⭐ Official Review [Album]: SCOTT GRIMES - "SCOTT GRIMES" S/T

What is your favorite track?

  • You're the Voice

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • You've Got a Friend

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • Show Me the Way To Your Heart

    Votes: 5 23.8%
  • Call On Me

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • What Am I Gonna Say?

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • I Don't Even Mind

    Votes: 3 14.3%
  • You Belong to Me

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Only Love

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pressure Down

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • Walkin' On the Water

    Votes: 5 23.8%
  • Chance in a Million

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • Total voters
    21
It seems fairly certain that Richard had a copy of John Farnham's million-selling 'Whispering Jack' album because he chose three of the singles from it for his artists to later record. "You're the Voice" is the first song in question. This was a Number One for John Farnham in a few countries about three years before Richard produced it for Scott Grimes and a Top 10 in a number of other countries. However, it was not initially a hit of any kind in the US, and its track record overseas was possibly why Richard, etc., felt it had potential as a new version there. John Farnham's version eventually reached the lower end of the Top 100 in the US when re-released in 1990, four years after it was a hit elsewhere.

In Australia, John Farnham's 'You're the Voice' stayed at Number One for seven weeks after entering the charts at the beginning of October, 1986, and propelled the album from which it came, 'Whispering Jack', to sell over one and a half million copies in a country with a population less than 20 million, at the time. 'Whispering Jack' held the Number One position on the Australian charts for almost six months.

Surprisingly, Scott Grimes' version of 'You're the Voice' has a dinky, tinny electronic keyboard sound. It's surprising that Richard chose this approach, I feel. Scott Grimes' version certainly doesn't have the strong anthemic feel or the power and energy that the lyrics and melody of the song call for, in my opinion.

'Pressure Down' was a second big hit from 'Whispering Jack' for John Farnham. It reached Number 4 in Australia after entering the top listings at the end of 1986 and stayed on the charts for six months. It was amongst the twenty biggest-selling singles of the following year. It was a Top 40 in a few other countries. Richard also chose this song for the Scott Grimes album. Once again, as producer, he chose a sort of cheap karaoke-style sound in the keyboard department for his version of 'Pressure Down'. The original had power and energy but I think Richard chose an approach that made Scott Grimes' version seem like a watered down attempt.

The third song released as a single from John Farnham's 'Whispering Jack' album that Richard later recorded as producer with another artist was 'A Touch of Paradise'. This song was a moderate hit for John Farnham at the beginning of 1987. Richard produced a version of the song for Veronique in 1989. I haven't heard Veronique's version for a few years, but from memory, it's quite reasonable. The song was originally recorded by Aussie group Mondo Rock and was co-written by their lead singer, Ross Wilson, who was quite a close aquaintance of John Farnham.

It does appear to me that someone in the Richard camp was at least aware of John Farnham's 'Whispering Jack' album because the fact that three songs, all singles, from it were later produced by Richard for other artists seems more than a coincidence.
 
Question about album cover contents: Does anyone's Scott Grimes album have an inner sleeve? My sealed copy doesn't have one.

Ed
 
CashBox Magazine, May 13, 1989:
"WHERE ARE THE DeFRANCO FAMILY WHEN YOU NEED THEM ?:
A&M hosted a party for Scott Grimes last week at the new Hollywood Diner,
a ’50s cafe located on the corner on Sunset and La Brea. Grimes is evidently an aspiring
teen-heartthrob whom Richard Carpenter discovered. Carpenter produced
the kid’s debut album which, well, should appeal to Scott Baio fans everywhere.
(Hey, that’s a pretty big demographic, ain’t it?) The prerequisite cover tune here
is Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend”... and it scared me."
 
So I've had some time to listen to the record and here are my thoughts on it. There are three big problems. The first is Scott himself. I don't believe a word he sings. He's just posturing through a great deal of it. He has a voice but his showbiz tendencies make that moot. He's since learned to invest real emotion and has become a great singer. The second problem is the songs. They are incredibly weak. You hear them once and they vanish into thin air. That goes for anything that's not "You're the Voice". Not a hook anywhere near the others. The third is the production. While Richard is still quite capable of great vocal ear candy, the same issues that plagued Carpenters later output plague this record. It's so precise and labored over and it doesn't really register. His biggest mistake was "You've Got a Friend". He re-arranged it as an uptempo thing and it fails miserably. The only thing that works is "You're the Voice" and that's because Herb co-produced it. You can definitely feel his influence on it because of how much looser it feels. That was the single. Why it wasn't issued as such is anyone's guess. My assumption is that once the album was done, they knew it was a dog and didn't want to spend any more money on it. It is what "Time" would sound like if it were more programmed. In summary, I'm glad I spent very little money on it.

