Howard
Sorry if I took you wrong
The word 'important' is often used to suggest a crusade to 'save' folksong for posterity rather than to enjoy it for what it basically is - a superb form of entertainment that we can all participate in (with a bit of work and thought)
Some clubs went for all kinds of songs (often referred to as 'Singing Horse clubs after the overused joke by a bluesman) - not all of them by any means
There were enough to choose, but the choice lay between the real stuff and the Zimmerman snigger-snogwriter wannabes - not the Victorian parlour ballad or early pop song stuff, or even the music hall stuff - that came later.
Topic was a good rule of thumd to gauge what was happening in the non navel-gazing side of the scene - when it did music hall stiff it did so as a separate issue (there are exceptions, of course)
"old man's stuff" - I'd care if my objective was to put bums on seats
Mixing in folk song with what appears to be happening now if not going to attract a single individual to folk music - why on earth should it
If you are going to call everything you do as folk song you are going to reduce those of us who involve ourselves in the real thing as a bunch of geriatric eccentrics - stuff that, thank you very much
The answer for me is an easy one - if you don't want to perform folk songs go and do your thing elsewhere under another name, you really have done enough damage (possibly irreparable as far as the next generation goes) as it is
Jim