# Leo Sayer recalls music that shaped his life and career

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/my-dad-said-great-balls-of-fire-was-pagan-music-and-threw-it-out-of-the-window-leo-sayers-honest-playlist/
- Published: 2026-11-08T09:00:35+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T10:17:29+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/nov/08/leo-sayer-honest-playlist-jerry-lee-lewis-bob-marley-john-lennon
- Topics: Culture, Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Bob Dylan gave Sayer a youthful moral compass.
- His father threw “Great Balls of Fire” out of the window.
- Sayer remembers seeing Bob Marley record “No Woman, No Cry”.

## Summary

Leo Sayer recalls the songs that shaped his life and career, from Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” to Buddy Holly’s “Oh, Boy!”. His memories show how music offered him a sense of direction as a young rebel and helped him imagine becoming a performer.

Sayer says his father threw his first single, Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire”, out of the window for being “pagan music”, so he retrieved it and played it at a friend’s house. He also remembers singing karaoke with supermodels, designing a Bob Marley record sleeve and witnessing the 1975 concert where Marley and the Wailers recorded “No Woman, No Cry”. Sayer’s 18-CD box set is out now, and he is touring until 15 November.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.