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John Farnham

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John Farnham

John Peter Farnham (born July 1, 1949) is an English-born Australian pop singer. Whilst not having the international success of, for example, Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue, Savage Garden, or The Seekers, domestically he has remained one of Australia's best-known performers over a career spanning more than 30 years. He is the only Australian artist to have a number one record in five consecutive decades (echoing Sir Cliff Richard in the United Kingdom).

Early life and career

Born in Dagenham, Essex, United Kingdom, Farnham spent the first years of his life in England before migrating to Australia in 1959. As an undistinguished student, he began a plumbing apprenticeship before taking leave from that to pursue music.

His first commercially-successful recording was a novelty song entitled "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)". Released in November 1967, it hit No. 1 on the Australian charts in January 1968 and remained there for 6 weeks. Selling 180 000 copies in Australia, it was the largest-selling single by an Australian artist of the decade. The clean-cut pop star made several more successful albums, but by the 1970s his recording career began to dwindle and he turned to television, appearing in a situation comedy and narrating documentaries, whilst singing in clubs. He also performed in a number of musicals and in the Australian television comedy series Bobby Dazzler as the leading character of the same name. His one recording hit in this period was a reworking of the Beatles' "Help!" in 1980. In his early career he was known as Johnny Farnham.

Farnham married Jillian Billman in 1973. They had two sons, Robert and James.

From Little River Band to national success

From 1981 until 1984, he fronted the Little River Band after Glenn Shorrock departed. This was a move away from cabaret and into rock music.

Farnham joined LRB knowing that all that he would get out of it was experience and the chance to perform in the USA. The problem was that LRB were not selling any records. They had to get continuous advances from Capitol Records just to tour and make new albums hoping that this would bring them a hit. Capitol Records brought out a "Greatest Hits" album, which caused even more financial problems for the current band.

It was during this time that John did vocal tracks for movies just to earn some extra money. He did tracks for the movies "Fletch", "The Slugger's Wife", "Savage Streets", "Voyage of the Rock Aliens", and "Rad".

With Farnham, Little River Band recorded three albums, which had some modest success, though not enough to pay back the advances the record company had given the band. The first album, The Net, was already written and Farnham had no say in the songs, he just had to harmonise and sing the lead vocals.

They recorded a concert in Melbourne that aired in America on HBO. The concert video was only one hour long, and it highlighted some of the songs from The Net as well as reworked versions of LRB classics such as "Cool Change" and "Reminiscing". "Please Don't Ask Me", a song written by Graham Goble, and a hit for Farnham almost three years previously, was played during the Australian opening of the show. Despite positive Australian and US reviews, this performance has never been officially released on VHS or DVD.

In 1986, after releasing the third LRB studio album, "No Reins", Farnham left the band. In an interview with Channel Seven, he stated, "I'll be better off leaving, rather than putting myself under pressure that I've created."

Farnham's first solo experience since 1980, was doing some live shows with a band consisting of Brett Garsed, Sam See and Derrick Pellicci. Only two weeks' worth of bookings were made but the reaction was so good that they extended it for another week. Because of this success, record producer, Ross Fraser suggested to manager, Glenn Wheatley that it might be time to start working on a solo album.

With the aid of Wheatley, and under considerable financial pressure that forced Wheatley to use his house as collateral to fund the album, Farnham began work on Whispering Jack (1986), searching for songs with Fraser. "A Touch Of Paradise" was one that came in, written by Mondo Rock's Ross Wilson. The album was almost ready to be recorded when a tape arrived from London with similar material as "Pressure Down". Fraser listened to the song "You're The Voice" and knew they had found a once in a lifetime song.

"Whispering Jack" took a year to plan, 6 weeks in a garage, 1 week putting it all onto a tape in the studio, another week of keyboard adjustments, and a further week adding guitar, bagpipes, and saxophones, before laying down the vocals in 3 weeks.

Initially, public interest in the rebranded former teen-idol was difficult to cultivate, and radio stations refused to play the album. Things however started to change when Sydney radio station 2Day FM started to play the first single from the album, "You're the Voice". Henceforth, radio stations began receiving requests for the song.

