David Freeman

David Freeman (born 25 September 1957) is a British singer, musician and songwriter, best known for being a member of the new wave duo the Lover Speaks during the 1980s.

Background Freeman was born in Ilford, Essex, on 25 September 1957 and moved to Coventry at the age of 14. He was educated at Bishop Ullathorne Roman Catholic School and left with no qualifications. He bought his first guitar from the wages of his job in the butcher's department of a local supermarket. During the mid-1970s, he began his musical career as guitarist in the band Midnight Circus. In 1976, they evolved into the punk group the Flys, with Freeman providing guitar and vocals. The band recorded a number of singles, two EPs (1977's Bunch of Fives and 1980's Four from the Square) and two studio albums (1978's Waikiki Beach Refugees and 1979's (Own). After the band split up in 1980, Freeman returned to education to acquire an A-level and then went to North London Polytechnic to study English. In 1984, Freeman published his own local history book, Looking at Muswell Hill.

In 1985, Freeman teamed up with the Flys' former bassist Joseph Hughes to form the new wave duo the Lover Speaks. The pair began writing material and also recruited the assistance of keyboardist Barry Gilbert. With the help of Dave Stewart of Eurythmics and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, producer Jimmy Iovine received the duo's demo tape and then helped them sign to A&M Records in early 1986. The duo's self-titled debut album, The Lover Speaks, was produced by Iovine and released by A&M in August 1986. The first single "No More 'I Love You's reached number 58 in the UK Singles Chart, but the album failed to chart, as did its two following singles, "Tremble Dancing" and "Every Lover's Sign". The latter achieved success in US clubs and reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart. A book of Freeman's poetry, Voices of Passion, was published by T.L.S. Publishing in 1987.

After the Lover Speaks split in 1988, Another album, Under a Tall Tree, was given a limited cassette release under the Lover Speaks name, although it did not feature any involvement from Hughes. The same period between 1988 and 1995 also saw Freeman become a father, develop a drug problem and split from the mother of his children. After getting clean, he began gigging again. In March 1995, Freeman appeared as the opening act for Joe Jackson's concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The success of Lennox's cover saw Freeman and Hughes each receive a BMI award in 1996, as well as three Ivor Novello award nominations for the "PRS Most Performed Work", "International Hit of the Year" and "Best Song Musically and Lyrically".

In the face of the renewed interest in the Lover Speaks, Freeman released a large batch of his solo material across six albums in 1996 via the Discrete label. In 1997, Freeman began working in Nashville as a freelance songwriter/musician and collaborated with songwriters such as Gary Baker. In 2010, Freeman's solo version of "No More I Love You's" was released by Discrete as a download-only single on iTunes. In 2014, Discrete released a digital-only compilation album titled No More I Love You's – The Best of David Freeman. Both Freeman and Hughes contributed to the 2015 re-issue of The Lover Speaks album by Cherry Red with interviews and providing song annotations.

Discography

Albums 1996: Painting as Autobiography (A Love Story) 1996: Balance 1996: Going Out Without Makeup 1996: Under a Tall Tree Looking Up 1996: Apart & Together 1996: Melodrama 2014: No More I Love You's – The Best of David Freeman (compilation)

Singles "Stop in the Name of Love" (1983) "Sleep Like Breathing" (Alison Moyet with David Freeman, 1987) "No More 'I Love You's (2010)