Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is a British-born singer-songwriter musician, and entertainer (now an Australian citizen and resident) whose singing career has spanned four decades.

Sayer launched his career in the UK in the early 1970s and became a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s.[3] His first seven hit singles in the United Kingdom all reached the Top 10 – a feat first registered by his first manager, Adam Faith.[3] His songs have been sung by other notable artists, including Cliff Richard's, "Dreamin'".

Contents

 * 1 Early life
 * 2 Career
 * 3 Personal life
 * 4 Discography
 * 4.1 Albums
 * 4.2 Singles
 * 5 Notes
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

Early life[edit]
Sayer was born to an Irish mother and English father in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England.[2] He was initially discovered by musician David Courtney, who then co-managed and co-produced him with former pop singer turned manager, Adam Faith.[2]

In January 1967, while 18-year old Sayer was working as a hall porter at the King's Hotel in Hove, he assisted in the rescue of guests from a fire that damaged the first floor of the hotel. He was rescued by builders working on a block of flats beside the hotel.[4]

Career[edit]
Sayer began his music career co-writing songs with David Courtney, including "Giving It All Away", which gave Roger Daltrey of The Who his first hit without The Who in 1973.[2] The same year, Sayer began his career as a recording artist under the management guidance of Adam Faith, who signed Sayer to the Chrysalis label in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the USA. His debut single ""Why Is Everybody Going Home" failed to chart, but he shot to national prominence in the UK with his second single, the plaintive music hall-styled song "The Show Must Go On", which Sayer memorably performed on British television wearing a pierrot costume and make-up. The single went quickly to #2 on the UK chart,[2] as did his debut album Silverbird, for which Sayer wrote nine of the eleven tracks; the other two tracks were co-written with Courtney, who co-produced the album with Adam Faith.

His subsequent singles were all major UK hits - "One Man Band" went to #6 in 1974; "Long Tall Glasses" (UK #4, 1974) became his first US Top Ten hit, reaching #9, and "Moonlighting" went to #2 in the UK in 1975. In 1976, Sayer recorded three Beatles songs, "I Am the Walrus", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" for the Beatles-themed concept film, All This and World War II. His albums in this period were also consistently successful in the UK, and he scored five consecutive Top 10 placings on the UK album chart between 1973 and 1977. He also became successful as an album artist in the USA, beginning with his second LP Just A Boy (1974), which reached #16. His fourth album Endless Flight (1976) consolidated his international popularity, reaching #4 in the UK and #10 in the USA; it also charted strongly in other countries including Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and was certified as a platinum album in both the UK and the USA, and double-platinum in Canada.

The peak of his career came in 1977, when he scored two consecutive US number one hits, first with the disco-styled "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (a Grammy Award winner for the year's best Rhythm and Blues Song), followed by the romantic ballad, "When I Need You" (1977), which reached number one in both the UK and US. Written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager, it was Sayer's first UK #1 single (after three number two hits).[5] It was also the first of two UK chart-toppers in a row for producer Richard Perry.[5] In 1979 the compilation album The Very Best of Leo Sayer became Sayer's first UK #1 LP and his seventh consecutive UK Top 20 album — although curiously, despite his strong popularity in the USA, it failed to chart there at all.

Sayer performing on Dutch television in 1974

Sayer also made cover versions of Bobby Vee's Sonny Curtis/Jerry Allison composition, "More Than I Can Say" (his fourth UK #2 hit and US #2), and Buddy Holly's "Raining in My Heart" (1979) and "Orchard Road" in 1983. In the US, three of his singles - "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (1977), "When I Need You" (1977) and "More Than I Can Say" (1980) - were certified gold.[citation needed]

Sayer provided songs for the soundtrack of the French-Belgian animated film, The Missing Link (Le Chainon manquant]]'') in 1980. In 1981 he was the voice of Dan the forest ranger inThe Raccoons on Ice, the second of four specials serving as a predecessor to the Canadian animated series The Raccoons. He also sang several songs for the special, all of which were included on the 1983 album Lake Freeze.''

In 1990, he contributed to the last studio collaboration between Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, Woolfson's solo album Freudiana, performing "I Am A Mirror".[6]

Sayer performed at the Sanremo Music Festival in 1990, with "The Moth And The Flame" (English version of "Tu... sì" by Mango) and, in 1991, with "All Alone" (English version of "Dubbi No" by Mietta).

After a decade of solid success, Sayer's career suffered repeated setbacks due to a series of financial and legal problems. When Sayer and his first wife Janice divorced in 1985, he discovered that Adam Faith had badly mishandled his business affairs and that much of the millions of pounds he had earned over the previous decade had been lost through Faith's questionable investments and business expenses. Sayer sued Faith for mismanagement; and the case was eventually settled out of court in 1992, with Sayer receiving a reported payout of £650,000. In the early 1990s his career stalled again while he fought a protracted but ultimately successful legal battle against his former label, Chrysalis, to regain the publishing rights to his songs. In 1996 Sayer was forced to sue his new management after he discovered that his pension fund had allegedly been mismanaged to the tune of some £1m. Unfortunately, despite spending more than £90,000 in legal fees, the case never made it to court and Sayer was forced to abandon it when he ran out of funds.[7]

On 12 February 2006, he made a surprise return to number one in the UK Singles Chart, with Meck's remix of "Thunder In My Heart". It was his first appearance in the UK Top 10 for almost 24 years, and his second UK chart-topper, almost three decades after his first.[citation needed] Leo Sayer: At His Very Best, a career-spanning compilation album, was released in the UK on 6 March 2006. It featured the Meck single, alongside "When I Need You" and "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing".[8] In 2008, Sayer released a new album in Australia, Don't Wait Until Tomorrow. This album, produced by Garth Porter (from the Australian pop bandSherbet), and released by Universal Music Australia, featured selections from his catalog in an entirely new setting, re-arranged with strings and acoustic and jazz instrumentation.[citation needed]

In January 2009, Sayer became an Australian citizen, having lived in Sydney, New South Wales since 2005.[9]

Sayer has appeared in various TV shows including The Muppet Show (1978's Episode 3.02 on which he sang "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", "The Show Must Go On", and "When I Need You"); The Wiggles2008 DVD, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, which featured Sayer's hit of the same name; Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2007; and the Australian television comedy, Stupid, Stupid Man. In the episode "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" of the television series The Simpsons, a character mentions Sayer as being another singer he likes, after Elvis Presley.

In January 2015, Sayer released his latest album, Restless Years,[10] and toured from Perth across many places in Australia to Singapore, with various support acts including Jason Ayres.[11]

Personal life[edit]
Sayer married his wife Janice in 1973 and they remained married until their divorce in 1985.[12] He then had a relationship with Italian-born Donatella Piccinetti, with whom he moved to live in Australia,[13] but they split in 2007.[14] He became an Australian citizen at the Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony in Canberra in 2009.[15]

Albums[edit]

 * - Australia release only

Notes[edit]

 * Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955–2002 - Billboard/Record Research