Whispering Jack would go on to became the biggest-selling album in Australia in the 80s, and one of the most successful of all time, selling over one million copies and remaining the number one album on the Australian ARIA Charts for 27 weeks. "You're the Voice," was also a number one hit in several European countries. The album is probably best described as pop-rock, with Farnham's powerful voice soaring over well-written songs.

"Whispering Jack got us out of trouble, I mean, we were deeply in debt. So it paid our debts, we bought a car, and it paid for our children's education for the next twenty years," Farnham told in an interview with Australian music historian, Molly Meldrum.

One in four Australian households own a copy of "Whispering Jack". It was the first compact disc produced in Australia.

After the success of the album, the next step was a tour. The "Jack's Back Tour", originally had four performances in Melbourne, two in Sydney, two in Perth and two in Brisbane. Although at the time they thought this would have been enough considering they were up against such people as Michael Jackson, and Billy Joel, the people of Australia demanded more. Five more shows were added in Melbourne, three more in Sydney, and Brisbane's concert was moved to a larger venue. At that time the "Jack's Back Tour" was the biggest grossing tour by an Australian act, to be surpassed fifteen years later with "The Last Time Tour".

In concert with Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow

File:John-Olivai-Anthony.jpg
John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow in their concert tour
"The Main Event". (CD)

John Farnham went on a concert tour with Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow in "The Main Event". The concerts included comic musical "rivalry" between John Farnham and Anthony Warlow. The album from "The Main Event" tour with Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow, was multi-platinum.

The next year, he took his birthday party on the road with the "I Can't Believe He's 50 Tour", teaming up with Kate Ceberano, Ross Wilson, James Reyne, Merril Bainbridge, Human Nature, and his son's band, Nana-Zhami. The first half of the show is a tribute to Farnham. Each guest sung two songs, one of their own and the other - their interpretation of a Farnham song. Some great home movies with some never before seen shots of John play in the background and each of the guests pay tribute to John in their own words, via a pre-recorded tape. The show opens with a huge blast of heavy metal from Nana-Zhami. They sang their own song, 'The Program' followed by their interpretation of John's 'Infatuation', from 'Uncovered'.

But the event of 1999 was the "Tour Of Duty" concert in Dili for the Australian troops, which featured Kylie Minogue, Doc Neeson, Gina Jeffreys, James Blundell, The Living End, Dili Allstars & the RMC Band. "Tour Of Duty" was the first concert of John Farnham's to be webcast. Held at Dili Stadium in front of 4000 troops, it was a special Christmas present to show appreciation and support for the troops stationed in East Timor, away from their families for Christmas. It was also a special treat for the thousands of East Timorese who danced and sang from every vantage point they could find.

Millions around the world watched as Farnham sang "Dare To Dream" with Olivia Newton-John at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

The Last Tour - The Last Time

In 2002, Farnham released a new album, The Last Time, and held a countrywide concert tour, taking a circus-style tent to smaller towns. As the title suggested, this was to be Farnham's last major tour, but the singer, from the start, insisted that he was going to work live and hit the road for short periods of time again. He broke Australian touring records, performing with his 10-piece band from November to June 2003, becoming the seventh most profitable touring act in the world.

"I'm not retiring, I'm just never going to undergo a major tour ever again," Farnham told a press conference promoting the album and the tour.

The album was launched in St. Kilda, at the famous Esplanade Hotel. Farnham had mentioned at a media conference that he would like to play someday at the Espy. A notice was put in a street magazine challenging John to do just that. Devotees of the singer gathered in the front bar of St Kilda grunge icon for an invitation-only gig.

Farnham returned to Cohuna where he had been 'discovered' by Darryl Sambell in 1967. Following the announcement of regional dates, Farnham and the band performed a free concert. There were signs, yellow balloons, streamers and his music playing from speakers. The all day event was capped off with a huge party featuring the music of Farnham's former band, Strings Unlimited and fireworks.