Ed
 
Funny timing! I just listened to this disc today while I was typing away. It's certainly early 90s in sound, but I really like it. Fun, frothy, and pretty fresh sounding to my ears. Each cut has its strengths, but "I Don't Even Mind" has a killer flute solo. (At least I think its a flute and not a synthesizer.)
 
Funny timing! I just listened to this disc today while I was typing away. It's certainly early 90s in sound, but I really like it. Fun, frothy, and pretty fresh sounding to my ears. Each cut has its strengths, but "I Don't Even Mind" has a killer flute solo. (At least I think its a flute and not a synthesizer.)
You think correctly, it's a real flute. :)
 
CashBox Scott Grimes - the kid’s debut album, well, should appeal to Scott Baio fans everywhere.
(Hey, that’s a pretty big demographic, ain’t it?) The prerequisite cover tune here
is Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend”... and it scared me."

Actually, the reviewer's cynicism is probably warranted. Richard does seem to have gone for a pre-teen, child-singalong sound on this album, (in a 1980's way), with the toy-shop sounding synthesisers that he's used. Or is it that we're now used to much meatier sounds, due to advances in technology over the years?

In answer to my own question, I think that this album might still have sounded a bit rinky-dinky and tinny, even back in 1989.
 
So I've had some time to listen to the record and here are my thoughts on it. There are three big problems. The first is Scott himself. I don't believe a word he sings. He's just posturing through a great deal of it. He has a voice but his showbiz tendencies make that moot. He's since learned to invest real emotion and has become a great singer. The second problem is the songs. They are incredibly weak. You hear them once and they vanish into thin air. That goes for anything that's not "You're the Voice". Not a hook anywhere near the others. The third is the production. While Richard is still quite capable of great vocal ear candy, the same issues that plagued Carpenters later output plague this record. It's so precise and labored over and it doesn't really register. His biggest mistake was "You've Got a Friend". He re-arranged it as an uptempo thing and it fails miserably. The only thing that works is "You're the Voice" and that's because Herb co-produced it. You can definitely feel his influence on it because of how much looser it feels. That was the single. Why it wasn't issued as such is anyone's guess. My assumption is that once the album was done, they knew it was a dog and didn't want to spend any more money on it. It is what "Time" would sound like if it were more programmed. In summary, I'm glad I spent very little money on it.

Ed
Your review sounds pretty spot-on. I agree with most of what you've said. My only disagreement is that I don't think much of Scott Grimes' and Richard's / Herb's version of 'You're the Voice'. I think that after hearing John Farnham's original a million times when it was Number One for so long, Scott Grimes' later version just doesn't seem right. It lacks the energy, vitality and punch.

I do agree that other songs seem weak, too; even the other John Farnham original that Grimes and Richard covered - 'Pressure Down'. Farnham's original was a massive hit in some countries and seemed exciting and exhilarating at the time, (I rushed out and bought the single myself), but now, after the passing of time, the song itself seems like quite a weak composition. However, the producers, musicians, arrangers and Farnham himself have managed to beef the song up a bit on Farnham's version; an area in which, arguably, Richard and Grimes have failed in their version.

I guess that, on the whole, we're now used to hearing completely different sounds and are judging things in hind-sight. But I think most of your comments hit the mark perfectly.
 
Aussie John Farnham's original of 'You're the Voice'. It's a very mid-80s film clip!



Farnham's original of 'Pressure Down'. This is a different mix from the single version.

 
I like these! Might be hard to believe, but I have never heard them before.

His voice is certainly more muscular on these than on Scott's versions. On "YTV", I'm not that fond of the bagpipes, and I think Richard was smart to use something different to balance Scott's more pop/light approach. Thanks for sharing these!
 
I like these! Might be hard to believe, but I have never heard them before.

His voice is certainly more muscular on these than on Scott's versions. On "YTV", I'm not that fond of the bagpipes, and I think Richard was smart to use something different to balance Scott's more pop/light approach. Thanks for sharing these!

Agreed. Bagpipes vs. Mike Landau (likely brought in by Herb). It’s not even close.

