IF A FOOL IS BORN EVERY MINUTE JOHN FARNHAM IS THE MAN OF THE HOUR

American melodic rock / AOR veteran RICHARD MARX once stated many years ago that Australia's very own JOHN FARNHAM had the most epic and incredible voice he had ever heard - like a voice to make your hair stand up, and give you pins and needles in your outer limbs. Well that's not word for word, but Marx for a time anyway virtually hero worshipped Farnham.

Shame these two guys never had the opportunity, either because of time constraints or quite possibly record company contractual obstructions, to corroborate and record an album together. Farnham and Marx were two of my favorite artists in the late 80's and early 90's.

Whereas Marx was an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Farnham's instrumental abilities were probably always limited to playing SADIE THE CLEANING LADY on a ukulele. In other words, he can't play any instrument for shit, but his voice, and that of Marx, was magical in the days of WHISPERING JACK and AGE OF REASON, his two landmark albums in the late 80's.

Farnham adopted a more stripped down musical approach in the 90's, notably for his CHAIN REACTION album and a number of one-off corroborations with other Australian artists, including harmony boy band HUMAN NATURE, which saw him take what would become a permanent detour away from his melodic rock and pop origins with the LITTLE RIVER BAND and his early solo recordings.

 

MAN OF THE HOUR is a song he recorded in 2005 which perfectly captures Farnham's wit, self depreciation and satire in song. A song about the quintessential fool for love, a guy who just doesn't know how to bow out gracefully and get out of a dodgy relationship while he is still ahead. LMAO.