Love it or hate it, John Farnham’s You’re the Voice is one of the most famous and resonant songs ever to come out of Australia. And now you can see the true story of the tune when John Farnham: Finding the Voice hits New Zealand cinemas on July 27.
We’re not gonna sit in silence: John Farnham: Finding the Voice is the first authorised biopic of the iconic Australian singer, recounting how, at the time the album Whispering Jack was in the works circa 1986, the then-38-year-old English-born entertainer was struggling creatively and financially, having left The Little River Band behind in an attempt to launch a solo career.
Two weeks before recording was due to start, a demo tape of You’re the Voice’ arrived. Farnham and his manager, Glenn Wheatley, realised they had something special on their hands. Indeed, Wheatley was so impressed he mortgaged his family home to underwrite the whole album. That’s quite a roll of the dice.
The rest is history, Chart-smashing history, as “You’re the Voice” remains one the biggest-ever selling singles ever released by an Australian artist, while the full album remains the best-selling Australian album of all time. It marked an incredible reversal of fortune for the one-time ‘60s pop idol, at the time still best known for crooning “Sadie the Cleaning Lady”, and led to Farnham’s astounding success in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
But don’t take our word for it—plenty of notables are on hand to sing Whispering Jack’s praises, including the late Glenn Wheatley and Olivia Newton-John, Celine Dion, Richard Marx, Robbie Williams and iconic Aussie rockers Jimmy Barnes and Daryl Braithwaite. For fans of Farnham, this new documentary is simply unmissable.
