42-629: The Arts Lab was an alternative arts centre, founded in 1967 by Jim Haynes at 182 Drury Lane , London. Although only active for two years, it was influential in inspiring many similar centres in the UK, continental Europe and Australia, including the expanded Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, the Milky Way/ Melkweg in Amsterdam (where Jack Henry Moore was one of the founders),
84-463: A block of flats beside the hotel. Sayer began his music career co-writing songs with David Courtney, including " Giving It All Away ", which gave Roger Daltrey of the Who his first solo hit in 1973. All but two of the songs on the album Daltrey were co-written by Sayer and Courtney. The same year, Sayer began his career as a recording artist under the management of Adam Faith , who signed Sayer to
126-462: A live album, Live in London , which was released in 1999. On 12 February 2006, Sayer made a return to number one in the UK singles chart, with DJ Meck 's remix of " Thunder In My Heart ". It was his first appearance in the Top 10 in the UK for almost 24 years, and his second chart-topper in the UK, almost three decades after his first. Leo Sayer: At His Very Best , a career spanning compilation album ,
168-462: A predecessor to the Canadian animated series The Raccoons . He also sang several songs for the special, all of which were included on the 1983 album Lake Freeze and the 1984 album The Raccoons: Let's Dance! In 1990, he contributed to the last studio collaboration between Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson , Woolfson's solo album Freudiana , performing "I Am A Mirror". Sayer performed at
210-707: A relationship with Donatella Piccinetti, with whom he moved to Australia; they separated briefly in 2007, but were reunited and ultimately married on 15 April 2023. Sayer resides in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. In January 2009, Sayer became an Australian citizen at the Australia Day citizenship ceremony in Canberra. In 2020, he became an ambassador for the Canberra Hospital Foundation. He still suffers from
252-668: A row in the UK for producer Richard Perry . Also from Endless Flight , Sayer covered the Danny O'Keefe song "Magdalena", which served as the B-side to the "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" single. In 1979, the compilation album The Very Best of Leo Sayer (originally released by Chrysalis in the UK and elsewhere, with its first release in the US in 2000 by Rhino Records with different cover art) became Sayer's first UK No. 1 album and his seventh consecutive UK Top 20 album. Sayer also guest-starred in
294-576: A top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in that decade. His first seven UK hit singles reached the Top 10 – a feat first accomplished by his first manager, Adam Faith . His songs have been sung by other notable artists, including Cliff Richard , Roger Daltrey and Three Dog Night . Sayer was born and brought up in Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex to Thomas E. G. Sayer and
336-654: The Chrysalis label in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States. His debut single, "Why Is Everybody Going Home", failed to chart, but he achieved national prominence in the UK with his second single, the music hall -styled song " The Show Must Go On ", which Sayer performed on British television wearing a pierrot costume and makeup. The single went to No. 2 on the UK singles chart , as
378-466: The Edinburgh Writer's Conference with John Calder and Sonia Orwell . In 1963 Haynes and Calder and Kenneth Tynan created an International Drama Conference which ended in a scandal, a nude young woman being involved in a happening . In 1966 Haynes relocated to London, in the middle of the " Swinging Sixties ". He became deeply involved in the underground cultural scene, co-founding
420-713: The Entrepôt in Paris and the Yellow House Artist Collective founded by Martin Sharp in Sydney . The Lab contained a 'soft floor' cinema in the basement designed and run by David Curtis. In the entrance there was a gallery space co-curated by Biddy Peppin (Curtis's partner) and Pamela Zoline . In a separate (but connected) warehouse was the theatre, designed by Jack Henry Moore, who initially co-directed
462-543: The Natural Theatre Company . The Worthing Workshop , an Arts Lab formed in 1968, included Leo Sayer , Brian James of The Damned , Billy Idol and Steamhammer , whose guitarist, Martin Quittenton , went on to co-write Rod Stewart 's UK number one hits " You Wear It Well " and " Maggie May ". Alan Moore , writer of comic books including Watchmen and V for Vendetta , regarded as "one of
SECTION 10
