voice and in my view should have been better known than he was.
Lock-ins were a regular occurrence through until the early hours and whilst I never slept there, I understand others did.
Sometimes the activities of the Communist Party overlapped with those of the folk club and I remember Russian delegations when trays of vodka shots were passed round for toasts. There was also a visit from the National Union of Mineworkers Vice President Mick McGahey who accepted an invitation to sing. He had a voice akin to that of Lee Marvin, honed on whisky and Capstan Full Strength cigarettes. I was asked to accompany him and he chose The Riddle Song ( I Gave My Love A Cherry ). God knows what we sounded like.
Those evenings at the Star tend to blur together in my mind now but a warm glow remains.