The Last Time Tour included 6 states, 7 capital cities and 28 regional centres beginning with the preview show in Melbourne on November 6, 2002. The Last Time Tour capital city concerts were held in large entertainment centres, whereas the regional concerts were performed in a 4000 seat air-conditioned tent. Two tents leapfrogged the country to enable the shows to set up on time. The site took 100 workers 1 1/2 days to set up but only 6 hours to pull down and the equipment was carried by a fleet of 6 semi-trailers, 13 trucks, 4 four-wheel drives and 2 cars.

After 89 shows and more than 210 days on the road, the Last Time Tour returned to Melbourne for the home town finale fans were hoping for. The final concert on June 15th 2003 at Rod Laver Arena was telecast on Channel 7 enabling millions of people to witness Farnham's final "last time" concert. When Farnham left the stage, the crowd gave him a standing ovation that lasted more than 10 minutes. The night brought a close to the most extensive and finest tour Australia has ever seen. [citation needed]

There is only "One Voice"

Later in 2003, Farnham worked with Queen to produce a new version of the worldwide favourite "We Will Rock You", released on his greatest hits album, "One Voice". Farnham was inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame before a roof-raising performance of "You're The Voice". Queen subsequently asked Farnham to join the band[citation needed], an offer which he turned down in favour of enjoying homegrown success and a less hectic lifestyle.

In Concert With Tom Jones

Again feeling success in 2005, Farnham did ten concerts in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne with Welsh music veteran, Tom Jones. Two musical heavyweights walked out from the sides to perform "That Driving Beat" and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" together. Farnham then left the stage to let Tom perform a few solos before returning with 1972's "One" and raging through hits like "Pressure Down", "That's Freedom", "Heart's On Fire", "Playing To Win", "Man Of The Hour", "Help" and "Burn For You". The pair did five solos to close the show - Sam and Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming", Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness", Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", Stevie Wonder's "Sweet Soul Music" and AC/DC's anthem, "Long Way To The Top". The DVD released debuted at No 1. He also made an appearance at the Melbourne Music Festival, raising much needed funds for rebuilding after the 2004 Asian Tsunami.

Farnham Remembers When He Was Young

Towards the end of 2005, Farnham pinned his colours firmly to the mast with a new studio album, "I Remember When I Was Young: Songs From The Great Australian Songbook" - covers of classics, written and performed by Australian artists over the last forty years. Farnham listened to over 150 Australian songs and chose just 13 tracks for the album, which was recorded with a quartet of double bass, Steinway piano, drums & guitar and augmented by the Sydney International String Section and a six piece brass selection.

The first single off the album was "Downhearted", a song the Australian Crawl famed on, but the title track was Matt Taylor and Chain's "I Remember When I Was Young". This was Farnham's first jazz album after thirty-eight years in the business.

Promoting the album on Channel Seven's "Dancing With The Stars", he explained his desire to make the album, "I left my heart back in the Orient, down on Bali Bay. It's not the way that I should feel, but it's the way I'm going to stay."

In February 2006, for four shows at the Sydney Opera House, he performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He furthered this with shows at Hamer Hall, Melbourne. These shows were sponsored by Dairy Farmers and a percentage of revenue received from the 'I Remember When I was Young' concerts went to the Dairy Farmers 'Creating Greener Pastures' program to help farmers and their communities.

"For a singer, to be able to perform with a full symphony orchestra is as big as it can get. It is a rare opportunity that does not come often, and in February, I get the chance to do this in both Melbourne and Sydney," Farnham told journalist, Jim Mitchell.

On February 10, the morning before his third show with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, he was interviewed by Channel Nine's entertainment reporter, Richard Wilkins where he said, "It's great to be on stage with some of this country's greatest musicians. Tonight though is not just about the music. It's about something very close to my heart, Australia. I've seen first hand the sorts of challenges that Australian farmers face so through these concerts we're able to make a direct contribution into the Dairy Farmers 'Creating Greener Pastures'program to lend some added support to the rural community. It is a great cause. I hope you enjoy the show."

