Behind The Hits: The John Farnham story

The latest episode of LiSTNR’s Behind The Hits podcast features the story of John Farnham.

It’s a special insight into the life of the Australian music legend, from his beginnings to his personal and professional highs and lows, told in his own words, and by those close to him.

With audio found in LiSTNR archives, previously unheard and new interviews feature industry names and friends of John including Olivia Newton-John, Kate Ceberano, Daryl Braithwaite, Jimmy Barnes, Richard Marx, The Veronicas, Triple M radio legend Lee Simon, Gaynor Wheatley and director of the newly released documentary Finding the Voice, Poppy Stockell.

In the episode, John talks about the chaos of his wedding to Jill in 1973:

“Jilly used to get death threats, some kids arrived on her doorstep one night with a knife and they said, ‘We’ve come to stab you,’ and she said, ‘Oh, come in and have a cup of tea.’ She was terrified apparently all the time …”

Of his hit single You’re The Voice, John says “I felt like it was written for me.”

He also opens up about the stress associated with making the Whispering Jack album.

“We’d had to sell everything, we were living in a rented house, we didn’t own anything, we couldn’t pay the butcher, we couldn’t go to dinner, it was really ugly there for a while.”

Listen to the episode here.