Whispering Jack – John Farnham’s 12th studio album was released on October 20, 1986. To celebrate Australia’s most successful album ever, John will embark on a national tour in October – 25 years to the day of the album’s initial release date.
John Farnham and his band will perform the first half of the show unplugged featuring very special versions of some of his biggest hits as never heard before. The second half of the show will feature his
band Chong Lim, Stuart Fraser, Brett Garsed, Lindsay Field, Angus Burchall, Craig Newman, Bob Coassin, Steve Williams, Dannielle Gaha and Lisa Edwards, performing for the first time on stage, the entire
Whispering Jack album. This show is a must see for any music fan.
Whispering Jack was recorded in Melbourne after John, his manager Glenn Wheatley and award winning producer Ross Fraser listened to hundreds of songs sent in from all over the world. This iconic
album was over 12 months in the making. All involved felt this was going to be something special.
The first single from the album, the anthemic You’re the Voice, restored Farnham to number one for the first time in 17 years and Whispering Jack became the biggest-selling Australian album of all time. The hits kept coming with Pressure Down, Reasons and
A Touch of Paradise.
The album went on to be awarded 24 Platinum albums selling over 1.7million copies and spent 26 weeks at the No.1 spot on the ARIA charts. You’re the Voice also sold a million copies in Europe and
reached the Top Ten in England. At the inaugural ARIA Awards held in Sydney in 1987, WHISPERING JACK won 6 ARIA AWARDS for Best Adult
Contemporary Album, Best Male Artist, Highest
Selling Album, Highest Selling Single (You’re The Voice), Single of the Year, and Album of the year prompting the Awards host, Elton John to suggest renaming the awards to the John Farnham Awards.
In 1988, John again picked up Best Male Artist and the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award based on the success of Whispering Jack. In the same year, John was named Australian of the Year and was awarded an Order of Australia.
You’re the Voice became one of the standout Number One songs on the Australian Charts of the 1980s and still remains a staple of Australian Radio. Whispering Jack re-started Farnham’s career and
kept it rolling across two more decades.
Whispering Jack was the best charting album in Australia for the decade in the 1980’s ahead of such greats as Meatloaf Bat Out Of Hell, Dire Straits Brothers in Arm, The Best of Abba and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It was appropriate that Whispering Jack was the first Australian made album to be released on compact disc in Australia.
The story continues with the 2011 tour Whispering Jack…25 years On.
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