Sydney Opera House - Venue of 2006 Sydney Concert Series

Touring with Stevie Nicks

In early 2006 John embarked on a small Australian tour with Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks for a series of live shows. Both artists had equal billing but unlike the Tom Jones shows, they did not sing together, but rather individually.

The current members of the John Farnham Band (2006) are Lindsay Field, Lisa Edwards, Dannielle Gaha, Angus "The Mongrel" Burchall, Stuart Fraser, Craig Newman, Steve Williams, Chong Lim, Lachlan Davidson, Jordan Murray, Brett Garsed and Bob Coassin.

Commonwealth Games 2006

Farnham sang at the closing of the 2006 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony, opening with his hit 'Age Of Reason', followed by 'I Remember When I Was Young' from his latest album release, 'Playing To Win' from his LRB days, and finished with his anthem song, 'You're The Voice'. The athletes danced and partied around the centre stage, many of them taking advantage of the informal procedures to take pictures, and enjoy the festivities.

New DVD release

A DVD has recently been released of John at the Sydney Opera House, entitled John Farnham With The Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The DVD debuted at number 2 on the ARIA DVD charts, however has achieved number one position.

20th Anniversary of Whispering Jack

As the twentieth anniversary of Whispering Jack approaches, a special re-release of the CD and DVD of the tour that accompanied the album is planned to be released. The album, which remains the highest selling album in Australia, was released in 1986, and has outsold albums from artists such as Kylie Minogue is due to be released in November, with the current scheduled release date being November 6th. Also, the 1986 release of Whispering Jack marks the 20th anniversary of the first, Australian-made CD.

Discography

Releases with the Little River Band

Year Album name Type Hit songs Other notes
1982 Greatest Hits CD, LP Down On The Border, The Other Guy Only two songs feature Farnham; he had just joined the band.
1983 The Net CD, LP Down On The Border, You're Driving Me Out Of My Mind, We Two
1984 Playing to Win CD, LP Playing To Win
1986 No Reins CD, LP When The War Is Over, Paper Paradise
1988 Too Late to Load CD, LP
1988 The Farnham Years CD, LP The Greatest Hits from John Farnham's time with LRB