Ed
 
Paul Liem, drummer on this cd, also performs those duties (on various numbers)
on Richard Carpenters' two solo efforts. In particular, I note the LP "Time."
Interestingly enough, I checked Paul Liem's "site", the Official Discography
neglects to include all three of these discs (of course, the "official" site may not be of his doing).
 
Paul Liem, drummer on this cd, also performs those duties (on various numbers)
on Richard Carpenters' two solo efforts. In particular, I note the LP "Time."

He can’t have done that many sessions on Time because around 90% of the drum tracks are done using synthesisers/machines.
 
^Paul Liem is credited "drums" on these "Time" songs (the Album minus One) :
Say Yeah,
Who Do You Love,
Something In Your Eyes,
Time,
Calling Your Name Again,
In Love Alone,
Remind Me To Tell You,
That's What I Believe,
I'm Still Not Over You
.
 
^Paul Liem is credited "drums" on these "Time" songs (the Album minus One) :
Say Yeah,
Who Do You Love,
Something In Your Eyes,
Time,
Calling Your Name Again,
In Love Alone,
Remind Me To Tell You,
That's What I Believe,
I'm Still Not Over You
.

He may be hitting cymbals on many some of these. He played in tandem with machinery quite often.

Ed
 
Agreed. Bagpipes vs. Mike Landau (likely brought in by Herb). It’s not even close.

Ed
Bagpipes have been big on a few massive hits in Australia, for some reason. 'Mull of Kintyre', by Paul McCartney and Wings, was Number One here for probably a couple of months. It was the second biggest hit of 1978, as well as the twentieth biggest hit of 1977. Then there was 'You're the Voice', by John Farnham. That stayed at Number One for seven weeks, as I have said before. These two songs must be two of the bigger selling singles in Australian history - and the album from which 'You're the Voice' came sold 1.6 million copies.

In the USA, 'Mull of Kyntyre' by Wings wasn't a hit at all. It was the 'B' side, 'Girls' School', that was more successful, and that only just reached the US Top 40.

In Australia, I think that the attraction was more Paul McCartney and the actual song, rather than the bagpipes, on 'Mull of Kintyre', and more John Farnham and the actual song, rather than the bagpipes, on 'You're the Voice'. 'You're the Voice' is a strong composition, but that doesn't show the way Richard and Scott Grimes recorded it.
 
Here's the single mix of John Farnham's original of 'Pressure Down'. This came a few years before Scott Grimes' and Richard's version. This single mix is a bit more cohesive than the video version, posted above.

John Farnham's version was Top 5 in Australia, entering the charts in 1986. His version was also a hit in Sweden and New Zealand and reached the Top 40 in Germany. Nowhere near as big a hit on a worldwide scale as 'You're the Voice'.

Here it is.

 
Seeing as this seems to have been performed only a couple of days ago, I've decided to post it here. This is Celine Dion performing 'You're the Voice' in Australia with John Farnham. You can hear from the crowd how much loved Farnham is in Australia. He's coming up to his seventieth before too long, so he's not doing too badly.

 
Seeing as this seems to have been performed only a couple of days ago, I've decided to post it here. This is Celine Dion performing 'You're the Voice' in Australia with John Farnham. You can hear from the crowd how much loved Farnham is in Australia. He's coming up to his seventieth before too long, so he's not doing too badly.



I LOVED that! She’s amazing (he’s not bad either :laugh:).
 
I LOVED that! She’s amazing (he’s not bad either :laugh:).
Thanks for your response, Newvillefan. I'm glad you enjoyed the clip. I've never liked Celine's voice that much but was surprised by her lower register here. As she's getting older, she must be becoming more able to reach low notes. I had no idea she's in Australia at the mo. Maybe there's other stuff out there from this tour.
 
As she's getting older, she must be becoming more able to reach low notes.

She’s lowered the key to some of her songs and no longer sings them in the original key. It happens to a lot of singers. As you get older you lose your range, especially the upper notes. Elton John can’t even sing in falsetto any more, so Rocket Man is done in hard voice. She’s still amazing though.
 
She’s lowered the key to some of her songs and no longer sings them in the original key. It happens to a lot of singers. As you get older you lose your range, especially the upper notes. Elton John can’t even sing in falsetto any more, so Rocket Man is done in hard voice. She’s still amazing though.
I liked her new lower register.
 
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