Talking Heads: November 1

Coming up on Talking Heads Peter Thompson’s guest is singer and Aussie citizen Leo Sayer.

Leo Sayer is of course known as a king of ‘70s and ‘80s pop, a big haired dynamo with global hits. Apparently one in six Australians owned his album Just A Boy at the time it went platinum. He confirms that Leo Sayer albums were among the items stolen from the late Princess Diana by her butler, Paul Burrell.

But as he also reveals, Leo is actually still legally (and emotionally) Gerard, just a small town boy.

“I was able to almost live a dual life at that time because with this kind of safety veneer I could actually hang out with all my rock and roll chums and be absolutely outrageous. Suddenly I was Mr Style, you know. Movie stars wanted to date me … Elton John used to pop round for a cup of tea … it was a weird world!”

‘Leo’ is such a dynamic and fun Talking Heads guest it’s almost difficult to imagine him otherwise, but his progression from shy boy living in a self-created dream world to worldwide pop star is clearly charted. Some of his best known songs, such as One Man Band are obviously semi-autobiographical.

“It’s very hard to handle. You end up on a street corner, stamping your foot and screaming ’cause the limo’s not pink and you ordered one. There’s a certain amount of instant petulance that comes out of the packet.”

A surprise is his love for Australia. He’d visited on 47 occasions by the time he became a citizen last year. The plan is to retire to Alice Springs.

“I’d always wanted to be here, right from the start it had been a dream.”

And as often occurs on Talking Heads, there’s an emotional charge at the end, as Gerard/Leo’s journey comes full circle…

It airs 6:30pm Monday November 1st on ABC1.