Richard Ashcroft psychedelic music and drugs. They also became a part of the Britpop movement. The band split in 1995, and around this time Ashcroft wrote a collection of songs he intended to release as his first solo album. However, by 1997 he had changed his mind and asked McCabe to return (alongside new member Tong), reforming The Verve and releasing the very successful album "Urban Hymns". Ashcroft was at the forefront of the band's popularity, receiving an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting and being referred to by the press as "the unmistakable face of the Number One rock band in
Johnny Ashcroft of an airline sick-bag. It became the Salvation Army’s 1975 Red Shield Appeal Song. The ‘Sallys’ then became widely known as the ‘Salvos’. It's probable no other Australian country artist appeared on Top 40 Charts as frequently as Ashcroft. Ashcroft also wrote Australia's first female trucking song, "My Home-Coming Trucker’s Coming Home", recorded by Gay Kayler. It became a country hit, which was also programmed into general airplay. His 1978 "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" LP, included a faithful cover-reproduction of Fredrick McCubbin’s 1889 painting, "Down On His Luck". In another departure from modern country music, Ashcroft appeared on