Whispering Jack

John Farnham had been a teen pop idol during the late 1960s and 1970s billed then as "Johnny". He met Glenn Wheatley, who was bass guitarist of rock group The Masters Apprentices, when both acts were managed by Darryl Sambell. From the mid-1970s, Farnham had moved into television, stage and cabaret entertainment. and the associated album, Uncovered, was also produced by Goble, In recording the album, Farnham's studio band included guitarist Tommy Emmanuel (ex-Southern Star Band), keyboardist Mal Logan (ex-Renée Geyer Band, LRB), drummer Derek Pellicci (LRB) and bass guitarist Barry Sullivan (ex-Chain). while "Pressure Down" was provided by Harry Bogdanovs. Two weeks before the album was due to be recorded a demo tape arrived from London with similar material to "Pressure Down"; Farnham and Fraser listened to the demo of "You're the Voice" and knew they had found a once-in-a-lifetime song. Another song on offer was "We Built This City" but Farnham knocked it back; it was later recorded by US band Starship. ==Recording==

Recording began in October 1985 in the suburban garage of Farnham's house on Manningham road in Bulleen, Victoria. The recording's $150,000 cost was financed by the remortgaging of Glenn Wheatley's house. In addition to traditional instrumentation, the album relied heavily on sampling. The drum sounds on "You're the Voice" were sampled from a slamming car door played via the Fairlight CMI. Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne were then later used to complete the album. ==Reception==

Initially, public interest in the re-branded former teen idol was difficult to cultivate, and radio stations refused to play Farnham's album. Things, however, started to change after Sydney radio station 2Day FM played its first single, "You're the Voice", which was released in September 1986. Henceforth, radio stations began receiving requests for the song. Its television debut was on ''Hey Hey It's Saturday'' with Skyhooks' Greg Macainsh providing bass guitar. and Australia, No. 6 in the UK, and No. 6 in Austria. The song was written by Andy Qunta (Icehouse), Keith Reid (Procol Harum), Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson (ex-Manfred Mann's Earth Band). Whispering Jack, released in September, became the highest-selling album by an Australian act in Australia, and peaked at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart for a total of 25 weeks. No. 3 in Austria, In August 1988 it returned to the Australian top ten. Other Australian singles were December's "Pressure Down", which peaked at No. 4, March 1987's "A Touch of Paradise" and September's "Reasons". In October 2010, Whispering Jack (1986) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. In December 2021, the album was listed at number three in Rolling Stone Australia's '200 Greatest Albums of All Time' countdown. In 2011, Farnham announced a national tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Whispering Jack, including the album being performed in its entirety in track order. ==Track listing==