Albums

Year Name of release Type Hit songs Other notes
1968 Sadie LP "Sadie the Cleaning Lady" (#1 for six weeks; sold 180,000 copies; largest selling single in Australia by an Australian artist in the 1960s) Also released in Denmark and Germany
1968/1971 Everybody Oughta Sing a Song LP Reissued in 1974 with a different album cover (picture of Farnham on stage - first release had a picture of Farnham leaning against a Monaro)
1970 Looking Through a Tear LP "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (written by Hal David & Burt Bacharach) Reached #11 in the ARIA Charts
1970 Christmas is Johnny Farnham LP Christmas cover versions; rereleased on CD in 1995 (blue album cover) and 1997 (angel album cover)
1971 Johnny LP Reached #24 in the ARIA charts
1971 The Best of Johnny Farnham LP Best of; album cover available in red and orange
1971 Together LP Recorded with Alison Durbin; reached #20 in the ARIA charts
1972 Johnny Farnham Sings the Shows LP "Rock Me Baby" (#13), "Don't You Know it's Magic" (top 20) Cover versions. Produced by Peter Dawkins.
1973 Hits Magic Rock 'N Roll LP "Don't You Know It's Magic"
1973 Johnny Farnham Sings the Big Hits of 1973 Live! LP Cover versions; reached #45 on the ARIA charts
1974 Johnny Farnham Sings Hits from the Movies LP Cover versions
1975 JP Farnham Sings LP
1976 Johnny Farnham's Greatest Hits LP "Comic Conversation" (by John Bromley) Best of; Released by EMI after Farnham had left the label
1980 Uncovered LP, CD "Help" (a cover version of The Beatles song, reached #8) Rereleased in 1989, 1994, 2000; reached #20 on the ARIA charts; total 4 singles from this released
1980 The Best of John Farnham LP, CD Best of
1986 Whispering Jack Fist Australian Made CD, LP "Pressure Down" (#4), "You're the Voice" (#1, won ARIA award for Single of the Year), "A Touch of Paradise" (#24) #1 for 26 weeks; 24x platinum; reached top three in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland; also released in Germany and Japan; won the ARIA award for Album of the Year; remains Australia's highest selling album; re-released in 2006 with an extended version of "Pressure Down" as a bonus track, plus a DVD featuring songs from "Whispering Jack in Concert" (originally released on VHS in 1987)
1987 The John Farnham Phenomenon LP Unofficial Release reached #44
1987 Another Side of John Farnham CD, LP
1988 Age of Reason CD, LP "Age of Reason" (#1), "Two Strong Hearts" (#3), Debuted at #1; 8x platinum
1988 Time Brings Change CD, LP
1990 Chain Reaction CD, LP "That's Freedom" (#3), "Burn for You" (#5), "Chain Reaction" (#6) Debuted at #1; 7x platinum
1991 Full House CD Live; 2x platinum
1993 Then Again CD "Seemed Like a Good Idea (At the Time)" (#16) Reached #1; 4x platinum
1995 The Classic Gold Collection CD Best of
1995 Where Do I Begin CD
1996 Romeo's Heart CD "Have a Little Faith (In Us)" (#3), "A Simple Life" (#29), "Heart's on Fire" Reached #2; 4x platinum
1997 Anthology 1: Greatest Hits 1987-1997 CD "Everytime You Cry" (new track - duet recorded with Human Nature, reached #3) Best of; Reached #1; 4x platinum
1997 Anthology 2: Classic Hits 1967-1985 (Recorded Live) CD Best of; reached #12
1997 Anthology 3: Rarities Reached #20
1998 Highlights from the Main Event CD Recorded live at Melbourne Park with Olivia Newton-John & Anthony Warlow; Reached #1; 5x platinum; rereleased in 2001 with three bonus tracks
1999 Live at the Regent Theatre: July 1st, 1999 CD Reached #7; also features Kate Ceberano, Merril Bainbridge, Nana-Zhami, James Reyne and Human Nature
2000 33 1/3 CD "Trying to Live My Life Without You", "Man of the Hour" Debuted at #1; 3x platinum
2002 Love Songs CD Only released in Germany
2003 The Last Time CD "The Last Time", "No Ordinary World" Reached #1; 3x platinum
2003 One Voice: Greatest Hits CD Double CD; Reached #2; 4x platinum; features a duet of "We Will Rock You" with Queen
2005 John Farnham & Tom Jones - Together In Concert CD Reached #3; 3x platinum
2005 I Remember When I Was Young: Songs from the Great Australian Songbook Debuted at #2; Reached #1

