Album #57 : John Farnham - Whispering Jack

John Farnham

Whispering Jack (1986)

People often forget that John Farnham's career has run through a number of phases. There was his teen heartthrob idol phase of the 60s and 70s (when he was known as Johnny Farnham, and spent the majority of the 70s appearing in stage musicals and cabaret shows), his brief solo reinvention as an adult contemporary singer in 1980-81, his stint as lead singer of the Little River Band, his return to the world of being a solo adult contemporary singer, his retirement, his comeback, his second retirement, his second comeback, his third retirement, his third comeback.......

Okay, so that might be slightly exaggerated. Nevertheless, Farnham's been at the forefront of Australian music for the best part of 30 years. But, had it not been for Glenn Wheatley's belief in him, had it not been for the influence of others around him, then his career may well have faded into obscurity, just another teen pop star whose time was up. Even though Farnham was pooling tracks for a potential solo album while in LRB, record labels wouldn't touch him and he was not exactly flush with cash.

Whispering Jack, released late in 1986, was funded by Wheatley, who mortgaged his house to pay for the recording. It consists of songs that were written by others and given to Farnham to record. Some of those songs are bona fide Australian classics. That's part of the reason why it shot to number one, and relaunched Farnham as an Australian icon. Yet even that success came with difficulty; radio stations refused to play the singles, and it was only the sheer public popularity of one song that saw the album take flight.

It's undisputedly one of Australian music's most popular albums, and it's the subject of today's review.

The Album

Take a listen to Whispering Jack, and it's easy to see why it shifted so many copies and relaunched Farnham's career. It delves deeply into the new wave/synthpop sound that was still very prevalent at the time, though there is one key difference that differentiates it from other synthpop bands - and that's Farnham himself, who surely is one of the greatest singers this country has produced. His powerful voice and considerable range manage to even lift the album's worst cuts to something listenable.

The other factor that heavily influences the album's quality is that the four singles - Pressure Down, You're The Voice, A Touch of Paradise and Reasons - are all songs of the highest quality. In my view the weakest is the first of the four, and even that's still a great pop song. Synth heavy with supporting guitar licks, Farnham's vocal is typically powerful and it's full of hooks. You're The Voice is close to the quintessential drunken Australian singalong song (it maybe has only Khe Sanh as real competition), and for good reason. That chorus is bombastic and powerful, and sweeps you away as a listener; the song itself manages to convey a sense of majesty and grandeur whilst remaining deceptively simple. And, of course, there's Farnham again, smashing the vocal out of the park.

A Touch Of Paradise is a brilliant ballad. Its strength is twofold; firstly the gentle instrumentation (synthesisers and drum machine) and subtle backing vocals create a soothing backdrop, and secondly, the vocal is the best one on the album. That gentleness of sound allows Farnham to be heavily prominent, and he responds by giving us a spinetingling vocal, full of 'wow' moments. Even the saxophone solo is smoooooooth. The last of the singles, Reasons, is for mine one of the most underrated songs in Farnham's catalogue. It's a simple (again) synthpop song, with a cracking vocal and a chorus that demands to be heard (it shifts dramatically in intensity compared to the verses).

The rest of the album is lesser in quality, and all basically identical in structure - synthpop/New Wave songs with pop structures, and mostly featuring midsection guitar solos that positively wail. Fair to say that the singles don't contain flashy instrumentation, but some of the album tracks (notably Love To Shine, Trouble and Let Me Out) feature pretty wild guitar solos from Brett Garsed. It's all mostly album filler though (even if it's somewhat decent album filler), and not really worth talking about in great detail; the stars of the album are those four singles.

The Verdict

Whispering Jack reminds me a little bit of Icehouse's Man Of Colours, which I reviewed in January, in that it contains some crackingly outstanding singles and the rest is album filler. There are however some key differences that see Whispering Jack get a higher rating from me; firstly the singles are better, and the album filler (unlike Man Of Colours) still has some catchy, hooky pop moments, and generally consists of solid tunes.

On the whole, this is a pretty decent album. It's worth listening to in its entirety just for Farnham, who even sings brilliantly on those album tracks. And, of course, there's the four singles, which are winners all.

My rating: *** and a half

Standout Tracks

Reasons

A Touch Of Paradise

You're The Voice

As February draws to a close, and the March schedule nears its completion, tomorrow sees The LOAD Project take on its first 'novelty' album, before finishing February with a highly recommended metal album.