Meanwhile, ‘When I Need You’ has been covered by the great and the good of easy listening: Cliff, Julio Iglesias, Luther Vandross, Celine Dion… Leonard Cohen wasn’t as impressed by it, though – he sued Sayer for plagiarising his song ‘Famous Blue Raincoat”. That’s one of the longest gaps between number ones, ever. He will be back on top, but not for twenty-nine years, when he’ll feature on a remix of one of his seventies hits. Leo Sayer had been scoring hits since 1973, and had peaked at #2 three times before this one took him all the way. It’s not something that you say every day, but thank God for Showaddywaddy! Looking to the next chart-topper on my list, a record I have never heard before, I offer a silent prayer that it might be up-tempo. As it stands, this makes it four slow and soft #1s in a row, and five out of the last six. Or am I grasping to make it more interesting than it is? ‘When I Need You’ was the follow-up to the dorky but super catchy ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing’, which I would have much preferred as a #1. But, on closer inspection, on listen three or four, as Leo talks about closing his eyes and touching love while on the phone to his girl, and beseeching her to ‘do as he does’… I begin to wonder… Is this record actually about phone sex? It is sometimes hard to focus on the lyrics in songs like this, as they’re usually of the don’t leave me baby hold me baby variety. Done well they’re fine done badly they sound like the soundtrack to a bad date, or a porno. But, before that, we come to the secret weapon… the sax solo! Unleashed from out of the blue! They’re something we’ll have to get used to as the ’80s loom, but they’ve never sat well with me. He lets loose, in a fashion, for the fade-out.
Plus, Leo Sayer’s voice has got a lot more oomph to it than Soul’s. I also like the emphatic It’s cold out, Just hold out… line. If this one was sped up – a lot – it could be a disco classic. I think it’s the slightly funkier rhythm. (Plus, this record has a secret weapon – more on that in a moment.) When I need you, I just close my eyes and I’m with you… Leo Sayer’s missing his girl while he works away from home… For some reason that I can’t quite place, I’m enjoying this more than the last-but-one chart topper, David Soul’s equally smoochy ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’. It’s got all the instruments we’ve come to expect: gentle guitars, tinkly percussion, a glossy echo to everything. But it doesn’t make for a very exciting listen forty odd years later. It must have been great at school discos, I suppose, with no shortage of last-dance tunes in which to snag your latest crush. We’re really hitting a slow and slushy moment in chart history. Writer(s): CAROLE BAYER SAGER, ALBERT HAMMONDLyrics powered by I Need You, by Leo Sayer (his 1 st of two #1s)ģ weeks, from 13 th February – 6 th March 1977
#When i need you leo sayer driver
No one knows the side of you that I know No one gets to see, to feel you To hear you when they call I'm the only one you answer Because I know what to do I know what to do When I need you I just close my eyes and I'm with you And all that I so want to give you Is only a heartbeat away When I need love I hold out my hand and I touch love I never knew there was so much love Keeping me warm night and day Miles and miles of empty space in between us A telephone can't take the place of your smile But I won't be traveling forever It's cold out, but hold out And do like I do When I need you I just close my eyes and I'm with you And all that I so want to give you Is only a heartbeat away It's not easy when the road is your driver But honey that's the heavy load that we bear But I won't be traveling a lifetime It's cold out, but hold out And do like I do When I need you But I won't be traveling a lifetime It's cold out, oh honey, hold out And do like I do When I need you I just close my eyes and I'm with you baby And all that I so want to give you Is only a heartbeat away When I need love I hold out my hand and I touch love I never knew there was so much love Keeping me warm night and day Honey, when I need you
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