Prince. David Bowie. John Lennon. George Harrison. Jeff Buckley. Michael Jackson. Whitney Houston. Freddy Mercury. George Michael. Elvis Presley. Tom Petty. Bon Scott. Aretha Franklin. Janis Joplin. Michael Hutchence. Joe Cocker. Marvin Gaye. A list of only a handful names that represents so much more than an individual face, an individual life and an individual career. These names, not just in their era but still today, represent and define music. These names represent generations of musicians and fans who have been inspired by their songs, inspired by their voices and inspired by their presence. While a lot of these names have been talked about in past tense for a long time, some more recently making the transition from present to past, all of these names are still talked about, still relevant and still held in the highest regard. All of these names were our world’s greatest musicians, now they are heaven’s greatest, and their hits and musical impact holds their legacy.
One person who wants that legacy to continue to thrive is Taxiride front-man, solo artist and member of The Voices Supergroup, Jason Singh, who honoured the musicians in the best way possible – through song. Last year, Singh released his tribute album, ‘Vale’, which consisted of some of these legendary musicians’ songs. Each song was carefully selected, sitting near and dear to Singh’s heart.
“I just wanted to do something special with ‘Vale’, and as I was recording, my modus operandi was these songs are true masterpieces and all had a massive sliding doors moment in my life. Every song on the album had a moment for me, for example, ‘Man In The Mirror’ is not my favourite Michael Jackson song but the story behind picking that was that when I was in school I was sort of awkward and very unpopular and kind of an outcast, and I was singing the song at a bus stop and there was a kid named Simon who was obviously gay and copped it badly at school, even more than me, and he popped his head around the side and I stopped singing. He said ‘You’ve got a great voice, you should be a singer’, and that was the moment in my life as a 15 or 16-year old that I went ‘I’m going to be a singer’. Every single song on the record has a story like that for me,” Singh explains.
While the album wasn’t originally intended – “I had no intention of releasing this as an album when I started it, it was more about – especially when Prince passed away I looked at my children and thought ‘who are going to be their guides musically throughout their lives?’ and they don’t have one, so it was more about remembering that” – Singh takes the cringe and the ego out of picture, purely focusing on each track, each sound, each element and each feeling he had with the song association story. There’s no ‘making the song your own’ notion, just wholehearted appreciation for each hit and each heavenly great.
“I picked these songs because they are masterpieces and who the hell am I to mess with that. I just wanted to do the closest version of that masterpiece that I could and those songs shaped me as an artist because of the way that they are. The only song that we changed was ‘I Have Nothing’ because I can’t sing like Whitney,” Singh laughs.
Piggy-backing off the album concept, Singh decided to turn the songs into a live tribute concert with his group, The Voices Supergroup. It wouldn’t be a supergroup without some additional stars. Joining Singh is Australian Idol contestant and Australian icon, Shannon Noll, Andrew De Silva, and fellow Taxiride bandmate Tim Watson.
The Voices Supergroup played a sold-out show for Heaven’s Greatest Hits at the Corner Hotel earlier this year and now will be bringing it down to Singh’s stomping ground, and the place that had a part in launching his career, playing at Geelong’s Wool Exchange.
“Obviously I know of the Wool Exchange because 20 years ago we launched our career there basically. Our first Taxiride tour ever second show was at the Wool Exchange, and was also the last time we played there. It’s been a long time,” Singh says. “That’s what this show is about though, paying tribute to the great artists in the sky, all of which were alive pretty much when that place was rocking so it’s more about resurrecting their legacy through music and the venue I guess and bringing this show to the people of Geelong.”
Hear Heaven’s Greatest Hits resurrected at The Wool Exchange on Saturday 16 November from 8PM. Tickets at www.thewoolexchange.com.au/event/heavens-greatest-hits
In the meantime, listen to Jason Singh – ‘Vale’ to get a taste!
Written by Tammy Walters