AND THE AWARD FOR THE BEST POP SONG
WITH A GRATUITOUS PETER LORRE REFERENCE
GOES TO ...

Again, the song wasn't the problem, here.  And it wasn't that Al Stewart was a hack.  Year of The Cat really isn't  a bad song.   The lyrics are a little pretentious, sure -- but Al Stewart's British, and this was the seventies.  This gets him a bit of license in the 'pretentious lyrics' department. 

It wasn't like it was a one-off shot, either.  He also had semi-hits with the songs Time Passages and (You're In My Mind) Song On The Radio, from his album after Year Of The Cat.  He has a pedigree, too (go to Allmusic and type in his name, I don't want to sit here and digest it all for you now, you're not a baby bird or nothin').

Several of the artists on this list fit into the category of gentle, soothing background music, at least as far as the AM singles I remember from this era go.  There were Seals and Crofts, Gary Wright, Gordon Lightfoot, many others I've forgotten because their songs were just so damned inoffensive they didn't make quite the same mark, either positively or negatively.  Of the Al Stewart songs mentioned in this mini-rant, in fact, I think I liked Time Passages about as well as any.  Year Of The Cat had a marginally harder edge, was less tarted-up, and frankly was pounded into my ear with much more energy, though.  It was also one of those songs that I heard on AM instead of FM, which is where I'm pretty sure I remember hearing Time Passages more.

And I like the line 'when the bus and the tourists are gone,' especially because of the way he pronounces the word 'tourists' with that hint of an accent.  Al Stewart has recorded some (possibly forgettable) work since the late seventies, but he has devoted much of his time to collecting wine.  I can dig that.