Leo Sayer is celebrating his fiftieth year in the music business with a greatest hits tour. The British singer-songwriter is best known for songs such as When I Need You, Raining In My Heart, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing and Thunder In My Heart.

Having being a huge fan over the years it was very reassuring and pleasing to discover his enthusiasm and friendliness that came across throughout our chat.

Over your fifty years in the music business what have been the highlights for you?

There are so many but two particular ones always stand out; Going back to 1972 I was sitting in a car all day with David Courtney my co-writer at the time, listening to Radio 1 waiting for them to play Giving It All Away, the debut solo single by Roger Daltrey which David and I had written together. At this time we were both unknown so hearing our song on the radio was a big deal - we had to wait nearly all day before they played it on air, when they did it felt like a hundred tons of joy.

The other big moment for me was when You Make Me Feel Like Dancing reached Number 1 in America, it felt like that I had arrived and for someone who came from Shoreham-by-Sea this sought of thing did not happen everyday. I was in a clothes shop at the time and the radio was on and the DJ announced that the song had gone to the top of the charts, then someone recognised me in the shop and shouted “look, there he is, Leo Sayer”. This big chap then picks me up and carried me on his shoulders down to the street into the hotel I was staying in!

In the early days you supported a lot of big acts, what was that like?

It would be more like war with some of them, rather than supporting them! It was a very competitive time. You would go on Top of the Pops and be really nice to each other but inwardly it was so competitive. If you go back to that mid seventies period, people knew all the songs in the charts, it was an amazing time for music. Hearing groups like Three Dog Night cover one of my songs like The Show Must Go On and have an hit with it, meant more to me than supporting some of the acts I went out on tour with.

Whose idea was it for you to wear the Pierot outfit?

It was my idea - I was doing a photo session with Graham Hughes who is Roger Daltrey’s cousin. Graham had a photo of a pirouette who was from Belgium. Graham asked me how I saw myself? I had to think for a while, then Graham told me the guy was still in town. Graham suggested he could come over and I could try on his costume, which I did and it felt good, though he was a six foot guy, a bit bigger than me!

Is the lyric on Moonlighting actually true?

It is! Dave was our van driver at the time I was in a group called Mustang Stampede, long before I became famous, anyway Dave tried to run off to Gretna Green with the daughter of the local Chief of Police but they got stopped by the police even before they got to Carlisle. Dave went back to being a roadie, I am not sure what happened to the girl.

Your songs have been covered by a lot of other acts including some dance artists, does that surprise you?

To me it is a great honour to have your songs covered. In the end it will always be my songs that will be remembered, I might be forgotten but the songs themselves will always last.

Your autumn tour visits a lot of places you have not visited before was this intentional ?

Most of the places I have been to before really. I have been working on my autobiography and calculated that by 1984 I had already done thousands of shows, when I played Vegas I was sometimes doing three shows a night.

There are some good places in the north that I am looking forward to playing again such as Holmfirth Picturedrome - what a quirky place that is. It used to be an old cinema as the name implies and the audience is always a rowdy one there.

St George’s Hall in Bradford is a great venue to put on a show. You can feel the history of the building and all the acts that have played there give it a unique atmosphere. We play York Barbican too, I always like going to York as to me the city is so beautiful.

What can audiences expect on the tour?

There is no support act, just me and the band and we do the show in two parts. I start off with The Show Must Go On from the very beginning, I sing a song from nearly every album I have recorded then finish up with It’s A Hard Life and Giving It All Away, so in a way the audience will be taken full circle. I do not speak as much as I used to and let the songs do the talking now.

What makes you want to keep doing this?

I love my job, we get to go around the world making people happy. It really is that simple. I live in Australia now as I love the lifestyle and outdoor life, so in a way it is like living in exile, I never get jaded doing this and coming back over to Britain feels so good.

Next year I will be playing shows in America, with not being over there for a number of years it will be good to go back over there, things like this keep me motivated.

What makes you happy?

Doing things well and singing well. The buzz on stage and the vibe we create makes me happy. The band are not my backing band, they are my mates. We create something out of nothing and I am glad to say that even at seventy four years of age my creative side has not dried up yet - there is still more to come from me.

Is your hair naturally curly?

Absolutely. My dad had thick hair and my mum had curly hair.

Why did you decide to record an album of Beatles songs?

Because I am a big fan. We do a couple of Beatles songs on the tour. I called the album Northern Songs but wanted to record the songs in a different way. I ended up getting a lot of backlash from the purists when the album was released but you have to remember too that in their early days The Beatles covered a lot of other peoples songs such as Roll Over Beethoven and Twist and Shout which did not sound at all like the Isley Brothers version.

I never saw The Beatles live but the last time George Harrison stood on a stage I was there with him - we became great pals. I met them all at different times over the years.

We all change and evolve, The Beatles were the innovators and not the followers.