"Whispering Your Name" is a song written by American singer-songwriter

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night" and The Bangles' hit "If She Knew What She Wants", and charted a hit as a performer with "Stead ...

. It was originally performed by Ignatius Jones in 1983, however Shear also recorded the song, which was issued as a single within months of Jones' recording and included on his 1983 album '' Watch Dog''. It has been covered numerous times, including a charting version by

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist. Her ...

in 1994.

Ignatius Jones version

"Whispering Your Name" was issued as a single in Australia by Ignatius Jones in March 1983. The single only peaked at No. 100 on the Australian chart, but this and Jones' previous single ("Like a Ghost") were "hot dance club favourites among the gay community on the American west coast."

Jules Shear version

Shear's version was produced by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

, and was issued as a single in May 1983 and included on Shear's 1983 album ''Watch Dog''. The same album included the original version of " All Through the Night", which was later a hit for Cyndi Lauper. Shear later recorded an acoustic version of "Whispering Your Name" for his 1991 CD ''Unplug This''.

Alison Moyet version

In February 1994, "Whispering Your Name" was released by English singer

as the second single from her fourth studio album, ''

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

'' (1994). It was produced by Ian Broudie. "Whispering Your Name" became Moyet's eighth single to enter the

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at No. 18. It remained in the top 100 for seven weeks. A promotional video was filmed for the single and featured an appearance from

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...

. Moyet also performed the song live on the UK music show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''.

Background

In order for the ''Essex'' album to be released at all, CBS/Columbia insisted that certain ''Essex'' tracks were to be re-recorded and re-produced, and that there be additional material remixed to create a more 'commercial' package. "Whispering Your Name" was originally an acoustic ballad before being turned into an upbeat dance single. This was due to the lead single "Falling" failing to live up to the label's expectations. The original version of "Whispering Your Name" was placed on the ''Essex'' album. A remix of "Whispering Your Name" was created by Vince Clarke who was part of the early 1980s duo Yazoo with Moyet. This was the closest thing to a Yazoo reunion until their Reconnected tour in 2008.

Critical reception

Upon release,

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' stated, "Images of Yaz will twirl in your head upon impact of this percolating pop/NRG ditty from the eternally underrated belter's new ''

'' collection. Her voice is in excellent shape and put to good use with a song that is instantly memorable. Producer Ian Broudie fleshes the track out with a synth-savvy arrangement that skirts the lines dividing modern pop radio and nightclubs." Linda Ryan from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'' noted that there are two very distinct versions of the track, "a high energy

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

version and a soft, acoustic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

." She added, "Personally, I think a lush, gorgeous ballad is the perfect setting for Alison's husky, emotive voice, but I know there are plenty of dance-leaning stations on the panel that will have mondo-success with the

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

-ish, wave your hands in the air, version." The magazine's Dave Sholin concluded, "Unlike anything else out there right now, this track will put her over the top in the U.S." British newspaper ''Lennox Herald'' wrote, "Great voice who is deserving of chart success but seems to be a touch unlucky recently in her choice of material. This track, however, might just do the business." In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

said that it "is a rather brilliant

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

-style ballad complete with a video starring

." A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' commented, "Like the Bangles before her, Moyet dips into the back catalogue of

for a tailor-made pop song with a back to Yazoo-roots synth flavour." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' wrote, "A sumptuous-sounding single, rather in the

K D Lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances. Hits include the so ...

mould, already getting plenty of media support, not least because it is accompanied by an amusing video featuring Dawn French. Not vintage Moyet, perhaps, but good enough to be a medium-sized hit."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song shows Moyet performing the song in a plain studio setting, when

suddenly appears dressed like a 1960s

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

and starts jumping around and acting up in front of the camera. She starts kissing and licking the camera lens, even causing Moyet to break character and start laughing. French continues to upstage Moyet, even locking her in a lengthy kiss, with Moyet then continuing to perform the song with lipstick smeared all over her face. French then accidentally knocks Moyet unconscious, so she starts to lip-sync to the song herself. Moyet starts to regain consciousness but is knocked out again when French drops the microphone on her head. After miming to the remainder of the song, French faints and Moyet gets up and drags her away. The video was published on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in March 2011, and as of September 2021, it has received more than 446,000 views.

Track listings

* 12-inch single #"Whispering Your Name (Extended Mix)" - 4:57 #"Whispering Your Name (Vince Clarke Remix)" - 3:42 #"Hoodoo (Remix)" - 7:41 #"Back Where I Belong (Soft Mix)" - 5:32 * CD single (UK) #"Whispering Your Name (Single Mix)" - 3:51 #"Rise (Live)" - 3:08 #"Wishing You Were Here (Live)" - 3:50 #"Rock and Roll (Live)" - 2:14 * CD single (CD 2) #"Whispering Your Name (Extended Mix)" - 4:57 #"Whispering Your Name (Vince Clarke Remix)" - 3:42 #"Hoodoo (Remix)" - 7:41 #"Back Where I Belong (Soft Mix)" - 5:32 * CD single (Europe) #"Whispering Your Name (Single Mix)" - 3:49 #"F.O.S." - 4:16 * CD single (Europe) #"Whispering Your Name (Single Mix)" - 3:49 #"Whispering Your Name (Album Version)" - 3:28 #"Whispering Your Name (Vince Clarke Remix)" - 3:42 #"Hoodoo (Remix)" - 7:41 #"Wishing You Were Here (Live)" - 3:49 #"Rise (Live)" - 3:06 * CD single (America) #"Whispering Your Name (Single Mix)" - 3:47 #"Whispering Your Name (Extended Mix)" - 4:57 #"Another Living Day" - 3:44 #"Rock and Roll (Live)" - 2:12 #"F.O.S." - 4:16

Personnel

* Producer of "Whispering Your Name" – Ian Broudie * Additional producer, remixer of "Whispering Your Name (Extended Remix) – Johnny Nitrate, Steve Rocket * Mixer on "Whispering Your Name (Single Mix)" - Graham Dickson * Remixer of "Whispering Your Name (Remix)" - Vince Clarke * Remixer of "Hoodoo (Remix)" - François Kevorkian * Producer of "Hoodoo (Remix)" and "Another Living Day" - Pete Glenister * Remixer of "Back Where I Belong (Soft Mix)" - Ben Chapman * Producer of "Back Where I Belong (Soft Mix)" - Andy Cox, David Steele * Producer of "F.O.S." - Adrian Bushby, Pete Davis * Artwork design – Alison Moyet, Martin Jenkins * Photography – The Douglas Brothers

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1983 singles 1994 singles Alison Moyet songs Songs written by Jules Shear Song recordings produced by Ian Broudie 1983 songs Song recordings produced by Todd Rundgren Columbia Records singles Jules Shear songs