My appreciation of Dave Cousins goes way back to the early seventies, when he was writing such songs as The Hangman and the Papist and The Battle. The Battle was written as a depiction of the horrors of war, but there was also an underlying element of the progress of a game of chess running through it. (Very cleverly written.) I do take some responsibility in making their name more widely known in this country, as they were virtually unknown when I first started mentioning them across the Net several years ago - now they seem to be widely known and respected. Back in those days, Rick Wakeman was at the organ...but he later left to spend some time with Yes before branching out on a solo career.

I'm glad to see their name is getting about more in this country - in my opinion, Dave is the best songwriter of his generation.