I've now listened to quite a lot of Capstick - reviews to follow. I'll say now, some of his recorded work is just stunning. Al referred to the ability to use his voice almost like a piece of percussion - a meticulous rhythm pattern, which is dead on: some of Capstick's unaccompanied songs were really extraordinary.

There's one thing that's been bothering me. I gather from what I've read that Tony Capstick had a drink problem - and that to all intents and purposes it was what killed him. (To take one example, the Radio Sheffield 40th birthday Web pages are full of memories of Capstick, and a couple of people talk about how he was a man with an illness - I'm assuming that's what they're talking about.) The question that's bothering me - and I mean no disrespect to the man's memory by raising this - is how far it went back. His albums are dotted with booze references - he's holding a pint pot on the cover of two of them - but that doesn't necessarily mean anything; folk's full of booze references, after all. So I'm wondering: back when he was gigging and recording (early 70s to mid-80s(?)), was Capstick a man with a problem or just a man who liked his ale?

(I do want to stress that I don't mean any disrespect to the man or his memory, & I apologise to anyone who finds this something they'd rather not be reminded of.)