Poor James Saunders. If only fate had taken a different turn, he might be fighting off groupies. The managing director of 4mat, which designs websites for recruiters, might even be on tour with Acoustic Groove, the folk fusion five-piece he drummed for until July 1998.

Saunders listened to their eponymous album again at a recent get-together with friends in the Yorkshire Dales. "I think I can say now, objectively, that it wasn't as good as we thought it was," Saunders remarked, ruefully.

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