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Leo Sayer Unveils 18-CD Leothology Box Set Covering 1973-2024, Adds Live and Rarities
When Leo Sayer, the 1970s pop icon, opens a new chapter, he does so with an 18‑CD box set that spans half a century of music. Leothology: The Studio Albums 1973‑Now will hit shelves on 14 August via Edsel Records/Demon Music, offering a career‑spanning anthology that begins with his debut Silverbird and stretches to 2024’s 1992.
The collection pulls together the singer‑songwriter’s 16 original UK studio albums, a previously unreleased Melbourne live recording, and a 14‑track rarities compilation. Presented in mini‑vinyl replica wallets, the set also includes a 28‑page booklet that carries a 3,000‑word foreword written by Sayer himself and track‑by‑track notes for the rarities disc, Return To Paradise.
The live disc, Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow – Live, captures a 2008 performance in Melbourne that had never been issued before. With 20 tracks—including the classics “The Show Must Go On,” “Giving It All Away,” “Thunder In My Heart,” “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” and “Long Tall Glasses”—the album offers a fresh look at Sayer’s stage presence and musical breadth.
The rarities set covers sessions from 1984 to 2024 and features songs such as the 1984 B‑side “Wrapped Up In Love,” the 1993 track “Return To Paradise,” the 2011 cut “Evil Ways,” the 2023 single “The Law Of The Dance,” and the brand‑new 2024 recording “Learn To Love Yourself.” These tracks illustrate the artist’s evolution from pop‑radio hits to more intimate, genre‑crossing material.
Sayer explained that the project grew out of a desire to build on the success of his earlier limited‑edition set, Just A Box, which sold out quickly and left out the four studio albums recorded after his move to Australia. “I released a very limited‑edition box‑set a few years ago called Just A Box, but that sold out really quickly and didn’t include the four studio albums I’d recorded since moving to Australia,” he said. The new anthology therefore adds the material that followed his relocation, though it still omits the 2008 Australia‑only album Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow and the bonus‑track material that accompanied the 2013 Just A Box release.
Sayer’s recording career launched in 1973 with Silverbird, after a stint as a songwriter with David Courtney. The early period produced hits such as “The Show Must Go On,” “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” and “When I Need You.” The 1978 single “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” earned him a Grammy Award and reached number one in the United States. Subsequent albums—Just A Boy, Another Year, Endless Flight, Thunder In My Heart, Leo Sayer, Here, Living In A Fantasy, World Radio, and Have You Ever Been In Love—continued his chart success into the early 1990s.
After a slower release pace in the 1990s, Sayer issued Cool Touch (1990), Voice In My Head (2004), and the 2008 album Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow, which reworked earlier songs with strings, acoustic instrumentation and jazz influences. The 2015 album Restless Years, the 2019 album Selfie, the 2022 album Northern Songs—a set of Beatles covers—and the 2024 album 1992, which contains recordings made in that year that had remained unreleased until now, complete the catalogue included in Leothology.
The anthology arrives as Sayer prepares for a final full UK tour in autumn 2026. The tour will begin at De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill‑on‑Sea on 9 October and conclude at Usher Hall in Edinburgh on 15 November. Additional dates are scheduled in Glasgow, Birmingham, London, York, Liverpool and other cities.
Leothology offers a chronological record of a career that has spanned more than five decades and crossed genres from singer‑songwriter to pop, disco, adult contemporary and independent releases. While it does not include all previously issued bonus material, its inclusion of the Melbourne live album and the Return To Paradise rarities provides new archival content for fans and collectors.
The set will be available from the official link https://leosayer.lnk.to/leothology and is expected to appeal to long‑time listeners and new audiences interested in a comprehensive view of Leo Sayer’s enduring contribution to popular music.
The collection pulls together the singer‑songwriter’s 16 original UK studio albums, a previously unreleased Melbourne live recording, and a 14‑track rarities compilation. Presented in mini‑vinyl replica wallets, the set also includes a 28‑page booklet that carries a 3,000‑word foreword written by Sayer himself and track‑by‑track notes for the rarities disc, Return To Paradise.
The live disc, Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow – Live, captures a 2008 performance in Melbourne that had never been issued before. With 20 tracks—including the classics “The Show Must Go On,” “Giving It All Away,” “Thunder In My Heart,” “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” and “Long Tall Glasses”—the album offers a fresh look at Sayer’s stage presence and musical breadth.
The rarities set covers sessions from 1984 to 2024 and features songs such as the 1984 B‑side “Wrapped Up In Love,” the 1993 track “Return To Paradise,” the 2011 cut “Evil Ways,” the 2023 single “The Law Of The Dance,” and the brand‑new 2024 recording “Learn To Love Yourself.” These tracks illustrate the artist’s evolution from pop‑radio hits to more intimate, genre‑crossing material.
Sayer explained that the project grew out of a desire to build on the success of his earlier limited‑edition set, Just A Box, which sold out quickly and left out the four studio albums recorded after his move to Australia. “I released a very limited‑edition box‑set a few years ago called Just A Box, but that sold out really quickly and didn’t include the four studio albums I’d recorded since moving to Australia,” he said. The new anthology therefore adds the material that followed his relocation, though it still omits the 2008 Australia‑only album Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow and the bonus‑track material that accompanied the 2013 Just A Box release.
Sayer’s recording career launched in 1973 with Silverbird, after a stint as a songwriter with David Courtney. The early period produced hits such as “The Show Must Go On,” “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” and “When I Need You.” The 1978 single “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” earned him a Grammy Award and reached number one in the United States. Subsequent albums—Just A Boy, Another Year, Endless Flight, Thunder In My Heart, Leo Sayer, Here, Living In A Fantasy, World Radio, and Have You Ever Been In Love—continued his chart success into the early 1990s.
After a slower release pace in the 1990s, Sayer issued Cool Touch (1990), Voice In My Head (2004), and the 2008 album Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow, which reworked earlier songs with strings, acoustic instrumentation and jazz influences. The 2015 album Restless Years, the 2019 album Selfie, the 2022 album Northern Songs—a set of Beatles covers—and the 2024 album 1992, which contains recordings made in that year that had remained unreleased until now, complete the catalogue included in Leothology.
The anthology arrives as Sayer prepares for a final full UK tour in autumn 2026. The tour will begin at De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill‑on‑Sea on 9 October and conclude at Usher Hall in Edinburgh on 15 November. Additional dates are scheduled in Glasgow, Birmingham, London, York, Liverpool and other cities.
Leothology offers a chronological record of a career that has spanned more than five decades and crossed genres from singer‑songwriter to pop, disco, adult contemporary and independent releases. While it does not include all previously issued bonus material, its inclusion of the Melbourne live album and the Return To Paradise rarities provides new archival content for fans and collectors.
The set will be available from the official link https://leosayer.lnk.to/leothology and is expected to appeal to long‑time listeners and new audiences interested in a comprehensive view of Leo Sayer’s enduring contribution to popular music.