#1732783243564504-550: The Sanremo Music Festival in 1990, with "The Moth And The Flame" (English version of "Tu... sì" by Mango ) and, in 1991, with "All Alone" (English version of "Dubbi No" by Mietta ). After a decade of success, Sayer's career suffered repeated setbacks due to a series of financial and legal problems. When Sayer and his first wife Janice divorced in 1985, subsequent financial disclosure revealed Adam Faith had badly mishandled Sayer's business affairs and that much of
546-828: The Wet Dream Festival in Amsterdam. In 1988 he made an extended appearance on the British TV discussion programme After Dark alongside Andrea Dworkin , Anthony Burgess and others. In Paris, Haynes held a weekly open house dinner party beginning in 1978; at the time of his death he was estimated to have hosted over 130,000 to 150,000 people for the Sunday dinners. At Christmas 2009, Haynes and his open house parties were featured in British television advertisements for multinational foods company Nestlé : "When
588-820: The 1998 Vic and Bob game show Families at War (on which he performed "When I Need You" while given a piggyback by a contestant running on a treadmill); The Wiggles 2008 DVD, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing , which featured Sayer's hit of the same name; Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2007; and the Australian television comedy, Stupid, Stupid Man . In January 2015, Sayer released his album, Restless Years , and toured Australia and Singapore, with various support acts including Jason Ayres. Also in January 2015, he featured in Singapore's Leo Sayer in Concert – 40 Years at
630-525: The Arts Lab in the summer of 1968, writing for the Lab's newsletter, as well as making and screening his own films. The Havering Arts Lab, run by future Stuckism founder Charles Thomson (at the time aged 16) resulted in the headline "Sex Orgy Tale—Group Banned" in the local newspaper. The Bath Arts Workshop which was founded in 1969 by ex Drury Lane workers continues to this day (2014) as parent body for
672-591: The Arts Lab was founded in 2014 on Merseyside . In London, a New Arts Lab (also titled 'Institute for Research in Art and Technology') was founded by a breakaway group of original members and others, including the London Film-Makers' Co-op . Housed between 1969 and 1971 in a short-life factory building in Robert Street, London NW1, it contained a cinema run by David Curtis, theatre and gallery spaces,
714-565: The British 1950s-60s counterculture, beginning in Edinburgh, Scotland with the opening of The Paperback bookshop in 1959. He was also a co-founder of Edinburgh 's Traverse Theatre , The Howff, and a co-producer of the 1962 Edinburgh Writers and 1964 Drama conferences. In London, he co-founded the underground newspaper International Times and the London Drury Lane Arts Lab . In 1969 he relocated to Paris and taught at
756-497: The London Film Makers' Co-op workshop, John Hopkins 's TVX, and a printing workshop run by John Collins. The full-width opening doors at ground floor level enabled J. G. Ballard's Crashed Cars exhibition to be held there. After a 'Day of Counter-Culture' meeting, a new Northampton Arts Lab was formed in 2016. Jim Haynes James Almand Haynes (10 November 1933 – 6 January 2021) was an American-born figure in
798-625: The Top , presented by the British Theatre Playhouse . In October 2015, he was awarded with a Gold Badge of Merit from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors . On 3 May 2019, Sayer released his latest album, Selfie on Demon Records. It was recorded at his home studio at The Barn in Plainland , Queensland , Australia. Sayer and his wife Janice married in 1973 and divorced in 1985. He then had
840-622: The US, beginning with his second LP Just a Boy (1974), which reached No. 16. His fourth album, Endless Flight (1976), consolidated his international popularity, reaching No. 4 in the UK and No. 10 in the US; it also charted strongly in other countries including Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, and was certified as a platinum album in both the UK and the US, and double-platinum in Canada. The peak of his career came in 1977, when he achieved two consecutive number one hits in
882-424: The US, first with the disco-styled " You Make Me Feel Like Dancing " (a Grammy Award winner for the year's best Rhythm and Blues Song ), followed by a romantic ballad, " When I Need You " (1977), which reached number one in both the UK and US. Written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager , it was Sayer's first No. 1 single in the UK (after three number two hits). It was also the first of two chart-toppers in
SECTION 20
