WLD - don't get your underthings in a twist... at the time of TRB I was too busy enjoying punk to get that excited by a bunch of retro rockers. The only thing that gave them an edge were Tom's politics and out-and-proud sexuality. In retrospect, 'Rising Free' wasn't too bad (though very one dimensional - hence the 'two tunes' crack) but they certainly didn't have another halfway decent album in them. The 'War Babies' comeback was anodyne and MOR and not a patch on Tom's two crowning moments - and I agree with you here, you'll be dismayed to know -'Glad to Be Gay' and 'Martin'...

Anyway - apart from GTBG, which was way too radical for the Beeb (lyrically if not musically) - he didn't exactly suffer from underexposure - you couldn't move for hearing 'Motorway' on the radio when it came out. And there can't be many hard feelings given that he works for 'em now!

If you want a quintessentially English songwriter from that period, you could do a lot worse than Paul Weller: 'Down in the Tube Station', 'Eton Rifles', 'When You're Young, 'Town Called Malice' just for starters. What a brilliant wordsmith the man was...

Dunno why Oasis always get brought up in these discussions. Noel Gallagher used to be able to knock out a very sinagable tune, but by his own admission he was a crap lyricist.

Cheers

Nigel