• "Pressure Down" (Harry Bogdanovs) – 3:50 • "You're the Voice" (Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder, Chris Thompson) – 5:04 • "One Step Away" (Jon Kennett, Dave Skinner) – 3:36 • "Reasons" (Sam See) – 4:26 • "Going, Going, Gone" (John Farnham, David Hirschfelder, Ross Fraser) – 3:33 • "No One Comes Close" (Eric McCusker) – 4:09 • "Love to Shine" (Bogdanovs, Kiki Dee) – 4:01 • "Trouble" (Dennis East) – 3:25 • "A Touch of Paradise" (Ross Wilson, Gulliver Smith) – 4:48 • "Let Me Out" (Farnham) – 4:22 Alternate track listing • "Pressure Down (remix)" (Bogdanovs) – 3:45 • "You're the Voice (remix)" (Qunta, Reid, Ryder, Thompson) – 5:35 • "A Touch of Paradise (remix)" (Wilson, Smith) – 4:39 • "One Step Away" (Kennett, Skinner) – 3:36 • "Reasons" (See) – 4:26 • "No One Comes Close" (McCusker) – 4:09 • "Love to Shine" (Bogdanovs, Dee) – 4:01 • "Trouble" (East) – 3:25 • "Let Me Out" (Farnham) – 4:22 • "Going, Going, Gone" (Farnham, Hirschfelder, Fraser) – 3:33 Whispering Jack Live Following the initial success of the album, a series of concerts was performed around Australia in 1987. One such performance was recorded at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre, and broadcast on Network Ten. A full version of the concert was also released to video in the same year. • "Pressure Down" (Bogdanovs) • "One Step Away" (Kennett, Skinner) • "Going, Going, Gone" (Farnham, Hirschfelder, Fraser) • "Paper Paradise" (Hirschfelder, Nelson) • "Infatuation" (Brady, Goble) • "Let Me Out" (Farnham) • "A Touch of Paradise" (Wilson, Smith) • "When the War Is Over" (Prestwich) • "Comic Conversations" (Bromley) • "All in Love Is Fair" (Stevie Wonder) • "Amazing Grace" (Traditional) • "Reasons" (See) • "No One Comes Close" (McCusker) • "Trouble" (East) • "Love to Shine" (Bogdanovs, Dee) • "Playing to Win" (Farnham, Goble, Hirschfelder, Housden, Proffer, Nelson, Prestwich) • "One" (Nilsson) • "Down on the Border (Goble) • "Help" (Lennon, McCartney) • "You're the Voice" (Qunta, Reid, Ryder, Thompson) 20th anniversary edition Disc one (CD) • "Pressure Down" (Bogdanovs) – 3:50 • "You're the Voice" (Qunta, Reid, Ryder, Thompson) – 5:04 • "One Step Away" (Kennett, Skinner) – 3:36 • "Reasons" (See) – 4:26 • "Going, Going, Gone" (Farnham, Hirschfelder, Fraser) – 3:33 • "No One Comes Close" (McCusker) – 4:09 • "Love to Shine" (Bogdanovs, Dee) – 4:01 • "Trouble" (East) – 3:25 • "A Touch of Paradise" (Wilson, Smith) – 4:48 • "Let Me Out" (Farnham) – 4:22 • "Pressure Down" extended version (Bogdanovs) – 5:55 Disc two ("Whispering Jack Live in Concert" DVD) (Note: The DVD used the edited version originally broadcast on television in 1987, minus "Paper Paradise".) • "Pressure Down" (Bogdanovs) – 4:19 • "One Step Away" (Kennett, Skinner) – 3:35 • "Going, Going, Gone" (Farnham, Hirschfelder, Fraser) – 3:47 • "Let Me Out" (Farnham) – 4:21 • "A Touch of Paradise" (Wilson, Smith) – 5:29 • "When the War Is Over" (Steve Prestwich) – 5:33 • "Amazing Grace" (Traditional) – 4:39 • "Reasons" (See) – 5:14 • "No One Comes Close" (McCusker) – 4:26 • "Love to Shine" (Bogdanovs, Dee) – 4:23 • "One" (H Nilsson) – 5:47 • "Playing to Win" (Graham Goble, Farnham, Hirschfelder, Stephen Housden, Spencer Proffer, Wayne Nelson, Prestwich) – 3:08 • "Help!" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:58 • "You're the Voice" (Qunta, Reid, Ryder, Thompson) – 6:13 • "Credits" – 2:06 ==Personnel==

John Farnham band • John Farnham – vocals, drum machine, percussion (credited as Whispering Jack) • Brett Garsed – guitars • David Hirschfelder – keyboards, drum machine, percussion • Roger McLachlan – bass guitar Additional musicians • Rozzi Bazzani – backing vocals • Sandy Weeks – backing vocals • Helen Cornish – backing vocals • Penny Dyer – backing vocals • Colin Setches – backing vocals • Mal Stainton – backing vocals • Nikki Nicholls – backing vocals • Ross Fraser – drum machine, percussion • Wickow – percussion • Dougie – low moans Production • Ross Fraser – producer • Doug Brady – recording and mix engineer • Michael Wickow – assistant engineer • Don Bartley – original 1986 mastering engineer • Martin Pullan – 2006 remastering engineer ==Chart positions==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==