Happy Birthday Colin

Our regular MC, Colin (Photo:Simon Meeds)

Well, MC Colin's birthday session last Friday was certainly something. He brought with him six non-performing family members who complemented the four singers. Not only was the audience good but it was one of those sessions where talk was kept to a minimum and therefore we got through 43 songs, which must be a recent, though no doubt not all-time record.

Colin started off with a Richard Digance song, Spider In The Sink. He returned to Digance later with I've Won The Lottery. Meanwhile Simon followed an awkward arachnid with an equally problematic mustelid, singing Derek Jolly's My Grandfather's Ferret.

Derek gave us two topical songs before permitting the visitors some light entertainment. The topics were The Donibristle Mine Disaster (Roud 3509) of 26 August 1901 and the Dublin Lock-out which started on 26 August 1913 - The Ballad Of James Larkin (Donagh McDonagh).

Geoff completed the first round of the singers with Fred Wedlock's The Folker.

Derek took the rare opportunity presented by the gathered audience of victims to sing I Have Drunk One And I Will Drink Two [Him and His Good Companions] (Roud 885). It was then a matter of getting the measure of the audience. Would they respond best to a tear-jerker like Simon's King Of Rome (Dave Sudbury), to comedy like Geoff's Winkle Picker Shoes Blues (Myles Rudge, Ted Dicks) or simply a bit of (moderate) filth like Derek's Ned Flanagan's Gander.

Colin gave us Tom Lewis' Radio Times, which mentioned a number of singers and their songs including Stan Rogers and his Northwest Passage, which prompted Simon to sing exactly that song. Another Lewis song came from Geoff the form of I'm Marching Inland. Colin made another reference to Stan Rogers by singing Ian Robb's Garnet's Homemade Beer. Not only does it share the tune with Stan's song Barrett's Privateers, but it is apparently about a real incident involving a questionable product of Stan's brother Garnet.

Simon said that he usually only sings Big Bamboo in front of people he knows quite well but since Colin likes it and it was his birthday, a performance of that song was risked in front of relative strangers. It was Derek who got everyone singing Happy Birthday to Colin.

Simon gave us Tom Paine's Bones (Graham Moore) accompanied by Derek to the rhythm of the bones secured, Derek claimed, at vast expense. I guess Derek's bones have in fact never been "a bit of a animal" never mind part of the framework of an American revolutionary.

It fell to Derek to close a very enjoyable session with Biddy McGrath (Tom Flanagan).

Here's a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 10, of whom 4 performed)