Al Stewart – Year of the Cat (1976):  Al Stewart is still another British musician who had a long career in his home country with only occasional, though definitely memorable appearances on the U.S. music charts.  Originally part of the underground folk movement in England, Al Stewart released growingly impressive singles and albums for a decade or so before striking gold with “Year of the Cat”, a lush narrative about a romantic adventure in a foreign land that has long instrumental passages.  Despite its length – at 6:40, “Year of the Cat” is even longer than Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen – “Year of the Cat” was a hit song around the world, reaching #8 on the charts in America, though largely overlooked in his home country.  Interestingly, there is no “year of the cat” among the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac; but there is a “year of the cat” in the Vietnamese zodiac, corresponding to the year of the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac, and the song “Year of the Cat” was evidently composed during the then-most recent year of the rabbit/cat.  The album Year of the Cat, the seventh album by Al Stewart, was also a major hit, reaching the Top 5 in the U.S. and spawning a second charting single, “On the Border”.  The other songs are filled with the same style of storytelling and imagery and the same air of mystery as the title song.  Al Stewart’s follow-up album, Time Passages (1977) was also a major hit, with its title song “Time Passages” peaking at #7 on the Billboard singles chart.