#1732783243564924-634: The US, reaching No. 9, and "Moonlighting" went to No. 2 in the UK in 1975. In 1976, Sayer recorded three Beatles songs, " I Am the Walrus ", " Let It Be " and " The Long and Winding Road ", for the Beatles-themed concept film All This and World War II . His albums in this period were also consistently successful in the UK: he scored five consecutive Top 10 placings on the UK albums chart between 1973 and 1977. He also garnered success as an album artist in
966-542: The US, three of his singles – "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (1977), "When I Need You" (1977) and "More Than I Can Say" (1980) – were certified gold . Sayer provided songs for the soundtrack of the French–Belgian animated film The Missing Link ( Le Chainon manquant ) in 1980. In 1981, he voiced Dan the forest ranger in The Raccoons on Ice , the second of four specials serving as
1008-598: The United Kingdom. The first issue contained a long and unrestrainedly descriptive erotic poem attributed to W. H. Auden and an explicit photo of Germaine Greer . In 1968 he co-founded Videoheads with Jack Henry Moore in London. In 1969 Haynes moved to Paris, where he taught Media Studies and Sexual Politics for 30 years at the University of Paris . He published an irregular newsletter about his life and times. In addition, he wrote an autobiographical memoir, titled Thanks for Coming . In 1970, he created and directed
1050-763: The University of Edinburgh and, among other writing and musical activities, helped to found the Traverse Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe via his bookshop 'The Paperbacl'. He opened the Paperback Bookshop in George Square in 1959, which is documented as "Britain’s first paperback-only bookshop". The bookshop was one of the first in the UK to stock Lady Chatterley's Lover . In 1962, Haynes co-produced
1092-764: The University of Paris, and for over 30 years hosted his open door Sunday Dinners, to international gatherings. Haynes was born in the United States in Haynesville , Claiborne Parish , in far northern Louisiana . Later, he spent his middle-school years in Venezuela when his father took a job there with Shell Oil. In 1956, Haynes served in the United States Air Force and was stationed in Kirknewton, West Lothian , Scotland, and decided to stay after his service ended. He attended some classes at
1134-486: The activities there. Both the cinema and theatre were constructed by David Jeffrey, whose partner, Philippa James, was closely involved in the Lab's day-to-day running. Upstairs, the space in front initially housed a film workshop put together by Malcolm Le Grice and students from St. Martin's School of Art and the London School of Film Technique , and subsequently a restaurant run by Susan Miles . Haynes lived in
1176-481: The alternative paper International Times , known as "I.T.", together with Barry Miles , John Hopkins , and others. In September 1967 Haynes co-founded the Drury Lane Arts Lab space for mixed-media, which closed in late 1969. That year he co-launched with William Levy , Germaine Greer and Heathcote Williams Suck newspaper in Amsterdam to promote sexual freedom; it was also distributed in
1218-992: The autumn of 1969. On 18 December 1968 the Alchemical Wedding benefit for the Arts Lab and BIT alternative information centre took place at the Royal Albert Hall , and following it, on 25–26 January 1969, the Arts Lab Conference in Cambridge emphasized the strength of the Arts Lab movement, listing 50 such centres across the whole country, including the Birmingham Arts Lab , Brighton Combination and centres in Exeter , Farnham , Guildford , Huddersfield , Loughborough , Manchester , Southampton , Bath and Swindon . Yoko Ono and John Lennon 's first joint artwork Build Around
1260-503: The back above the storage and dressing rooms. A number of other people lived in various corners of the building, and the all-night cinema was often seen as a cheap crash-pad. Such amenities made it perfect for live events and " happenings ", and helped establish it as a centre of the London counterculture. One of the most significant features of the Arts Lab was that it encouraged similar establishments to create other independent centres, many of which outlived Haynes' original, which closed in
1302-723: The coffee and 'After Eight' mints come out, Jim's always got a story to tell." Haynes had a heart attack in August 2011 on his way from Paris to the Edinburgh Festival , but he recovered. In 2018 Haynes was awarded an honorary PhD from Edinburgh Napier University . Haynes died in his sleep in Paris on 6 January 2021. The documentary Echoes of the Underground includes footage of him and featured Lee Harris , Brian Barritt , Henk Targowski, and Youth . The score for
Arts Lab - Misplaced Pages Continue
