Yes he was a contender back in the day but went a bit off the deep end. I got his last album 'Vibrator' which was pretty naff really. Wonder what happened to him?
Edit : I did a bit of research and although he has gone a bit 'funny' he's still touring around Italy, where he now lives, with a band called nudge nudge and he's changed his name to Sananda Maitreya. I had a quick listen to his 2001 album Wildcard and it sounds pretty good ( I downloaded it tonight). There's various videos on youtube of him playing with his band and although his voice is as good as ever his electric guitar playing leaves a lot to be desired. With adecent band (and a decent guitar player) he could rip the charts apart he's that talented. But I think he's happy doing what he's doing and returning to the charts probably isn't his number one priority just now [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYH8Kiq6pjc&feature=related[/media]