I first met David Sparks when he was touring with Gyan. I remember him pushing past me in the crowd as he made his way to the stage to play. I had always admired his guitar playing, and somehow I managed to get in touch with him and asked if he would join Crimes of Passion to replace our lead guitarist at the time, Steve Vizesi.

What David Sparks added to many of the songs is impossible to measure. He always seemed to know exactly what to play to lift a song to the next level. His guitar introduction to Hearts & Souls completely transformed that track, turning it into a brilliant pop song that was a long way from where it had started when we first began playing it.

David’s guitar solo on Absence of Love was another standout contribution. The song was rehearsed a few times and played live once at the Dee Why Hotel, where it was captured on cassette. When the song was eventually recorded many years later, Greg Pajar reproduced David’s solo verbatim because I simply could not imagine the song without it.

I would have loved to have David play on all the recordings of these songs given the huge contribution he made to them, but unfortunately I lost touch with him many years ago.