Soul Strut 100: # 35 - Leo Sayer - Endless Flight

RAJ

Tenacious Local
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May 5, 2025
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I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 35 - Leo Sayer - Endless Flight

Leo_Sayer-Endless_Flight-Frontal.jpg


The list so far:

# 100 - Jr. and His Soulettes - Psychodelic Sounds
# 99 - Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
# 98 - Donny Hathaway - S/T (1971)
# 97 - Bernard Wright - ???Nard
# 96 - Tom Scott - Honeysuckle Breeze
# 95 - People Under the Stairs - Question in the Form of an Answer
# 94 - Harlem River Drive
# 93 - Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
# 92 - Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
# 91 - Muddy Waters - Electric Mud
# 90 - Les McCann - Layers
# 89 - Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
# 88 - Leroy Hutson - Hutson (1975)
# 87 - ESG - S/T (1981)
# 86 - Can - Tago Mago
# 85 - Bohannon - Stop & Go
# 84 - WILLIAM DEVAUGHN - Be Thankful For What You Got
# 83 - Power of Zeus - The Gospel According to Zeus
# 82 - Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
# 81 - The J.B.???s - Doing It to Death
# 80 - Parliament - Osmium
# 79 - McNeal & Niles - Thrust
# 78 - The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Malik
# 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)
# 76 - Dr. Dre - The Chronic
# 75 - Black Sabbath (1970)
# 74 - Trap Door / An International Psychedelic Mystery Mix (2006)
# 73 - Bob James - One
# 72 - Matthew Larkin Cassell - Pieces
# 71 - The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
# 70 - Big Bear - Doin??? Thangs
# 69 - Steely Dan - Aja
# 68 - Quasimoto - The Unseen
# 67 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis/Live! (1971)
# 66 - Al Green - Im still in love with you
# 65 - The Beatnuts - Street Level
# 64 - Archie Whitewater - Archie Whitewater (1970)
# 63 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother
# 62 - Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
# 61 - The J.B.???s - Food For Thought
# 60 - Don Blackman (1982)
# 59 - Niagara - (Tiddies)
# 58 - Can - Ege Bamyasi
# 57 - Whatnauts - On the Rocks
# 56 - The Mohawks - Champ
# 55 - McDonald and Giles (1971)
# 54 - Darondo - Let My People Go
# 53 - Dorothy Ashby - Afro Harping
# 52 - Beastie Boys - Paul???s Boutique
# 51 - Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu of Ethiopia
# 50 - Lyman Woodard Organization - Saturday Night Special
# 49 - Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
# 48 - Lyn Collins - Think (About It)
# 47 - James Brown - In The Jungle Groove
# 46 - Bill Withers - Still Bill
# 45 - Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
# 44 - Silver Apples - S/T
# 43 - Mobb Deep - The Infamous
# 42 - Lyn Christopher (1973)
# 41 - Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
# 40 - Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
# 39 - Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop
# 38 - Terry Callier - What Color is Love
# 37 - David Axelrod - Song of Innocence
# 36 - The Invaders - Spacing Out

Please discuss your reactions to this record. The thread will be archived later here.

About


Leo Sayers' "Endless Flight" LP is one of the most sought after albums of the 70s. Legend has it Sayer borrowed $100,000 from the mob to record the album on a state of the art Fisher Quadrosonic 67 track tape system and a vintage Neve mixing console used on the Beatles' Abbey Road sessions. When the album was rejected by Warner Brothers, he resorted to a private press run of 200,000... many of which were destroyed in a Van Nuys, CA warehouse fire in 1977.

The album today is heralded as a lost gem by disco fanatics and hip hop sample based producers. Tracks like "No Business Like Love Business", "I Think We Fell In Love Too Fast", and "Hold On To My Love" exemplify Sayer's indelible falsetto vocals and rough funk rhythm accompaniments.

His career soared in the late 90s when UK rare groove DJ Angus Wilkenson picked up on the dance cut... "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing". Which took the rare groove and vinyl collecting scene by storm and caused the 45 release to fetch for over $1,000 on online auction sites like eBay.

Today this extremely rare record can be found reissued on the NYC based imprint... GOTCHA! records.
 
I have the Warner Brothers white label promo. Apparently a few made it on the shelves and then were pulled due to his affiliation with the mafia. I had a Japanese guy offer me $700 in 2003 for it. Sorry. But this is NOT going any where.
 
So we all put copies of the album at the front of crates we've dug through, right?
 
DJ_Enki said:So we all put copies of the album at the front of crates we've dug through, right?




I was going to mention this.


To let other diggers know that a strutter has been there I put this in the front of bins.





b/w





More gifs please.