The first band I saw live were Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel in 1976 at the Grand Theatre in Leeds.

It was a superb show and made a big impression on me, cementing the group as one of my all-time favourites.

Playing keyboards that night was Leeds-born Duncan Mackay. In November 2015 I was able to go backstage after a Steve Harley concert in Manchester as part of a tour to mark the 40th anniversary of the band's Best Years Of Our Lives album.

Harley had reunited many of the origianl band members, including guitarist Jim Cregan, drummer Stuart Elliott and Duncan Mackay.

I was lucky enough to spend a few minutes chatting to Duncan, now 66, who has lived in South Africa for many years. I told him I was a fan of his 1976 solo album Score and he mentioned that it was due to be re-released. He came across as highly personable and seemed pleased that I knew Score so well.

I had lost my copy many years ago and so was delighted to receive a review CD from Retro Fresh, an imprint label (part of Fresh Music), which is dedicated to the preservation of classic South African pop and rock music from years gone by.

Mackay was still playing with Cockney Rebel when he recorded the album and, indeed, Steve Harley sings on the jazzy ballad Time Is No Healer and wrote the lyrics for two of the other tracks, both sung by prog rock giant John Wetton.

It was wonderful to hear Score again. It shows that Mackay was a hugely-talented musician, at home on grand piano or any number of other keyboards.

The album opens strongly with the edgy Witches, where Mackay is accompanied by none other than the might of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Other highlighhts include the romantic Spaghetti Smooch and the frantic Fugitive.

But the stand-out moment for me is the majestic title track, Score, which has a wonderful piano theme and a couple of amazing synthesiser moments when you marvel at the speed of Macaky's fingers on the keyboards. It's an anthemic and joyful track and it was a delight to hear it once again.

Fresh Music has also re-released Mackay's first solo album, Chimera, which orginally came out in 1974.

This lies firmly within the 'prog rock' domain and shows off Mackay's virtuosity to maximum effect.

It's a bit sprawing in places and lacks the tight focus of Score. There are four tracks (including a bonus track), the shortest of which is just over eight minutes.

As a big fan of Mackay's keyboard style I enjoyed it, although I won't play it as much as Score.

It was fascinating to hear 12 Tone Nostalgia, which is an earlier and 'proggier' version of Score (the track) and to find elements of Witches and Pillow Schmillow (both on the Score album) included on Chimera's Song For Witches.

Mackay, who later played in 10CC and Camel and appears on three Kate Bush albums, is still making music.

If you want to hear either of these albums they can be ordered from http://www.freshmusic.co.za/