It seems impossible to imagine now a time when Pete Ham and the beautiful music he created, wouldn't have been an integral part of my life.

I must admit that I wasn't drawn to Badfinger by hearing their music, it was actually from reading an article on them, It appeared in a publication called Beatles Unlimited and was written by a man called John Curly. John had written such a compelling pen-picture of Pete and his group that I just had to find out more. I had no idea at that time (1981) that the man who came across so strongly in the article, was born no more than a few miles from my own home.

I remember buying Badfinger's three Apple singles in one-fell-swoop from our local HMV shop here. These three singles knocked my socks off; especially the outstanding Pete Ham composition, Day After Day, which now stands as my favourite song of all time, by anybody, anywhere...

Getting into Pete and Badfinger began a great adventure for me. I actually started to edit a fanzine in the mid-eighties. Orders came from as far away as Canada, USA, Japan, Central Europe. The group clearly had a universal appeal.

Pete is for me, the quintessential Singer/Songwriter A purist musical man who lived his lyrics and wrote much in the way an artist paints - with each brush stroke wrenched from his body. Pete felt his own pain and wrote therapeutically. The results sound as powerful now; as they must have when they were first penned. Perhaps even more so when set in context with his untimely death.

Like all quality song-writing, it will stand the test of time. For me, songs like Name of the Game, Know One Knows, Walk Out in the Rain, Lonely You, Dennis and of course, Day After Day are outstanding examples of Twentieth Century Pop composing. They will still be around when the shallow, facile, make-a-quick-buck offerings of Steps, Boyzone and their contemporaries are long forgotten. Not for nothing are groups like Oasis, Blur and The Super Furry Animals giving overdue credit to Pete and Badfinger as an influence on their music and songwriting.

And he's a sterling influence on my own composing too.

I don't regret never having met Peter, as some fans have said they do. His influence on my life is the legacy of his brilliant music. I'm grateful for that, I wouldn't want anything else. Other than to say...well, thanks.

Thanks Pete.