<P> The song `` Year of the Cat '' began as `` Foot of the Stage '' , a song written by Stewart in 1966 after seeing a performance by comedian Tony Hancock whose patter about `` being a complete loser '' who might as well `` end it all right here '' drew laughs from the audience : Stewart 's intuitive response that Hancock was in genuine despair led to the writing of `` Foot of the Stage '' . It was the melody for this never - recorded song which Stewart set the lyrics of `` Year of the Cat '' to in 1975 : pianist Peter Wood was given a co-writing credit on the song in recognition of his piano riff on the recorded track . </P>
<P> The song `` Year of the Cat '' began as `` Foot of the Stage '' , a song written by Stewart in 1966 after seeing a performance by comedian Tony Hancock whose patter about `` being a complete loser '' who might as well `` end it all right here '' drew laughs from the audience : Stewart 's intuitive response that Hancock was in genuine despair led to the writing of `` Foot of the Stage '' . It was the melody for this never - recorded song which Stewart set the lyrics of `` Year of the Cat '' to in 1975 : pianist Peter Wood was given a co-writing credit on the song in recognition of his piano riff on the recorded track . </P>
who played piano on year of the cat
who played piano on year of the cat
Peter Wood
Peter Wood