You're The Voice

November 18, 2019 10:09 PM

John Farnham is an Australian institution, who's widely considered to be one of the country’s greatest singers. ‘The only Australian artist to have a number-one record in five consecutive decades’, he’s been crowned King of Pop (1969-1973), King of Moomba (1972), Australian of the Year (1987), made an Officer of the Order of Australia (1996), inducted in to the Australian Recording Industry Association’s Hall of Fame (2003), and holds the record for the highest selling Australian album of all time (24x platinum for 1986's Whispering Jack).

Farnham is known for:
Making bagpipes cool again (You’re The Voice, plus bonus keytar version!)
Melting hearts (Burn For You, A Touch Of Paradise)
Rocking the room (Playing To Win)
Classic covers (Help, Amazing Grace, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Imagine with Ray Charles)
Hamming it up with his hero Tom Jones (It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock N’ Roll), featuring yet more bagpipes, My Yiddishe Momme)
Making Christmas, Christmas (Mary’s Boy Child/You’ll Never Walk Alone, Silent Night)
Telling Nazi punks to eff off
Still being on top of his game

Onya Farnsy.

posted by brushtailedphascogale (13 comments total)

I can't say anything nice about him.
posted by awfurby at 10:34 PM on November 18, 2019 [4 favorites]

I can't say anything nice about him.

Well, geez, if you're going to crap on a post from the very outset at least back it up with some reasons.
posted by Brockles at 10:41 PM on November 18, 2019 [12 favorites]

I've never heard of anything specifically bad about him but whenever I hear him speaking extemporaneously it becomes obvious he's not all that bright, and I'm saying that as a terminal dumbass myself. Great performer though.
posted by um at 10:56 PM on November 18, 2019

I'm still dirty on him for his "The Last Time Tour". Last time my arse.
posted by AD_ at 11:24 PM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

Well a Farnham album got stuck in my Walkman while cycling Europe in '91 and I got to really enjoy it. I had near continuous rain and wind off North Sea from Switzerland to Oostend and Farnham eased the pain a lot. Thanks for posting.
posted by unearthed at 12:02 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

I've heard of people emigrating from Australia so they didn't have to hear whispering Jack Farnham any more.
posted by Narrative_Historian at 12:17 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

I have to admit that I held my breath when I saw this post. Thanks to Rolf Harris and Don Burke, now when I see any news about a ‘beloved’ older Australian man, I always wait for the nasty revelation that’s to follow. I like Farnsy, hopefully he’s as genuinely likeable as he appears to be, enough of our icons have fallen from grace.
posted by Jubey at 12:46 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Oops
posted by Thella at 2:04 AM on November 19, 2019

I'm a kiwi, but lived in the US from '84-'04, having moved back home I'm apparently supposed to be nostalgic about his music (along with Jimmy Barne's) - I've no idea why
posted by mbo at 2:16 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Jubey: So, bit o sneaky news: My stepmum used to live next door to him - as next door as you get, given we're talking massive Northern Territory ranches here - and he is, apparently, an all round nice dude who is genuinely as pleasant and unchallenging as he seems in person. He's a huge fan of quarter horses and had a property of some sort up there, and my stepmum had a property that was adjacent enough that she met him a bunch of times.
posted by Jilder at 4:04 AM on November 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

I liked John Farnham just fine growing up, where he was a mainstay of NZ radio airplay. So much so that I went out and brought his classic hits double album. Readers, a double dose of John Farhnham is just too much.

That said, The Age of Reason is a fine dose of eighties earnestness.

Also related: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is not a fan.
posted by AndrewStephens at 7:23 AM on November 19, 2019

Judith Durham is Australia's greatest singer.
posted by Modest House at 9:33 AM on November 19, 2019

I never thought much about him growing up, he and his music were just there, always on the radio.

And then they played 'you're the voice' in a bar in London and we were all overwhelmed with aussie nostalgia and homesickness. Good times.
posted by kitten magic at 1:52 PM on November 19, 2019