You're the Voice

Infobox Single
Name = You're the Voice


Caption =
Artist = John Farnham
from Album = Whispering Jack
A-side =
B-side =
Released = January 6 1986
February 1990
Format = CD single
Recorded = 1985
Genre = Power Ballad
Length = 5:04
Label =
Writer = Andy Qunta, Mitchel Reid, Maggie Ryder, Chris Thompson
Producer =
Certification =
Chart position = #1 (Australia, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Norway, Sweden)
#6 (United Kingdom)
#82 (United States)
Last single =
This single = "You're the Voice" (1986)
Next single = "Pressure Down" (1986)
Misc = "You're the Voice" is a song written by Andy Qunta, Mitchel Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson for John Farnham, which he recorded in 1985 for his sixteenth album "Whispering Jack" (first released 1986) [http://www.johnfarnham.com.au/releases/home.do?catalogueNo=SFCD0149&bc=1 Whispering Jack] . The song was awarded the 1987 Aria Award for "Single of the Year". The song was one of the biggest hits of the year in Australia, topping the singles chart there for many weeks. It is also one of Farnham's biggest international successes, reaching number 6 in the United Kingdom. [http://www.memorabletv.com/musicworld/ozrock/etog.htm John Farnham]

The single was a hit in every country except the U.S. where it flopped. BMG/RCA U.S. re-released the song in February, 1990. The song spent 8 weeks on the charts, peaking only at #82.

In 1989 John Farnham made the Adult Contemporary charts in the U.S. with "Two Strong Hearts", which was at the time a reasonably current song. That may be the reason why RCA U.S. re-release the song, in 1990, to see if it would make an impact in the States. It did not.

Farnham's is the seminal version in Australia to this day (2008).

Cover versions

The following artists covered the song:
*Scott Grimes on his 1989 self-titled album.
*David Foster with vocalist Jeff Pescetto on 1990 album "River of Love".
*Heart on their live album "Rock the House Live!" (1991). Also appears on their albums "" (1995) and on "The Essential Heart" (2002).
*Lavrentis Maxairitsas (Greek: Λαυρέντης Μαχαιρίτσας) in 1993 on his album "Throw Red at the Night" (Greek: Ρίξε κόκκινο στη Νύχτα)
*Rebecca St. James in 1996 on her album "God".
*Alan Parsons on his 1996 album "The Very Best Live" as an unreleased studio version that allowed Chris Thompson a chance to record his own song as lead vocals.
*Chris Thompson on the version found on the SAS Band's self titled album from 2004.
*The British vocal group G4 on their 2004 album "G4 & Friends".
*Guy Sebastian, winner of the first season of "Australian Idol", during Australian-Made Songs Week.
*KT Tunstall on ITV's "Guilty Pleasures" show in March 2008 [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rzje-gWSpg YouTube - KT TunstallYou're The Voice Guilty Pleasures Part 2 ] ] .
*Kate Miller-Heidke on her special CD/DVD edition (2008) of her debut album "Little Eve", a previously unreleased live version.
*David Archuleta during season 7 of "American Idol". The show's theme that week had the finalists singing songs from their year of birth. Archuleta was born in 1990, when Farnham's original version was a minor hit in the US.

Cinema

*The song was played in the riot scene of the 2007 movie "Hot Rod". The song is played in its near entirety during a parade march to the film's climactic scene.

Notes