Musician Rick Sharpe owes his worldwide fame to the thieves who stole his music.

But he has little else to thank them for, having never been paid a penny despite selling thousands of copies of his album Five Day Rain.

He is planning to recoup his losses by releasing the long-lost recording, which he says was pirated and sold around the world after the master tapes were stolen in the Sixties.

Rick Sharpe, 56, of Fort Road, Newhaven, wrote the album in 1969 while he was working with his band of the same name, but the record was never released.

Last year he found out that the master tapes had been turned into an album and had been on release for many years.

More than 50 websites are selling the album on the internet and it has been played on radio stations all over the world but Rick says he has never made any money from the recording.

After being approached by an Italian record company, which read about his plight on his website, Rick will at last officially release Five Day Rain.

Four extra backing tracks were recorded at the original sessions but never used. Rick has included them on the new recording.

He said: "As far as I know the master tapes were stolen when the studio closed down and were obviously copied and released and pirated. The studio was IBC in London, which at the time was one of the best in the world.

"I had been in a three-piece band but four of us came together for Five Day Rain and it was a one-off project. We only did about half-a-dozen gigs together.

"It was only last year that I put my name into the computer and the album came up. I couldn't believe it. It has probably been around for about 15 years and I had no idea. I contacted the Musicians' Union, which gave me legal advice, but they said it would cost thousands of pounds and it would be very difficult to track the person who pirated it, who I believe is someone in South America."

Artist John Hurford, who designed the original cover and was never paid for his work, has designed a new cover for the album, which will be released on Monday. It will include 14 tracks and a 12-page booklet on Rick's background and the story of the pirated album.

In September Rick will tour Italy with Five Day Rain's original backing vocalist Lynn Maitland and his daughter, also a singer. In the new year they will tour Japan and America.

Rick said: "I really was mortified when I found out the album had been pirated. I heard the sales were around 100,000 copies, so I think I have lost at least £100,000. I wrote and co-wrote all the songs as well as vocals and guitar.

"There were many sleepless nights thinking about how I was owed so much money. It was such a long time ago now I doubt I will get any back.

"But it is exciting to tour with the album and maybe I can get something back." Rick, who has been involved in several bands including Brighton-based Shine, has had success as a poet and has a novel out this year.

He is trying to trace other musicians who played on the album, mainly bassist Clive Shepherd, who he believes was last living in Lindfield, near Haywards Heath.

For more information on Rick Sharpe, visit www.silentstudios.org.uk