Suvarna Garge (Editor)

You're the Voice

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B-side
  
"Going, Going, Gone"

Recorded
  
1985-1986

Length
  
5:04

Released
  
September 1986

Genre
  
Rock, pop rock

Format
  
7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD

"You're the Voice" is a song written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson. Australian singer John Farnham recorded the song for his album Whispering Jack released in 1986. The song was awarded the 1987 ARIA Award for "Single of the Year". The song was one of the biggest hits of 1986 in Australia, topping the Kent Music Report Singles Chart for seven weeks from 3 November to 21 December.

Contents

It is also one of Farnham's biggest international successes, reaching the top 10 in the UK and many continental European countries, as well as the top 20 in Canada. In the US, the track performed relatively poorly, missing the chart on its initial 1987 issue. BMG/RCA rereleased the song in the US in February 1990 after Farnham made the Adult Contemporary charts with "Two Strong Hearts". Farnham's version eventually spent eight weeks on the US charts, peaking at No. 82, but in the US the song is probably best known for a charting version issued by Heart in 1991.

Pop culture appearances

The song appeared in the 2007 film Hot Rod and was featured on the film's soundtrack. The song appears in a scene when the main character, Rod, is preparing to jump 15 buses to raise money to save his stepfather. Some of the crowd are also involved in singing along to it and a small three-piece bagpipe band is shown walking along the road in time to the song's version of the same.

The song was also featured on the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on the fictional in-game radio station "Vice City FM". It was also used in the Coca-Cola Light "Applause"' advertisement.

Another appearance was in a 2012 Ford Australia TV commercial to advertise the company's SYNC voice control system. Due to the TV ad, people downloaded the song and it reappeared in the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart at No. 64.

The song features in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa during the "low speed" police chase and is on the film's accompanying soundtrack.

The song was featured as an outtake for the BBC series Merlin, in which the actors Colin Morgan and Bradley James mimed the lyrics.

Peter Kay's character John Redmond sang along to the song at the start of Episode 6 in Peter Kay's Car Share

Heart version

As a lead promotion for their first live album Rock the House Live! in 1991, US rock band Heart released their live version of "You're the Voice" as a single. It was captured during the US leg of their Brigade world tour in November 1990. The single performed moderately well, reaching #20 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, whilst it was a minor hit in the UK reaching #56.

It was released in multiple limited edition formats in different territories, with the UK boasting the highest number of these :

  1. 7" etched one-sided single
  2. 7" red vinyl single
  3. 10" red vinyl single
  4. 12" etched one-sided single
  5. CD single

A studio version of the track had been recorded in late 1989 as part of the sessions for the Brigade album, though the track did not make the album cut track list. This studio version would not see release until its later inclusion on a greatest hits package, Greatest Hits: 1985–1995, in July 2000.

World Liberty Concert

"You're the Voice" was performed at the World Liberty Concert in 1995 by Alan Parsons Band, Chris Thompson, and Metropole Orkest. The only official release associated with the concert, the single featured a studio recording of the song, rather than the live version.

The b-side was a live recording of "White Dawn", which was performed by the Metropole Orkest and Gelders Opera and Operetta Gezelschap (GOOG) choir. The song was arranged by Andrew Powell and conducted by Dick Bakker. During the performance of "White Dawn", a battle was simulated that included gunfire, which can be heard around the middle of the recording.

The radio edit of the "You're the Voice" single was also featured on Alan Parsons: The Very Best Live (1995).

Track listing

  1. "You're the Voice (Radio Edit)" – (Qynta, Thompson, Reid, Ryder) – 4:14
  2. "White Dawn" – (Parsons) Lead Vocals Chris Thompson – 4:50

Other cover versions

  • In 1989, Scottish singer Barbara Dickson covered it on her album Coming Alive Again.
  • In 1990, David Foster included a cover on his album River of Love with Jeff Pescetto on vocals.
  • In 1993, Lavrentis Machairitsas covered the song with Greek lyrics on his album Rixe Kokkino Sti Nihta. The song was later performed as a mash-up of the original and the cover version in the first season of The Voice of Greece.
  • In 1995, The Italian band Matia Bazar included their own version with original lyrics in Italian with the title of "La Scuola Dei Serpenti" on their compilation album Radio Matia.
  • In 1995, Dutch a cappella group Montezuma's Revenge on their album Make A Noise.
  • In 1995, Alan Parsons included a live recording on his album "The Very Best Live," sung by co-author Chris Thompson
  • In 1996, Christian singer Rebecca St. James covered it on her album God.
  • In 2004, British vocal group G4 covered it on their album G4 & Friends.
  • A happy hardcore bootleg remix of the song was released by DJ Impact in 2006.
  • In 2007, Argentinian Progressive Metal band Eidyllion made a cover on their album Secretos.
  • In 2008, a full-length studio cover version of the song by David Archuleta appeared on iTunes after he had performed it on the TV series American Idol.
  • A cappella group Club for Five in 2009 on their album You're The Voice.
  • In 2010, power metal band Blind Guardian on their album At the Edge of Time.
  • In 2010, Metallic Rock UK band Forever Never included a cover of the song on their covers EP I Can't Believe It's Not Metal.
  • In 2012, British heavy metal band I Am I released a cover as a single. An audio sample can be heard on their official website.
  • In 2013, Welsh rock band Attack! Attack! covered the song on their third album "Long Road To Nowhere".
  • In 2013, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange performed a spoof of the video wearing a platinum mullet wig in Juice Rap News episode 20 as part of his Australian Senate election campaign. The spoof was subsequently taken down due to a copyright claim by Fable Music Pty Ltd.
  • In 2016, Jørn Lande recorded a cover for his Heavy Rock Radio covers album.

    • Sampling

    A UK hardcore track released by Waxman in 1996 sampled "You're The Voice".

    References

    You're the Voice Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA