Sorry - weak pun on wee little drummer.
John Snow Meeting
Three singers were asked to speak for fifteen minutes on the folk scene; Campbell whinged incessently about newcomers on the scene getting paid the same, or more than him in the clubs, Bert waffled rather poinlessly about - well, nothing really, but he did it quite nicely, Davenport ranted about all art being bourgeois and said that the working class should have nothing to do with it. He spoke at length (way over his allotted time) about art with a small a and art with a big A (full of sound and fury signifying nothing).
There were half a dozen contributons from the floor sounding interesting (but hard to hear as the mike was badly placed).
MacColl, as chairman, attempted to sum up, but was constantly interrupted by Davenport, who ended up saying Jeannie Robertson was a crap singer. Punches were thrown and everybody went home.
Lefties.
I don't think anybody is disputing the fact that many of the early revivalist were left wing (so what!). You can add the WMA (and me) to that list. You did rather give the impression that it was a Commie plot, which it was not. Many of the early crowd came to the music through the Workers Music Association, an organisation which produced some of the early published works on the subject Scotland, Sings (MacColl), The Singing Englishman (Lloyd), Shuttle And Cage (MacColl), The Pocket Songbook, Reedy River (an Australian musical play) and eventually set up Topic Records.
Comhaltas
You don't improve the lot of music by making it a game with prizes and inventing a set of naff rules in order to win a medal. Its competition ethic has turned off more young people than it has inspired.Comhaltas has done a great job in the past, despite an inept leadership, but in all the decades of its existence it has failed to compile an accessible archive or library. There are fine musicians in the organisation, but a decapitation (removal of the head) would help no end.
Jim Carroll