The Lover Speaks
| Company type | Musical duo |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder | David Freeman, Joseph Hughes |
| Defunct | 1988 |
| Headquarters | England |
| Products | Music albums and singles |
The Lover Speaks was an English new wave duo consisting of David Freeman on vocals and Joseph Hughes handling arrangement and composition. They originally created and performed the track "No More 'I Love You's'," which gained widespread recognition after being covered by Annie Lennox in 1995, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
History
In 1985, Freeman and Hughes established The Lover Speaks following their collaboration in the punk band The Flys. The band's name was inspired by Roland Barthes' book A Lover's Discourse: Fragments. For recording sessions and live performances, they brought on keyboardist Barry Gilbert, though he was never officially part of the group. That same year, they submitted a demo tape to Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, leading to a publishing deal with his Anxious Music. Stewart passed their demo to Chrissie Hynde, who then introduced it to producer Jimmy Iovine, which resulted in a recording contract with A&M Records early in 1986. John Warwicker, A&M’s art director, later recalled considerable enthusiasm about signing the duo, hoping they could become "the Walker Brothers of the 80s."
Their debut single, "No More 'I Love You's'," was released in July 1986 and reached number 58 on the UK charts. Their self-titled first album followed in August, produced by Iovine and featuring contributions from Stewart, June Miles-Kingston, and Nils Lofgren. Despite receiving favorable reviews from critics, the album did not achieve commercial success. Subsequent singles "Tremble Dancing" and "Every Lover's Sign" failed to enter the UK charts; however, "Every Lover's Sign" climbed to number 6 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in December 1986. The band also supported Eurythmics during the UK leg of their Revenge world tour.
In February 1987, they released a non-album cover of Dusty Springfield’s "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten", which did not chart. Although Stewart had reservations, he collaborated with them as producer on this track. That same year saw the recording of their second album, The Big Lie, with production credits to Iovine, Stewart, and Daniel Lanois. However, A&M Records opted not to release it, considering it "too uncommercial" as well as "too dark and heavy." The album eventually surfaced unofficially as a limited promotional CD in 1997.
A re-release of "No More 'I Love You's'" in March 1988 did not chart. The group performed at London’s Marquee Club in July and appeared at the Reading Festival in August. By late 1988, The Lover Speaks had disbanded amid restructuring at A&M Records; reports from December 1989 suggested uncertainty regarding their future with the label. Freeman went on to independently issue six solo albums between 1985 and 1996.
Collaborations
Towards the end of 1986, The Lover Speaks worked alongside Alison Moyet during sessions for her second studio album. The UK No. 2 charting album Raindancing (1987), primarily produced by Iovine, included three collaborative tracks with Moyet penned by Freeman and Hughes. One such song, "Sleep Like Breathing", was featured on the album and released as its fourth single in September 1987; this duet reached number 80 in the UK charts. Another Freeman/Hughes composition titled "Take My Imagination to Bed" served as a B-side on the 12-inch version of Moyet’s UK Top 10 single "Weak in the Presence of Beauty."
During this timeframe, Freeman, Hughes, and Gilbert also wrote "I Fall in Love Too Easily" for Kiki Dee, which appeared on her 1987 album Angel Eyes and was issued as a single in March 1987.
Albums
- The Lover Speaks (1986)
- The Big Lie[A]
Notes
- The Big Lie was originally set aside in 1987 but later received a limited promotional CD release in 1997.[1]
Singles
| Year | Single | Highest Chart Positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] |
US Dance [3] | ||||||||||
| 1986 | "No More 'I Love You's'" | 58 | — | The Lover Speaks | |||||||
| "Tremble Dancing" | — | — | |||||||||
| "Every Lover's Sign" | — | 6 | |||||||||
| 1987 | "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||
| "Never to Forget You" (Australia only) | — | — | The Lover Speaks | ||||||||
| 1988 | "No More 'I Love You's'" (re-issue) | — | — | ||||||||
| "—" indicates singles that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||
External links
- [ Allmusic biography]