Hi Astonian,
I hear what you are saying... And you are quite right!
Mind you, the world is a very different place compared to how it was back in those far off days!
Regardles of whatever has been said in that 'article', I personally had an absolute ball at the Rum Runner, both as a punter and as a nightclub worker. When it closed I was the sadest man in the whole of Brum... And to be fair, the club's closure should never have happened.
As a club, we felt that we were being victimised by the 'Powers That Be' over the actions of the band... Especially the charity gig they did at Villa Park which made little or no money for the charity concerned (which wasn't the band's fault btw).
They were all off sunning themselves in the best parts of the world while we took all the back-lash from the press, the police, health & safety, the city council and the licensing justices.
I still keep a newspaper clipping from around those times which demonstrates perfectly how the establishment turned on the Rum Runner like a pack of dogs in order to try and get their pound of flesh out of the band... Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but 30 years on it still strikes a chord with me.... And Brum lost it's top nightspot overnight!... Sad eh?