1344-438: The effects of injuries to his legs and ankles that were caused by a fall off a stage in 1977. Sayer's family has a history of cancer; both his parents died of cancer as did other family members on both sides. On his 65th birthday, after experiencing intestinal problems, Sayer was given a colonoscopy which revealed he had intestinal ulcers and a tumour. He underwent surgery which successfully treated both problems and showed that
1386-403: The film was written and performed by The Moonlight Convention. It is drawn from his book by the same name. Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and became
1428-873: The former Theresa Nolan as the second of three sons (Michael was born in 1939 and Brian in 1951). His father was English and his mother was born in Maguiresbridge , County Fermanagh , Northern Ireland. He spent holidays on her father's small farm at Edenmore, a townland near the hamlet of Killesher, also in County Fermanagh. Sayer attended St Peter's Catholic Primary School in Shoreham-by-Sea and then Blessed Robert Southwell (now St Oscar Romero Catholic School ) in Goring-by-Sea , before studying commercial art and graphic design at West Sussex College of Art and Design in Worthing , Sussex. Sayer
1470-448: The millions of pounds he had earned over the previous decade, had been lost through Faith's questionable investments and business expenses. Sayer sued Faith for mismanagement and the case was eventually settled out of court in 1992, with Sayer receiving a reported payout of £650,000. In the early 1990s, his career stalled again while he fought a protracted but ultimately successful legal battle against his former label, Chrysalis, to regain
1512-665: The most important British writers of the last fifty years". was involved with many activities, including poetry, in the Northampton Arts Lab. An Arts Lab Newsletter was produced by Nicholas Albery of BIT in 1968 and updated in various editions of Bitman in later years. The first multi-day free festival in the UK, the Cambridge Free Festival, was organised by the Cambridge Arts Lab in 1969. An intentional community inspired by
1554-442: The publishing rights to his songs. In 1996, Sayer sued his new management, after he discovered that his pension fund had allegedly been mismanaged to around £1 million. Despite spending more than £90,000 in legal fees the case never made it to court and Sayer abandoned the suit for reasons of cost. He assembled a band led by former Van Morrison guitarist Ronnie Johnson and toured his way back to financial security. They recorded
1596-531: The second episode of the third season of The Muppet Show , and performed "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", "The Show Must Go On", and "When I Need You". Sayer also made cover versions of Bobby Vee 's Sonny Curtis - Jerry Allison composition " More Than I Can Say " (his fourth UK No. 2 hit and US No. 2), and Buddy Holly 's " Raining in My Heart " (1979) and Bee Gees ' "Heart (Stop Beating in Time)" in 1982. In
1638-639: Was exhibited at the Drury Lane Arts Lab in May 1968. David Bowie , who used to rehearse (and perform mime) at the Drury Lane Arts Lab, co-founded a Beckenham Arts Lab, which organised a one-day free festival , but was disillusioned by the lack of interest of other performers/artists taking an active role in the continuation of the centre. Dave Cousins of The Strawbs organized the Hounslow Arts Lab. Wheeler Winston Dixon worked at
1680-505: Was initially discovered by musician David Courtney , who then co-managed and co-produced him with former pop singer Adam Faith . In January 1967, while 18-year-old Sayer was working as a hall porter at the King's Hotel in Hove , he assisted in the rescue of elderly guests from a serious fire that damaged the hotel's first floor. He himself was rescued from the blazing hotel by builders working on
1722-522: Was matched by his debut album, Silverbird , on the UK albums chart co-written with David Courtney, who also co-produced the album with Adam Faith. Three Dog Night 's cover of "The Show Must Go On" was the group's last Billboard Hot 100 top 10 record, reached No. 4 on 25 May 1974. His subsequent singles were all major hits in the UK ;– "One Man Band" went to No. 6 in 1974, "Long Tall Glasses" (UK No. 4, 1974) became his first Top Ten hit in
Arts Lab - Misplaced Pages Continue
1764-796: Was released in the UK on 6 March 2006. It featured the Meck single, alongside "When I Need You" and "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing". In June 2008, Sayer released a new album only in Australia, Don't Wait Until Tomorrow . This album, produced by Garth Porter (from the Australian pop band Sherbet ) and released by Universal Music Australia, features selections from his catalog rearranged with strings and acoustic and jazz instrumentation. In January 2009, Sayer became an Australian citizen, having lived in Sydney since 2005. Sayer has appeared in various television shows in addition to The Muppet Show , including
#563436