by kgdjpubs » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:06 am
couple of comments on John Farnham grouped for one post....
"By the way, when Farnham sustains the level of success that Perry did, let me know."
To be honest, it should probably be the other way around. John Farnham is basically unknown outside of Australia (much like Perry/Journey are outside of US). Farnham never really broke out of Australia, and with the exception of Japan, Journey never broke out of the US.
That being said, Farnham is the #1 selling artist in Australian history with the highest selling album in the country, which has stood for 20 years. He holds the record for the number of shows and patrons in ALL of the entertainment centres in Australia. He is also one of the few people in the world to have a #1 hit in four different decades. He holds the records for the two top grossing tours in Australian history. He broke Australian touring records (eclipsing his own record at the #1 spot), performing with his 10-piece band from November to June 2003, selling out 94 concerts to 460,000 people and becoming the seventh most profitable touring act in the world. The last show of the "Farewell Tour" in 2003 saw Farnham perform his 86th show in Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena and his one millionth patron in THAT ARENA ALONE. I won't even start on the number of awards he has been given over the years.
I think it's safe to say that there are more people in Australia who know who John Farnham is, than people in the US who know who Steve Perry is. No disrespect for what Perry and Journey achieved, but Farnham is the bigger act, by far.
"Who the fuck is Farnham? He's been performing since '83? I never even heard of him. "
Australian pop singer. His career dates back to the 1st single in 1967, which became the highest selling single of the decade. He was rather popular as a teen pop star for several years, then album sales started declining. He joined Little River Band from 1981 to 1984, when he left the band. Apparently, there was some amount of friction, and he felt he was tied down. Go search for an interview on him commenting on his days with LRB on youtube. His big comeback was in 1986 when Whispering Jack was released. The album is still the #1 selling album in Australia, and the tour was the biggest grossing tour in Australian history. Since then, success has been consistent. See the stuff above. Recently, after performing at the closing of the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 2000, he retired from major touring in 2003, but still performs on occasion. He recorded a version of We Will Rock You with Queen for his greatest hits album in 2003 (One Voice), and there are a lot of rumours that he turned the lead vocalist position down because he didn't want the hassle. No offense to Paul Rodgers who did the best he could with a voice that is 180 degrees opposite of Freddy Mercury, but Farnham would have been a natural in the frontman of Queen. When you are as successful solo as Farnham is, I am sure there would be some friction putting him into an established band situation like Queen.
Also, as Monker said, John Farnham's voice is basically unchanged from 25 years ago, live or in studio. For whatever reason though, like many other Australian bands, he never really broke out into the world stage. Farnham experienced some success in Europe also around the release of Whispering Jack with You're the Voice, but never broke the US. Perhaps by it's location as much as anything else, Australia always had it's own contained music scene of legends that could sell out the entire country, but not get arrested anywhere else (Cold Chisel being another example).
"Farnham has nice voice and is very good at the songs he chooses to sing...but do you think he has ever had the power and the emotion to sing something like Mother Father?"
power? yes--especially live. He can sound rather mechanical, especially on the mid 80s pop stuff (ie the Whispering Jack album), but his voice has a lot of raw power in the live environment. Emotion? yes, I think so. The guy can basically sing anything he wants to (and I've heard him nail Foreigner's I Want to Know What Love Is on a live performance several years ago), although I would say he would probably fit in better with Queen than with Journey. Going by his takes on Burn for You and Angels, he can do the emotion--and his voice is considerably more emotional live than studio. Honestly, his best stuff vocally was always live, where he can be restrained on the studio work. The main problem in answering the question is the main criticism people have of Farnham. That being most of his back catalogue is simple pop songs, and that he never stretched himself singing something that would do justice to his voice--a voice that was admired by most everyone, including a LOT of singers. Mother, Father, of course, is about as far as one can get from a simple pop song. As you said, Farnham (like Perry) is very good--and very selective--with what he chooses to sing, so it would be somewhat taking him out of his natural element, but I think Farnham could do the song justice.
"Just a question. The only song of Farnham's I'm familiar with is Cool Change. What songs should I listen to?"
As far as musical style goes, he isn't hard rock. More along the line of Phil Collins solo (without the horns) or the 80s pop version of Rod Stewart. A lot of his albums tend to be rather ballady also. The best bet is to go for his 2CD set "One Voice - Greatest Hits" collection. As far as specific songs, You're the Voice is his biggest hit, and is considerably more difficult to sing than it sounds. I've heard covers of that song that fail miserably--the song simply lives and dies on the lead vocal. Some of his better ones are Have a Little Faith (In Us), That's Freedom, Angels, Burn for You, Age of Reason, and his cover of Cold Chisel's When the World Is Over (which is a bit different from the original, but still a stunning song and lyrically much deeper than your average pop song).
Farnham's "The Last Time" live dvd from the final Melbourne show in 2003 is also well worth picking up if you have a dvd player can can play PAL. 2 1/2 hrs of uncut live concert, and Farnham is simply incredible live.
Kevin
