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Artist:

Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer

Born:
May 21, 1948 in Shoreham-on-Sea

Representative Songs:

"When I Need You," "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," "More Than I Can Say"

Representative Albums:

The Very Best of Leo Sayer, Just a Boy, Endless Flight

Similar Artists:

English Rose, Sarstedt Brothers, Curtiss & Maldoon, Nigel Olsson, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Michael d'Abo, Laurie Styvers, Brian Protheroe, Mike Hurst, Andrew Gold, Ray Fenwick, Lesley Duncan, Graeme Edge, Al Stewart, Cat Stevens

Influences:

Bobby Vee, Elton John, Buddy Holly, The Beatles

Performed Songs By:

John Vastano, Alan Tarney, Vini Poncia, Frank Farrell, Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant, Jerry Allison, Barry Gibb, Tom Snow, Barry Mann, Albert Hammond, Robin Gibb, David Courtney, Carole Bayer Sager, Paul McCartney, John Lennon

Worked With:

Lee Ritenour, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather, Russ Ballard, James Newton Howard
  • Genre: Rock
  • Active: '70s, '80s, '90s
  • Instruments: Vocals, Harmonica, Guitar

Biography

Leo Sayer (born Gerard Sayer) had a string of highly polished mainstream pop hits in the late '70s. Sayer began his musical career as the leader of the London-based Terraplane Blues Band in the late '60s. He formed Patches with drummer Dave Courtney in 1971; Courtney used to play with British pop star Adam Faith. Faith was beginning a management career in the early '70s, so Courtney brought Patches to his former employer in hopes of securing a contract. Patches failed to impress Faith, yet he liked Sayer and chose to promote him as a solo artist. Sayer began recording some solo material written with David Courtney at Roger Daltrey's studio; the Who's lead singer liked the Sayer/Courtney originals enough to record a handful himself, including the hit "Giving It All Away." Sayer's debut single, "Why Is Everybody Going Home," failed to make any impact, yet 1973's "The Show Must Go On" hit number one in the U.K.; a cover by Three Dog Night stopped Sayer's version from charting in the U.S. The following year he released his first album, Silver Bird.

Silver Bird was followed quickly by Just a Boy, which included two more British hit singles, "One Man Band" and "Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)"; "Long Tall Glasses" managed to break Sayer into the American Top Ten in early 1975. Sayer's working relationship with Courtney was severed during the recording of his third album, Another Year (1975). The following year, he released Endless Flight, which was co-written with former Supertramp member Frank Furrell; featuring the number one singles "You Make Me Feel like Dancing" and "When I Need You," the record became his biggest hit in both the U.S. and the U.K., selling over a million copies in America. Following Endless Flight, Sayer became a fixture in the American Top 40, yet his hits began to dry up in England.

Sayer began the '80s with the American number two hit, "More Than I Can Say," yet it was his last big single in the U.S. His last chart entry in America was the early 1981 hit "Living in a Fantasy"; the U.K. hits didn't stop until 1983, after "Till You Come Back to Me" scraped the charts. After laying low for the rest of the decade, he attempted a comeback in 1990 with Cool Touch, yet it fell on deaf ears. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
 
 
Wikipedia: Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Replace_this_image1.svg
Background information
Birth name Gerard Hugh Sayer
Born 21 May 1948 (1948--) (age 59)
Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England
Genre(s) Pop
Instrument(s) Singer
Guitar
Harmonica
Years active 1973–present
Website http://www.leosayer.com/

Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer on 21 May 1948 in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex) is an English performing artist, now based in Australia, whose singing career has spanned four decades.

Life and career

Sayer has had success with his single and album releases, in both the UK and the U.S. He was initially discovered by David Courtney, who co-managed him with the singer-turned-manager, Adam Faith. 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 as a soloist in 1973.

That same year, Sayer began his career as a recording artist. At the time of his initial chart breakthrough in Britain, with his debut hit "The Show Must Go On," he wore a pierrot style outfit and make-up. He dropped it soon afterwards, and his now distinctive curly hair is widely recognizable, often leading others to physically compare Sayer to fitness guru, Richard Simmons.[citation needed] The name Leo was given him by Courtney, inspired by the star sign and lion-like mane.[citation needed]

In 1976, Sayer recorded three Beatles songs, "I Am the Walrus," "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" for the ill advised and ill-fated documentary, All This and World War II.[citation needed]

His subsequent hits included, "Long Tall Glasses" and "Orchard Road." In 1977, he had hits with "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (a U.S. number one), the romantic ballad, "When I Need You", which reached number one in both the UK and U.S. Sayer also had remakes of Bobby Vee's Sonny Curtis composition, "More Than I Can Say" (his fourth UK number 2 hit, and in the U.S., number 2 pop and number one in the adult contemporary chart), and Buddy Holly's "Raining In My Heart". In the U.S., three of his singles - "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," "When I Need You," and "More Than I Can Say" - were certified gold.

Sayer made an appearance on The Muppet Show during the third season (second show) on which he sang "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" and "When I Need You."

