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At: Groove Pad, 48 Saltaire Road, Shipley BD18 3HN |
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Est: 1956 |
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Map |
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A Brief History Of The Club Over Twenty Five Years |
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1956-1981 Silver Jubilee THE FIRST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS The Folk Club, meeting in a room for the enjoyment of music and song, has become a regular feature of the folk scene nowadays. Few people, however, realise that 25 years ago such clubs did not exist outside London, and the TOPIC Folk Club, in Bradford, was the first in the provinces. Founded by Alex Eaton, with his wife, Louise, together with Paul Tattersal, Rennie Pickles, Alan Emmett and Dave and Marion Dalmoure, the Topic is the longest-running folk club in the country and has become almost a tradition in 25 years of existence. During that time it has only been closed on 7 occasions - and then only because of Christmas Day or the New Year! 1956 was a year of great social awareness; the CND movement was leading up to the Aldermaston Marches, skiffle was all the rage, and the folk boom, influenced mainly by American artists, was on. Records and record players were not enough, television sets were few and far between and people were keen to get out and entertain themselves. In the midst of all this, the small group led by Alex and Louise, and inspired by a book of folk songs by Alan Lomax, got together on Friday evenings to sing folk songs, and talk, and such were the beginnings of the TOPIC Folk Club. The Topic recording company was just getting established and the Club, wishing to be easily identifiable with British folk music, took its name. At this time Bill Leader, a friend of the Eatons, was involved with Topic Records and stimulated interest by loaning a record player and some early folk recordings. The music and songs had a more international flavour then than now; Red Army songs from Russia, student protest songs from Budapest, and so on, but the "working class folk songs" from Britain, exemplified by Ewan McColl's "Shuttle and Cage" book, held the greatest interest. Very quickly the Club grew in numbers until the original meeting room - the Laycock Rooms above the "Golden Dragon" Chinese Restaurant - was too small and the Club moved to a larger room in the Oddfellows or Unity Hall in Rawson Square, Bradford. By this time the TOPIC had 304 members recorded on its books, and the first AGM was held on Friday 19 September 1958. No longer was the TOPIC a small group of enthusiasts meeting informally for a song and a natter, and so the singers amongst the Club members began to be supplemented by special guests from elsewhere. The first guest was Dr John Hasted in 1958 who seems to have impressed the members with a variety of songs from all over the place, accompanied with Appalachian 5-string banjo, 6 and 12-string guitars, balalaika and a bass lute. Being a friend of the Eatons, the Club paid his fare from London and probably for a porter to carry all his instruments as well. John obviously liked the TOPIC and came back many times. The Club performers were obviously in great demand around Bradford at this time, and the Friday Club Nights began to be supplemented by Saturday evening concerts. The first paid guest for one of these was Ramblin' Jack Elliot from America and from then on, the emphasis swung further away from the informal club nights to the concerts with well-known artists from all over. As well as these concerts, the Saturday nights were also taken up with the "Hoots" which seemed to have been "reet good do's" put on by the Club residents. In 1959 the clubroom was established in the Fox and Goose pub, Canal Road, Bradford. Among the performers brought in for the concerts were Steve Benbow and Jerry Silverman and the minute book records a resolution to to "try and get a good attendance ... to show interest in folk music in the North"! Jimmie MacGregor and Shirley Bland came along in 1960, Hamish Henderson, Bert Lloyd, Elton Hayes, the ever popular Steve Benbow and the Spinners were all booked to appear, and about this time Shirley Collins first came along with John Hasted and made a lasting impression on a least one TOPIC committee member! By 1962 the idea of folk clubs had caught on and the TOPIC and the Harrogate Folk Club (now sadly defunct) ran regular exchange visits. Guest lists for the concerts became longer, displacing the "Hoots", and in 1964, when the Club met on Fridays in the Sun Inn, Sunbridge Road, the guests included Dave Brady, the Spinners, the Crimple Mountain Boys (from Harrogate and including those familiar names Robin and Barry Dransfield), Cyril Tawney, Martin Carthy (who later made history coming up from London with Louis Killen on a Vespa for £10 plus expenses), Tony and Dave, Sandy and Jeanie and Jackie McDonald and Bridie O'Donnell. The TOPIC was the first folk club at which Jackie appeared as a floor singer. The Club affiliated to the EFDSS in 1964 and with one brief interruption, has remained affiliated ever since. In 1965 the now regular arrangement of booked gustes performing on Friday Club nights, supported by "resident" or local singers or groups was established. Thus in 9 years from its small beginnings, the TOPIC had almost completely left behind the informal "song and natter" origins with which it began in 1956. The programme for 1965 is, even by today's standards, impressive, and the unsalubrious surroundings of the Sun Inn Clubroom must have seen many a good night: Roy Harris The 1960's continued to be good years for the TOPIC while other folk clubs formed and flourished around the area. Many of these were "breakaways" from the TOPIC; the Bradford Folk Club (Paul Tattersal), the Bradshaw Tavern Folk Club (Denis Sabey), the George Folk Club (Cleckheaton, Jackie Richardson) later the Phoenix Folk Club at the Richardson's Arms, Oakenshaw and then at the Armytage Arms, Clifton - of these only the TOPIC and the Bradshaw Tavern are still running. The TOPIC and the Leeds Folk Club became affiliated to encourage interchange between them and although a ceilidh organised jointly with the local EFDSS was proposed in 1967, the idea did not come to fruition until the first TOPIC ceilidh of 1976! Promising new names on the folk scene were encouraged then as now by the TOPIC, and in 1968 a certain Christy Moore became a semi-resident singer and guaranteed two club nights a year, while a new group, the Humblebums - Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty* (Stealers Wheel) - appeared on 18 October. Late in 1968 the five-year stay at the Sun Inn ended and the Club moved to the Market Tavern in Godwin Street. However, due to inadequate fire precautions, the room was closed after 6 weeks and the TOPIC was on the move again. A total of 4 venues were tried in 1969, the Rawson Hotel for one night, the Ukrainian Club and the Market Tavern again, but the final venue, the STAR Hotel, proved to be a permanent base for the TOPIC. For 12 years the Club has enjoyed excellent relations with the Landlord and Landlady of the Star, Marion and Friedal. Members, visitors and guests of the Club, and even Roger Sutcliffe, receive a friendly welcome and many artists call to see "Mine Hosts" while in or near Bradford. In 1974 the committee, which had continued the TOPIC success story, consisted of Mick Wheeler, Mick Walker, Dave Illingworth, Roger Sutcliffe, John Shackleton, Dave Hamer and Pete Timmins, and were joined, by co-option in October of that year, by Trevor Charnock. Since his appointment as Secretary in 1976, Trevor has been a dedicated worker for the Club and there can be few people who are as well known throughout the folk club world as the Secretary of the TOPIC Folk Club. We are all looking forward to the next 25 years. The Committee of the TOPIC Folk Club, 1981: Frank Cahill ©1981 The Topic Folk Club
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