January 1994 saw our first foray into Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, where John Morris and Eddie Murphy saw us off to a three year stay at the Red Lion, Warstone Lane. This was a good venue, with a comfortable room and a car park next to the pub. Some of the more memorable guests that appeared at the Red Lion were Chris Wood and Andy Cutting, Kate Rusby and Katherine Roberts, Clann McPeake and Barry Dransfield. It was here that some of our “Singers’ Nights’’ attracted up to 20 performers in one evening. Our 30th Birthday Night was a quiet night compared to our 25th, as we had a “big sing” which attracted 51 people, 26 of whom were singers and musicians. Our club also provided Hilary Spencer with her debut solo gig. Sadly during our time at the Red Lion we lost one of our residents, Geoff Hughes, who died after a tremendous fight against cancer. Geoff had been a great supporter, resident and committee member of the club and is still sorely missed.
February 1997, on the move again, this time to The Turk’s Head, Lawson Street, which had an underground clubroom, with superb acoustics, beautifully painted in mellow colours, which were restful to the eye. Our opening guests were (again) John Morris and Eddie Murphy, whose strong voices fully utilised the excellent acoustics of the room, but more about that in three club moves’ time.
September 1998 found us, yet again, wearily trudging the streets looking for another room. This followed a hasty retreat from The Turk’s Head after losing a fight with a (very loud) karaoke machine. An upstairs room in the Eagle and Tun (Digbeth again!!) was available, so we moved in. Our opening guest was Tom Lewis, who kicked us off in fine style. Les Barker and Jimmy Crowley also appeared as guests during the 6 month stay at this venue.
