In 1988 I thought I would never make another record or stand on a concert stage again. I started writing a youth page in Britain's biggest selling Christian publication, The Universe. I had my first radio show on BBC's Radio London, to be followed by shows on various other stations. I got involved in my local church and started taking kids from single parent families on outings, regularly visited youth groups, and started up a youth prayer group. I also frequently went into schools to give talks at this time, and so got quite used to speaking to large audiences, as a contrast to my previous experience of singing to crowds, and once or twice a year I organised young people's pilgrimages into Europe. After a while, with the prayer group, we started to travel to different parts of the country once a month to hold youth days.

Through the radio shows I got introduced to Contemporary Christian Music. Although much of it in '88 was rather poor compared to music in the mainstream, it was at least related to modern culture as opposed to the old fashioned folk and organ music I was used to hearing in a Catholic church. On GWR Fm I played the very first Christian rap and dance records that came out, and every Sunday, counted down an "Inspirational Dance Chart" which I compiled. I believe it was the first of it's kind in Britain. Many years later, on London's Christian station Premier Radio, I was able to broadcast national Christian sales charts for the first time. Doing the radio also introduced me to the variety of initiatives coming from different kinds of churches, as they all sent in their events to be publicised.

Working closely with the young people, I observed one thing that maybe I should have known all along – nothing gets through to them like music. Music doesn't appeal first to the intellect, it needs no explanation – it straight away speaks to the heart and maybe even the soul. I observed on youth camps in Europe how the most enjoyable times would be when they gathered around a campfire to sing songs by The Beatles or Simon and Garfunkel, and even if they all spoke different languages, they somehow bonded together at those times. It seemed to me a pity that even in a Christian youth gathering, Jesus was not part of these most important times. I thought if I could write songs good enough to get into the charts, then I should be able to write songs just as appealing about Jesus. They would be songs which could be sung with just an acoustic guitar, maybe even around a campfire! By 1990 I had written the songs which ended up as my first Christian album, Look at Christ.

I actually did once see my original vision realised, in France, when having played for a youth festival, they asked me to join them around a campfire, and we sang together all my choruses again in french!

the in between years...