by Sharon MawerRight in the middle of glam rock 1973 came a homely singer song-writer from the small village of Stourport near Birmingham named Clifford T Ward who took the charts by storm with a simple love song, Gaye telling the age old story of a girl and how much she meant to him. This was like a breath of fresh air in the over produced mid 1970s, by its very nature, over glamorous rock scene at the time. For here was a man who told simple stories, with beautiful melodies, played with the minimum of fuss. Hot on the heels of the single Gaye came his second album, Home Thoughts which Ward was heavily involved with in writing and producing every track as well as playing keyboards. Home Thoughts opened with the lovely ballad Gaye and continued in the same vein as the single with piano backed ballads, sung with clear concise lyrics, reflecting Ward's homespun family thoughts, living as an ordinary man with a wife and three children, spurning the attention from the media, refusing to tour or play any live gigs that would take him away from his family and also shying away from the pop press, interviews and photographs only taken when absolutely necessary. Clifford T Ward had been working as an English teacher at a local school and it was here he developed his love of poetry and words, an asset he brought to his songs especially Where Would That Leave Me and Time The Magician, Home Thoughts From Abroad and The Open University in which he name checks his favourite authors, and Wherewithal, a song he wrote simply because he liked the sound of the word. But for all the beautiful songs on Home Thoughts, the stand out track was the hit single Gaye with its instantly memorable sing-along melody.