When 70s pop star Leo Sayer was requested to sing lead vocals on Suppose Loud – a brand new track aimed toward spreading the phrase about speech remedy for individuals dwelling with Parkinson’s – he was instantly on board.
Becoming a member of veteran rockers from Blondie, Dire Straits, Procul Harum, The Stranglers and The Intercourse Pistols underneath the title of Kindred Spirit, Suppose Loud is a foot-stomping, pop-rock track. Even Downton Abbey’s Elizabeth McGovern gives backing vocals.
Sayer hopes that the ten million+ individuals worldwide dwelling with Parkinson’s will be a part of him in singing alongside to this inspiring track.
SENIOR PLANET catches up with Sayer, 75, nonetheless beloved for his hit songs, You Make Me Really feel Like Dancing, The Present Should Go On and One Man Band.
Q: What you in spreading the phrase about Parkinson’s remedy?
LEO: UK rock supervisor Ian Grant – who I’ve recognized for greater than 55 years – requested me to assist out after he was recognized himself and located the remedy to be so useful. Suppose Loud is a tremendous program. I’ve additionally bought a lot of mates between the ages of 72 and 82 who are suffering from Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s – the 2 are fairly linked – and I assumed if I do that, I’m serving to these mates, in addition to individuals I don’t know, by spreading the phrase about this therapy. (Video is at backside of article.)
Q: You grew up within the UK. The place is dwelling now?
LEO: I moved to Australia in 2004. I wanted a change. Being in London simply jogged my memory of all of the rip offs and the way I’d been cheated out of a fortune by my outdated managers. Additionally it was the time of Britpop and folks didn’t actually wish to find out about an outdated fella like me, regardless that I used to be solely 55. However I had mates in Australia, and I discovered a supervisor who was eager to get me some gigs together with a bunch of musicians that I actually love.
Q: And also you and girlfriend Donatella made a brand new dwelling there?
LEO: Sure, it was a dream come true as a result of I all the time beloved Australia, this large broad open area. We stay within the Southern Highlands, in a bit of village of 450 individuals surrounded by fir timber and parrots. It’s an exquisite neighborhood midway between Sydney and Canberra. Everyone is aware of one another right here and it’s peaceable and I’ve bought an enormous barn the place I make my data subsequent door to our cottage.
Q: And also you and Donatella lastly tied the knot on April 15 – after nearly 40 years collectively?
LEO: It was an extended gestation interval! We’d come to a cheerful level, the place you say to your self: The place am I going? I’m completely satisfied right here. And I’m pleased with Donatella and our lives are intrinsically collectively. We simply by no means bought spherical to it. However final yr, we stated let’s do it. We did a personal wedding ceremony ceremony within the backyard, a celebrant and the most effective man got here from Sydney. About 40 mates got here joined us. It was Gerard Hugh Sayer getting married, not Leo. It was beautiful.
Q: You’re having a renaissance – first with Suppose Loud but in addition a US tour deliberate for October?
LEO: Sure, individuals nonetheless love the 70s music, it was a golden time. I did a number of dates within the US earlier this yr, and it was the primary time I’d performed the States since 1984. Once I left off, I used to be in my prime taking part in huge locations like Central Park and a racetrack in New Jersey to 180,000 individuals in 1978. I can’t wait to get again!
Over time I’ve bought 80 million albums around the globe and I nonetheless have an viewers. For me the US is unfinished enterprise – and for my audiences too who appear to need me to proceed the place I left off. Once I performed Chicago and Largo in March, audiences got here from as distant as Mexico and Canada.
Q: What’s your well being routine?
LEO: It’s all about considering optimistic. Mentally you need to use your mind to regulate your physique. All the things might be programmed by you – that’s what I consider. I’ve an irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s illness, so I’m cautious about what I eat so I don’t have butter or milk anymore – I’ve additionally thrown out espresso, which is unhealthy for you anyway. Now I drink peppermint tea. I don’t do an excessive amount of every day bodily work however every time I’m on stage. I run a number of miles anyway. Even when I’m not precisely a health club rat, I stroll day-after-day as a result of I’m all the time going to the submit workplace.
The opposite factor is 10 hours sleep at evening – at this age – is very necessary.
Q: What’s your best skilled accomplishment?
LEO: I feel it was the primary time I heard Roger Daltrey singing my track Giving it All Away on the radio 50 years in the past. Roger was a rock God on the time so it was an unimaginable sense of feat. Nearly nothing has been higher since you out of the blue realized that you just created one thing in a 3 minute track. I went, ‘Oh, my God, did I do this?’ And that meant, ‘Hold on. I might do this once more’. And once more, and many times. And that’s what I’ve achieved all my life. I’ve tried to create mini films in three minutes songs.
Q: And your best private achievement?
LEO: I feel it was conquering shyness after I was about 19 years outdated. Early on, I used to be terribly shy, and in the future I simply shook myself and stated, ‘You’re going to attempt to be assured’, and I did it. I began to consider in myself from that second.
The very important second is now – so stay in that bubble, in that middle – as a result of time means nothing until you possibly can management it from this second.
Q: What’s your secret to growing old with angle?
LEO: My secret to every part is the 20 Minute idea, and I attempt to stay throughout the current 20 minutes. I can’t change no matter occurred within the earlier 20 minutes and the following 20 minutes continues to be sooner or later. Dwell within the now. The very important second is now – so stay in that bubble, in that middle – as a result of time means nothing until you possibly can management it from this second. This is a very powerful second in your life – proper now!
In case you’re onstage at that second, get the most effective out of that second. Or should you’re visiting your dad and mom, that second is very necessary as a result of that is now! So say all of the belongings you wish to say to them, inform them how a lot you like anyone at that second, as a result of that second is valuable. It’s time in your management. That’s my large secret.
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Photograph: Prime and center: Kristian Dowling
Gill Pringle started her profession as a rock columnist for fashionable British newspapers, touring the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Transferring to Los Angeles 27 years in the past, she interviews movie and TV personalities for prestigious UK shops, The Unbiased, The i-paper and The Sunday Instances – and, in fact, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Selection Affiliation, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix household movie, The three Tails Film: A Mermaid Journey. An award-winning author, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Membership with 1st prize on the NAEJ Awards.
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