“I look at my role as being a friend of Canberra Hospital, I can bring some pleasure and happiness sometimes to people who are really in difficult times in their lives.”
With backing music from a Bluetooth speaker, Sayer croons his way around the cancer wards, making a human connection with everyone he comes across.
Canberra Region Cancer Centre Operations Manager Caroline McIntyre says Sayer’s visits are typically kept a surprise for patients and staff.
“He’s always come in so discreetly,” she says.
“Normally it’s just very quiet, he comes up in the back lift and says hello to literally everybody.
“Some of them are doing it tough, and to have a little bit of joy and light – it really gives them a lift.
“What makes me happy is to see people getting chemo on their feet dancing.”
Jamming with Jimi Hendrix, Countdown and the Troubadour
Originally a graphic designer by trade, English-born Leo Sayer rose to pop prominence in London in the late 1960s, as a singer-songwriter – and was soon adopted by Australia as an honorary son after his first tour here in 1974.
He went on to become an Australian citizen in 2009.
Sayer was a regular on ABC TV’s Countdown during the 70s and 80s, performing chart-toppers like “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”, “When I Need You”, “More Than I Could Say” and “Orchard Road”.
He blushingly admits they were wild days – when he didn’t always live up to his “good-guy” public persona.
“It was mad, I mean, Top of the Pops in England, Countdown over here,” he says.
“You were mobbed by the fans, I remember being dragged out of a limousine the first tour that I came here, and then speaking to crazy people like Molly Meldrum on TV and trying to sort of like take it all in.”
It seems hard to believe – the petite, well-spoken singer, with a mane of curly hair that inspired changing his name from Gerard to Leo – beating off mobs of screaming fangirls.
Sayer circulated in superstar company, becoming close friends with former Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney, collaborating with Roger Daltrey of The Who, and even sharing a sly cigarette or two with John Lennon and Yoko Ono who had a flat above his design studio.
“I met Jimi Hendrix right at the start of his career. I actually jammed with him, playing the harmonica, and him playing the guitar,” he says.
Recalling his 1975 opening night at the famous Troubadour Club in Los Angeles, he looked up to see an intimidating line-up of fans in the front row.
“It was David Bowie, Elton John, and ‘The Fonz’ [Henry Winkler].”
Alongside them: John Cleese, Mick Jagger, Bernie Taupin, and comedian Marty Feldman.
“We never thought it would last, we were adapting to things around us, writing songs about things that are around us,” he says.
“And we thought they were only for our generation — so the amazing thing is my music’s become like a fine wine, where you lay it down and years later, it becomes a collector’s item.
“We’re in an age where the music that I make, young kids are actually latching onto it now, and they’re finding that that generation and that style of music we made is as current now as anything.”
Sayer’s health battles, still spreading hope at 76
Leo Sayer says his hospital charity work caps off a career dedicated to providing joy through music.
“It’s a nice piece of synchronicity really, because I was born in the grounds of a hospital in Shoreham by Sea in Sussex, near Brighton in England,” Mr Sayer said.
“I suppose I’ve always felt comfortable in hospitals and being around hospitals.
“Growing up, my dad was a hospital engineer, Mum was a nurse, my sister was a matron.”
Sayer has health struggles of his own, including three stents in his heart, which help him have a genuine connection to the hospital patients he entertains.
“[My music] is providing something that isn’t taking away from any of the treatment that’s going on. It’s providing something that’s just putting a smile on peoples’ faces.
“Music is communication and that’s what this is all about, we’re communicating, we’re making people feel better.
“We’re not healing people with music, but we are making them feel better about their healing.
“To sell out Canberra Hospital will do me fine.”
Drone Captures Rare Images of Isolated People Who Are Cut Off From the World
G. Miranda’s breathtaking photographs, captured for Survival International, offer a rare glimpse into the secluded existence of various uncontacted tribes worldwide. From the enigmatic Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island, India, to the Amazon tribes near Brazil’s Javari River valley bordering Peru, these images provide a captivating aerial view.
The drone photographs are proof of the existence of untouched tribes.
A mesmerizing compilation video, shared on Death Island Expeditions’ YouTube channel in 2018, has garnered over 3.5 million views, showcasing these remote settlements and their inhabitants. Witness tribespeople, armed with traditional bows and arrows, gazing curiously at the hovering drones, offering a poignant insight into their untouched world.
It amuses people by showing the lives of tribespeople, which are different from ours.
Captivated viewers on YouTube expressed profound astonishment at the vast disparity between their lives and those of these tribespeople. One commenter marveled, “It blows my mind how different our lives are. The fact that they don’t even know about the existence of grocery stores, factories, phones, social media, everything that makes our society what it is. It’s so surreal.”
However, these untouched tribes are now in danger and need protection.
FUNAI, Brazil’s National Indian Foundation, plays a pivotal role in formulating policies concerning indigenous tribes, and their involvement in capturing drone footage underscores their commitment to preserving these cultures.
While some imagery dates back to 2008, as reported by Survival International, the significance of these visuals remains timeless, as emphasized by uncontacted tribes expert José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Júnior. He highlighted the urgent need to protect these tribes from external threats, such as illegal logging activities encroaching from Peru.
“We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist,” he said.
A film has also been released. The Mission, a poignant documentary directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, sheds light on the tragic fate of American missionary John Allen Chau. His ill-fated attempt to make contact with the Sentinelese people in 2018 resulted in his untimely demise, symbolizing the delicate balance between curiosity and respect for these isolated communities.
Another curious discovery occurred in Peru. The discovery of “alien mummies” at the airport has captured global attention, and scientists have revealed something disturbing.
Preview photo credit Death Island Expeditions / YouTube, G. Miranda/FUNAI/Survival
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