He's touring Australia. He's back this bloke. I was traveling and a.
Road felling hungry, and corners are signs food and drinks for everyone, so naturally I thought I would take me a log sun.
I don't know which songs he's going to choose for the set list, because there's about a million of them that we love. Leo Sayer, pop legend englishman turned Australian, joins us on the show. Now, hello mate, how are you?
How are you doing? Bowie? Everything good?
Good?
Yeah?
What about you?
Yeah? Not bad, not bad. I'm over in New South Wales and would you believe it? Just about to go over and tour the UK before I come, So I'm doing to warm up over there, you know, before we do the important gigs.
He's still got that funny accent. Mate, Hey, I actually do you know?
But if I go to England they all say, I'll stand Australian. So how do you win?
I was singing about you, and often artists when they reach a certain each and with such a big back catalog, sometimes you can be made a night. You could if you hadn't gone Australian, you could be surly by now.
Oh, look, if I'd have spent my time doing charity work and all that sort of stuff, probably, you know, but look, I'm happy to be judged by my music rather than my actions. You know. But it looks if you have a long career, there's always going to be moments when you have fantastics. But I mean, I met the Queen about Elizabeth so many times, and then the last time I saw it, I said, oh, nice to meet you. Your Majesty said no, you don't have to
call me your manjesty because we know each other. We're friends.
How good isn't that nice?
He was an amazing lady. So you know, you get these incredible experiences. They come with the job and you just absorbed them. You know. If I was to be knighted, I'd be Oh, I'd be the proudest Englishman. But I think I'm even more out to be an Australian. So let's have an oam first. I think.
My chick bugger, hey mate, when you when you look back at we often I'm a bit younger than you. But on a countdown kid, right, So we talk about the Countdown era, how influential it was, how it shaked down, musical tastes. How important it was. The show itself gave you a massive platform in this country, didn't it, And that all those film clips and that's it was a big part of Australian history, and you're a big part of Australian music history because of it.
No, that's beautiful. I when I came over in nineteen seventy five on the first tour, I didn't know who Molly Meldon was. Yeah. Yeah, and this bloke is very unusual. Bloke stepped on the plane as we arrived in Melbourne and they sort of shimmied me off the plane, which was a bit peculiar. I thought, what have I done?
And I get arrested and it was him. And there was a car on the tarmac, and we straightened at the car and there's a camera crew, you know, on the front seat, and those days massively bulky cameras as well. So this guy's leaning over and Molly's started asking me questions. I'm thinking, okay, this is it. We were going live on the way to the studio way and all I was worried about was my wife was stuck behind me
somewhere still on the plane. And I've been ferreted away and that was my introduction to Countdown straight to the studio, straight on air, and the backing track was already playing for me to go and sing. And I'm not thinking I didn't even have a chance to see Melbourne yet.
Isn't that amazing? It's amazing it was. But it was like that.
I mean, I loved the way that they made shows because everything was they just thought of an idea, they felt it and they did it, you know. And there were plenty of shows that tried to do that again after but they never quite succeeded with that vibe, did they. And that was all about Molly.
Yeah. I don't know if you remember this, mate, but there was a video made by ac DC in the back of a flat big truck gets a lot.
Oh. I love that, Love that. That's one of the great ones all time.
It's fifty years old this week and they're looking to remake it. They're looking to redo it. Melbourne City I call that.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
And they did create those moments, didn't it? In our history and what we got I always felt even towards you. Now, I feel like I know you because you did host Countdown on your as well as your songs. I mean, and I'll ask you about your voice in a minute, but the songs and the act, it felt like we knew you as a bloke.
Well yeah, Molly actually asked me the two hundredth show in England and we did it over there. He went turtle And so I'm kind of famed for the guy in the noctop of the Bond, but I love Bond. I mean, I didn't mean to do it. It was just that he was in the shot. You know.
Yeah, he's from he's from this town, made he's from the city.
And I know he's a lovely boy and he's.
Got a statue in down on Frio.
He was very he was a very fun guy. He cracks such amazing jokes. He was like he could have done stand up. I reckon.
Heyleo. Why now? And what's in the song is how you're putting it together?
Oh look, there's everything in there. We don't have a support act. I do the whole show. It's structured to really take you on a journey through all the songs and all the career. It's there's there's so much contrasting music in there, which I'm very proud of you know. There's ballads, and there's story songs, and there's dance songs, and there's rock songs. So everything's in there, you know, And and it kind of like the lyrics take over the narrative of the of the tale as it were,
you know. And I think that that's that's something that I do that is very different to other people, you know, and it makes the show, you know. So I'm on stage for about an hour and three quarters and yeah, and it's cutting everything in is a tricky one, but we managed to.
Yeah, yeah, you and I'll let you suggest the song we can go out with.
Well, here's the thing. I mean, I do the same show in England exactly as I do in Australia.
Okay, so that's a unique.
Thing that you know, my career has meant the same in both places and the same hits.
Yeah, mate, you had you had a unique voice. You could do the low register stuff. You've got a great raspy rock voice. If you need it, you can do the I was going to say, can you still can you still do the falsetto?
Yeah? Just about I can't And you make me fillow dance and I can't keep going the whole song. I break off on after a while, but it's still there. And there are other songs where the falsetto is in. Yeah, yeah, you're there.
So the pipes are holding up. That's good, mate, pipes.
Are holding up, the hair is still on. It's all good.
Where you are playing. It's just a natural that I'll call you mate. I don't don't know why that is, but I hope that's gone.
Mate.
I am a mate first as straying too. Since nineteen, I've already had a couple.
I'm talking to my mate Bowie.
Okay, everywhere your mate, Mandra Thursday September eleventh of the Impact and playing at the Astor on Friday September twelfth. They're both riper venues. Why should people come along.
That because they're going to see something very special that's timeless. I think, yeah, it's not just me, I mean all of us guys from our era. The music we made was very special. We didn't have mobile phones or social media or anything like that. We were able to spend a lot of time concentrating on creating these songs, you know, because nobody disturbed us, which was wonderful. There was nothing to sidetrack us or take our attention away. These days,
it's not so easy. So I think it's we're echoing a fantastic time in life, in our lives, you know, And a lot of people come along because they'll say, oh, that's a special song or Tide Road, you know, that's the song we got married to. So it's nostalgia as well, you know.
Nice to know, you know, when you look back. Nice to know that good songs hold up when you play live now, mate, when you play live now, what are there any that you kind of have you reworked a bit or you feel differently about them or yeah, were quite.
A few of them actually, yeah, because you know, for songs fifty years old, you can't do it exactly the same as the record. And also I think that that's an additive in the concert if you kind of can adapt the songs. I mean, some people take it too fast, Moose. People criticize Bob Dylan because he's not doing it exactly the same. But some of his songs are seventy years old, you know, so what do you expect him to do? So?
But we do adapt them, and we and you know, some of the songs we brought something new to like reiining in my heart I do, and it's a big harmonica and guitar duet in that. You know, we kind of play off each other and that becomes a feature in itself, and we play with the rhythm of that and play with the speed of it, and it becomes a bit of a showstopper, you know, in a way.
Yeah, yeah, really nice to talk to you. I think a lot of people listening to are my age or maybe a bit older, who who remember you fondly and always love not only the music but your personality. So it'd be nice to see you here. See you in ziptimper mate, good man, Thank you for chatting.
To us, No really looking forward to us.
Can we be fab all right? All right, cheers buddy, see your man now. All the best, Leo Sayer.