Singles

Videos & DVDs

Year Name of release Other notes Origin album
1986 You're The Voice No. 1 on the charts. #1 in Germany. Top 5 in U.K Whispering Jack
1986 Pressure Down No. 4 on the charts Whispering Jack
1986 A Touch Of Paradise No. 24 on the charts Whispering Jack
1987 Reasons No. 60 on the charts Whispering Jack
1988 Age Of Reason No. 1 on the charts Age Of Reason
1988 Two Strong Hearts No. 3 on the charts Age Of Reason
1988 Beyond The Call No. 41 on the charts Age Of Reason
1988 We're No Angels No. 87 on the charts Age Of Reason
1989 Communication Duet with Dannielle Gaha, No. 13 on the charts
1990 Chain Reaction No. 6 on the charts Chain Reaction
1990 That's Freedom No. 3 on the charts Chain Reaction
1990 Burn For You No. 5 on the charts (Won ARIA Song Of The Year in 1991) Chain Reaction
1990 In Days To Come No. 49 on the charts Chain Reaction
1991 When Something Is Wrong With My Baby Duet with Jimmy Barnes, No. 2 on the charts Soul Deep (Jimmy Barnes)
1991 Please Don't Ask Me (Live) No. 22 on the charts Full House
1992 Everything's Alright Duet with Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens, No. 4 on the charts Jesus Christ Superstar
1993 Seemed Like A Good Idea (At The Time) No. 16 on the charts Then Again
1993 Angels No. 36 on the charts Then Again
1993 Talk Of The Town No. 36 on the charts Then Again
1993 The Reason Why Then Again
1996 Have A Little Faith (In Us) No. 3 on the charts Romeo's Heart
1996 A Simple Life No. 29 on the charts Romeo's Heart
1996 Heart's On Fire Romeo's Heart
1996 Don't Let It End Romeo's Heart
1996 All Kinds Of People Romeo's Heart
1997 Every Time You Cry Duet with Human Nature, No. 3 on the charts Anthology 1
2000 Trying To Live My Life Without You 33 1/3
2000 Man Of The Hour 33 1/3
2000 You're The Only One Media Release Only 33 1/3
2000 Dare to Dream With Olivia Newton John Media release only - during Sydney 2000 Olympics
2002 The Last Time Media Release Only The Last Time
2002 Keep Talking The Last Time
2003 No Ordinary World Media Release Only The Last Time
2003 We Will Rock You With Queen, Media Release Only One Voice
2005 Hold On I'm Coming Recorded Live with Tom Jones, Media Release Only John Farnham & Tom Jones: Together In Concert
2005 Downhearted Media Release Only I Remember When I Was Young
2005 Even When I'm Sleeping Media Release Only I Remember When I Was Young
Year Title Type Other notes
1977 Concert For The Queen VHS Features 5 songs performed by John Farnham
1980 Johnny Farnham's Greatest Hits VHS Film Clips & Live Performances from 1967 to 1980
1986 John Farnham & Little River Band - In Concert VHS Released only in Germany; no longer available
1987 Whispering Jack In Concert VHS Recorded live in 1987 from the Melbourne Sports & Entertainment Centre; re-released on DVD as part of the "Whispering Jack 20th Anniversary Edition" CD/DVD pack
1989 Classic Jack Live VHS / TV Televised after being recorded live during the "Age Of Reason Tour" with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
1990 Chain Reaction Live In Concert VHS / TV Televised after being recorded live during the "Chain Reaction Tour"
1994 Talk Of The Town Tour VHS Recorded live during the "Talk Of The Town Tour"
1997 Jack Of Hearts TV - preceded by a 1 hour documentary about the Far North Queensland leg of the tour, entitled "Off The Road." Televised live performance during the "Jack Of Hearts Tour"; Never released commercially
1998 The Main Event TV / VHS / DVD Televised live performance during the "The Main Event Tour" with Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow
1999 Anthology 1 - The Videos VHS Film Clips from 1986 to 1999
1999 50th Birthday Party TV Televised live performance of the final night of "I Can't Believe He's 50 Tour"; Never released commercially
2000 33 1/3 - On The Inside VHS / DVD Film Clips and the making of the album, 33 1/3
2001 Man Of The Hour VHS / DVD Recorded from the "Man Of The Hour Tour" Never released commerially
2002 An Audience With John Farnham DVD Recorded at Channel 7 Studios, Melbourne
2003 The Last Time VHS / DVD / TV Televised performance of final Melbourne concert of "The Last Time Tour"

DVD Feature - Last Time Tour Documentary

2003 One Voice - The Greatest Clips VHS/ DVD Film Clips from John Farnham's 35-year career
2005 John Farnham & Tom Jones Together In Concert TV / DVD Televised live performance during "Together In Concert"
2005 Classic Jack Live DVD Re-Release of the original VHS from 1989
2005 Chain Reaction Tour DVD Re-Release of the original VHS from 1990
2006 John Farnham With The Sydney Symphony DVD Televised live performance at the Sydney Opera House.

Charities

  • Save The Children Fund
  • CARE Australia
  • The Prince's Trust
  • Victorian Association for Deserted Children
  • Dairy Farmers Association
  • Gympie Rural Aid Appeal
  • Starlight Childrens Foundation
  • Make A Wish Foundation
  • Breast Cancer Foundation
  • Parkinson's Disease Association
  • AIDS Trust
  • Variety Clubs of Australia
  • Boxing Day Tsunami Appeal (Melbourne)

References

Preceded by Australian of the Year
1987
Succeeded by