My way into the band was through Andy Caven. I first met Andy back in Manchester too many years ago to remember now - it must have been in the late seventies, I guess. Andy was a friend of my sister Elaine who is another musician of the have-guitar-will-travel kind. Another salt of the musical earth. So there in my flat in Didsbury was this tall thin dude - and he definitely looked like a dude! - with long blonde hair, a huge olive green greatcoat, and a silky yellow cowboy shirt over which hung an exotic vaguely Indian looking necklace made of what looked like silver horseshoe nails. He had a big acoustic Guild. That night by the fire he pulled it out and fired off a barrage of songs - in that unexpectedly powerful, high, passionate and distinctive voice that you can hear now on this CD - pop songs, poignant old English folk songs, songs of love, songs of loss and, best of all maybe, songs to boogie to. Long and lean, when he kicked the chair away and launched into Elvis, well, he could really do the business. Over the years I saw him gig in many places up and down the land, both solo, and with bands (I even played on stage with him, I remember somewhat sheepishly, at the Goat & Boot down near Colchester Castle). Now here he is with three musical fellow spirits, an album of songs reflecting the many tastes of the band, and in a way too touchingly reflecting the music all of us of a certain generation grew up with - from rock and roll to folk - with echoes of Northern Songs and California Dreams. These are all finely crafted original songs, with some gorgeous tunes among them (check out Take Me Away with its plaintive almost Neil Young-like lilt.) There's distant echoes of the Beatles Hard Day's Night period here on Every Heart Needs A Home (track 6) - and Fatcat (track 9) satires their late period. There are minor chord odes to love, and even a Steely Dan type shuffle with a tasty lead riff. Also here too (and I hope the band don’t mind me saying this) there’s the Englishness of it, the humour, the wistful songs of lost love, and even a bit of agitprop. What strikes me listening to the band's songs is that they come out of a lifetime of playing and listening to our music, played with skill and commitment by real professionals. This is the music played every night in clubs pubs and venues up and down the land , without which our national music scene would wither away. And on Too Much Pressure (track 10) you even get Andy's Elvis rockabilly as a bonus. So kick away that chair.... Michael Wood (TV presenter) Andy Caven: vocals, guitars Paul Marfleet: vocals, acoustic guitar Paul Riley: electric guitar Jason Bangelot: bass guitar, drums Paul Kidd Stanton: alto saxophone Dave Noirbox: discreet percussion mastered by: Peter J Reynolds cover painting "Together" by: Jon Atack guitar strings: www.newtonestrings.com production, artwork & enquiries: www.kidmenthal.co.uk