The 1980 Listening Post - John Farnham - Uncovered

 Reviewed by Sheffield Chastain

Released: July 3 1980 John Farnham Uncovered Genre: Little River Band Pop Vocal Pyrotechnics Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Highlights: Matilda She Says To Me On My Own It’s no wonder John Farnham was welcomed into The Little River Band with open arms. A combination of a pop confection sensibility and a gorgeous voice would make any band wanting to ride the late 70’s wave of heavy rotation FM pop success with songs like Reminiscing, Lonesome Loser and Lady shout for joy at the luck of landing the perfect singer. One can argue (successfully, I think) that The Little River Band never gained the pop chart success they had in the 70’s with John Farnham on board, but there is no denying it wasn’t because their new singer wasn’t pulling his weight. And boy, can John Farnham sing. He’s got an incredible voice – soulful, crisp, clean, emotional, fabulous phrasing – and man, can he hit the high notes. Damn. Farnham’s voice goes a long way to elevating the simple, bluesy pop rock on offer here. This is essentially a Little River Band album. Produced by Graeham Goble, long time LRB guitarist and vocalist, along with LRB keyboardist Mal Logan and drummer Derek Pellicci. If you’re a longtime fan of The Little River Band, this is all going to sound familiar and will probably be right up your alley. Uncovered succeeds best with the first two tracks - Matilda and She Says To Me – and with the vocal fireworks of On My Own. Matilda, a very lovely pop tune with the requisite high notes, super melodic song writing and fitting guitar pop licks satisfies. The ABBA-esque harmonies and melody on She Says To Me sounds familiar and comforting. And On My Own, the cool sax-infused pop tuner, highlights Farnham’s voacl range and actually made me say out loud, “ok, now he’s just showing off!”. I wish the rest of the album were more in this vein. But alas, the rest is just mediocre pop, elevated slightly by Farnham’s incredible vocals. The super sugary ballads, like Jillie's Song and Please Don’t Ask Me, grated to no end, though if you are a lover of wonderfully sung, syrupy ballads, they’ll probably be more to your liking. For me, listening once through had my blood sugar levels at a dangerously high level. The whole thing ends with a Requisite Cover song: Help. A totally unnecessary Beatles cover that adds nothing to the songwriting of Lennon-McCartney, other than to show off Farnham’s vocals. Yes, I know, I know, it’s the recording that got Farnham the ok to make this album, Uncovered, but I wish this version had stayed …. Well, covered. Yeesh.