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Memories of Leo Sayer's Glasgow gigs as star prepares for 50th anniversary tour

Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer

IF THE mere mention of his name is enough to make you break into disco moves and a rendition of You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, you will be happy to hear Leo Sayer is coming back to Glasgow.

The successful singer – one of the biggest British artists of all time – is embarking upon a mammoth tour this autumn to celebrate his 50 years in the business.

Glasgow Times: Leo Sayer Pic: Kristian Dowling
Glasgow Times: Leo Sayer Pic: Kristian Dowling

It has been a while since the man responsible for hits like Thunder in My Heart, One Man Band and When I Need You, came to the city.

He first appeared at the Apollo in 1973, supporting Roxy Music, and he was back the following year with his own headline show. He returned every year after that until the late 70s – in 1979, he was in the city twice to perform, in October and for his ‘New New Year Show’ at the Apollo in January.

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The Evening Times reported, however, that some fans were up in arms.

“Angry fans paid out £1 for programmes at the Apollo shows – and later found they were for a concert last year,” explained the newspaper, with one young fan raging: “I had saved up for the concert and when I brought a programme for a pound and found it was for an old concert I was mad.”

The offending items were for a charity concert at the London Palladium last November.

The Apollo was quick to step in however, and offered all fans given the wrong programmes a full refund.

Over his five decades in showbiz, Leo has racked up millions of album sales, transatlantic No.1 singles (as well as numerous GRAMMY and BASCA awards) and is currently racing to the top of the dance charts with a new Armand van Helden re-working of his 2006 UK No.1 single with Meck, Thunder In My Heart Again.

His army of hit singles include The Show Must Go On, Moonlighting, How Much Love and I Can’t Stop Loving You.

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Born Gerard Hugh Sayer in 1948, Leo’s first seven hit singles in the United Kingdom all reached the Top 10.

He appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2007.

During the lockdown period while Leo was at home in Australia he kept busy, recording and releasing new singles - My City In Lockdown and How Did We Get Here? - as well as collaborating on the tribute single to his friend and late guitarist, Al Hodge, by recording Al’s classic track Tradewinds.

Glasgow Times: Leo Sayer
Glasgow Times: Leo Sayer

He also found time to self-produce a new album - Northern Songs, his own take on songs written and composed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, which is out now on CD and vinyl.

Leo will be in Glasgow at the Royal Concert Hall for the penultimate night of his tour, on November 11, 2022 (Visit leosayer.com for tickets, which are available now.)