John Farnham's Whispering Jack

Graeme Turner is Professor Emeritus at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is one of the founding figures of media and cultural studies in Australia, and a leading figure internationally. He was one of the earliest to undertake academic research on popular music in Australia, producing articles, chapters, and a co-edited book over the 1980s and 1990s, before turning his attention to television and new media in the 2000s. He has published over 25 books including Understanding Celebrity (2013) and National Fictions: Literature, Film and the Construction of Australian Narrative (2020).

Introduction
1. The Backstory: From Johnny to John
The Australian music industry in the 80s
The changes in radio
The task ahead
2. Whispering Jack, the Album
Good songs, good beats, and the energy of rock
The ‘whiz-bang album’
The Voice
So, let’s play the album
Timeless
3. ‘You’re The Voice’
The unofficial national anthem
Australian popular music and cultural nationalism
4. And then….
The ‘ordinary’ rock star
The Farnham audience
Notes
References
Index