You're the Voice
| "You're the Voice" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) |
||||
| Single by John Farnham | ||||
| from the album Whispering Jack | ||||
| B-side | "Going, Going, Gone" | |||
| Released | September 1986 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD | |||
| Recorded | 1985/1986 | |||
| Genre | Rock, pop rock | |||
| Length | 5:04 | |||
| Label | Wheatley Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder, Chris Thompson | |||
| Producer | Ross Fraser | |||
| John Farnham singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"You're the Voice" is a song written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson. Australian singer John Farnham recorded the song for his album Whispering Jack released in 1986.[1] The song was awarded the 1987 Aria Award for "Single of the Year". The song was one of the biggest hits of the year in Australia, topping the singles chart there for many weeks. It is also one of Farnham's biggest international successes, reaching the top 10 in many European countries, although in the US it performed relatively poorly. BMG/RCA re-released the song in the US in February 1990, after Farnham made the Adult Contemporary charts with "Two Strong Hearts". It spent 8 weeks on the charts, peaking only at #82. It was Farnham's own idea to feature the Scottish Bagpipe solo.
Contents |
Pop culture appearances [edit]
The song appeared in the 2007 film Hot Rod, and was featured on the film's soundtrack. The song appears in a scene when the main character Rod is preparing to jump 15 buses to raise money to save his stepfather. Some of the crowd are also involved in singing along to it, and a small 3-piece bagpipe band is shown walking along the road in time to the song's version of the same.
The song was also featured on the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on the fictional in-game radio station "Vice City FM". It was used in the Applause Coca-Cola light ad as well.
Another appearance was in a 2012 Ford Australia TV commercial to advertise the company's voice control system SYNC. Due to the TV ad, fans downloaded the song and it reappeared in the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart at #64.[2]
Chart history [edit]
| Chart (1986–87) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart[3] | 6 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Dutch GfK Singles Chart[4] | 18 |
| Dutch Top 40[5] | 15 |
| German Singles Chart[6] | 1 |
| Icelandic Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart[7] | 3 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[8] | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[9] | 3 |
| UK Singles Chart[10] | 6 |
| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
| US Billboard Hot 100[11] | 82 |
Cover versions [edit]
- In 1989, Scottish singer Barbara Dickson covered it on her album Coming Alive Again.
- In 1990, Brenda Cochrane on her second album The Voice which went gold in the autumn of that year.[citation needed]
- In 1990, David Foster included a cover on his album River of Love with Jeff Pescetto on vocals.
- In 1993, Lavrentis Machairitsas covered the song with Greek lyrics on his album Ρίξε κόκκινο στη νύχτα.
- In 1995, Dutch a cappella group Montezuma's Revenge on their album Make A Noise.
- In 1996, Christian singer Rebecca St. James covered it on her album God.
- In 1996, Alan Parsons included a cover on his album The Very Best Live as an unreleased studio version that allowed Chris Thompson a first chance to record his own song as lead vocalist. Thompson's version is also included on the SAS Band's self-titled album from 2004.
- In 2004, British vocal group G4 covered it on their album G4 & Friends.
- In 2007, Argentinean metal band Eidyllion covered it on their album Secretos.
- In 2008, a full length studio cover version of the song by David Archuleta appeared on iTunes after he had performed it on the TV series American Idol.
- A cappella group Club for Five in 2009 on their album You're The Voice.
- In 2010, Power metal band Blind Guardian on their album At the Edge of Time.
- In 2010, UK band Forever Never on their EP I Can't Believe it's Not Metal!.[12]
- In 2012, British heavy metal band I Am I released a cover as a single. An audio sample can be heard on their official website.[13]
Live cover performances [edit]
- Colin Morgan and Bradley James sang the song in the video diaries of the TV series Merlin.
- In 2008, Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall performed the song for the ITV1 show Guilty Pleasures.
- In 2008, David Archuleta covered the song on American Idol during the week of the Top 10. The week's theme was songs from the year the contestants were born.
- Kate Miller-Heidke included a live performance on her 2009 album Live at The Hi-Fi
- Coldplay performed the song live alongside Farnham at the 2009 Sound Relief event at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
- The semifinalists from the first series of UK talent show The Voice performed a version together in May 2012.
Sampling [edit]
A UK hardcore track released by Waxman in 1996 sampled "You're The Voice".
Heart [edit]
| "You're the Voice" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Heart | ||||
| from the album Rock the House Live! | ||||
| B-side | "Wild Child (live)" | |||
| Released | October 1991 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD | |||
| Recorded | November 1990 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 5:05 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Writer(s) | Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder, Chris Thompson | |||
| Producer | Richie Zito | |||
| Heart singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
As a lead promotion for their first live album Rock the House Live! in 1991, US rock band Heart released their live version of "You're the Voice" as a single. It was captured during the US leg of their Brigade world tour in November 1990. The single performed moderately well, reaching #20 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, whilst it was a minor hit in the UK reaching #56.
It was released in multiple limited edition formats in different territories, with the UK boasting the highest number of these:
- 7" etched one-sided single
- 7" red vinyl single
- 10" red vinyl single
- 12" etched one-sided single
- CD single
A studio version of the track had been recorded in late 1989 as part of the sessions for the Brigade album, though the track did not make the album cut track list. This studio version would not see release until its later inclusion on a greatest hits package, Greatest Hits: 1985–1995, in July 2000.
Chart performance [edit]
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart[14] | 65 |
| UK Singles Chart[15] | 56 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart[16] | 20 |
References [edit]
- ^ "Voice Events – The Official John Farnham Fan Club – You're the Voice". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ The ad on Ford Australia's website. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ "austriancharts.at". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "dutchcharts.nl". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40, week 11, 1987 (Dutch)". Retrieved 26 April 2009.
- ^ "charts-surfer.de search results". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "hitparade.ch". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "Chart Stats - John Farnham - You're the Voice". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "allmusic - John Farnham - Billboard singles". Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ ForeverNever.com Retrieved 10th September 2010
- ^ http://iamiofficial.com/
- ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ "Heart - You're The Voice". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ "Heart". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
External links [edit]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
