Leo Sayer Recalls the Song His Father Threw Out the Window

Leo Sayer says his early love of music was shaped by both rebellion and discovery. In a music questionnaire, the singer recalled hearing Bob Dylan for the first time at about 16, after his cousin David introduced him to the songwriter. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” remains one of the best songs ever written in Sayer’s view, and he remembers Dylan’s music as a source of new ideas for young listeners. One of Sayer’s earliest record-buying memories came with a family disagreement. He bought Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire,” but when his father heard it, he called it “pagan music” and tossed the single out of the window. Sayer retrieved it from the bushes and took it to a friend’s house, where, he said, they played it all day. His father’s reaction only made the record seem more appealing to him. Sayer also shared a memorable karaoke story, though he says he dislikes karaoke. After the 2006 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, he sang Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with a group of models. He joked that their looks were the reason he joined in. Elsewhere in the conversation, he named “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers as an ideal morning song and “I Love Your Smile” by Shanice as a party choice. A concert memory carried a more emotional weight. Sayer was at the Lyceum in 1975 when Bob Marley and the Wailers performed the show that produced the live version of “No Woman, No Cry.” He said the audience was moved to tears. Sayer later toured with Marley and recalled that he had designed the sleeve for “Catch a Fire” while working as a graphic designer at Island Records. For his own funeral, he would choose Keith Jarrett’s recording of “Over the Rainbow.”