He also provided the soundtrack for the English language version of the French-Belgian animated film, The Missing Link (1980).[citation needed]

In 1990, he contributed to the last recording studio collaboration between Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, the album Freudiana, performing "I Am A Mirror".[citation needed]

In 2000, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" was featured in the hit film, Charlie's Angels, and was on the accompanying soundtrack album.

Sayer's debut UK hit, "The Show Must Go On," was covered by Three Dog Night for the U.S. market and reached Number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974. Phil Collins covered Sayer's song "I Can't Stop Loving You" for his 2002 album, Testify. It reached number one on the U.S. adult contemporary chart.

In 2005, Sayer moved to Sydney, Australia, where he remains based to this day. On 12 February 2006, made a surprise return to number one in the UK Singles Chart, with Meck's remix of "Thunder In My Heart." He has also appeared in the Australian comedy, Stupid, Stupid Man.

Leo Sayer: At His Very Best, a career spanning compilation album, was released in the UK on 6 March, 2006. It exclusively features the Meck single, alongside Sayer classics such as, "When I Need You" and "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing".

A 'Leo Sayer' is cockney rhyming slang for 'all-dayer", or an all-day drinking session.[citation needed]

He is allegedly set to release a new single called 'Happy Hour' some time in the future.

Celebrity Big Brother 5

Sayer was the fifth person to join the Celebrity Big Brother UK house at the start of the series.

When Jade Goody arrived on Day 3, the House was divided into two groups as part of a task, (the 'masters' and the 'servants'), with Sayer entering the servants' quarters. He participated as a night butler, but eventually rebelled and pretended to be a mute, annoyed over a comment made by Dirk Benedict, suggesting that he always talks over people. However, he eventually relented and began talking to his fellow servants again, but continued his ridiculous miming antics in front of the masters and the Big Brother until the task ended.

Sayer was nominated for eviction, along with fellow housemates Dirk Benedict and Carole Malone, with Sayer and Malone being joint favourites to leave the House. Howevever, Sayer quit on the day of the second eviction and Presenter Davina McCall revealed that at the time of his departure, he had the biggest percentage in the public vote and would have been leaving that evening anyway.[1]

Sayer walked out of the Big Brother house on January 12, the same day he was due to face eviction.[2] He broke an outside door with a broomstick, made his way to the outer compound and then tussled with the security guards who were the obstacle between him and freedom, issuing a tirade of abuse in the process.[3] Apparently, his decision to leave was mainly due to Big Brother refusing to provide him with clean underwear.[4]

Personal life

Sayer had a 22 year personal relationship with his manager, Donatella Piccinetti. The couple had an “open” relationship, with Piccinetti claiming in the press she had a sexual relationship with fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant Donny Tourette after his eviction from the show. The couple split in March 2007 after 22 years.[5].

Discography

Albums

Singles

  • "The Show Must Go On" - 1973 - UK #2 (U.S. #4 in 1974 for Three Dog Night)
  • "One Man Band" - 1974 - UK #6 / U.S. #96 (1975 release)
  • "Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)" - 1974 - UK #4 / U.S. #9 (1975 release)
  • "Moonlighting" - 1975 - UK #2
  • "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" - 1976 - UK #2 / U.S. #1
  • "When I Need You" - 1977 - UK & U.S. #1
  • "How Much Love" - 1977 - UK #10 / U.S. #17
  • "Thunder in My Heart" - 1977 - UK #22 / U.S. #38
  • "Easy To Love" - 1977 - U.S. #36
  • "I Can't Stop Lovin' You (Though I Try)" - 1978 - UK #6
  • "Raining in My Heart" - 1978 - UK #21, U.S. # 47
  • "More Than I Can Say" - 1980 - UK #2, U.S. #2
  • "Living in a Fantasy" - 1981 - U.S. # 23
  • "Have You Ever Been in Love" - 1982 - UK #10
  • "Heart (Stop Beating in Time)" - 1982 - UK #22
  • "Orchard Road" - 1983 - UK #16
  • "Till You Come Back To Me" - 1983 - UK #51
  • "Sea Of Heartbreak" - 1984 - UK #84
  • "Unchained Melody" - 1986 - UK #54
  • "I will fight for you" - 1992 - Germany
  • "When I Need You" (re-issue) - 1993 - UK #65
  • "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" - The Groove Generation featuring Leo Sayer 1998 - UK #32
  • "Thunder in My Heart Again" - Meck featuring Leo Sayer - 2006 - UK #1; Australia #16

See also

  • Bedford Hotel (Brighton) — where Sayer, working as a lift operator, is said to have saved guests from a fire in 1964.

References

  • Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
  • The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
  • Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
  • Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2002 - Billboard Magazine/Record Research
  1. ^ Free-o Sayer may get his wish The Sun Online, 2007-01-12
  2. ^ Leo Sayer quits Big Brother house
  3. ^ Leo's escape in more detail
  4. ^ Leo walks out on Celeb BB
  5. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007120460,00.html

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

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Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Leo Sayer".  Read more

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