The Lover Speaks

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The Lover Speaks

Background information
Origin	England, UK
Genre(s)	New Wave
Years active	1985–1988
Label(s)	A&M Records
Members
David Freeman Joseph Hughes

The Lover Speaks was the new wave duo of David Freeman (vocals), and Joseph Hughes (arranger, composer). They sang the original version of the song "No More "I Love You's"", covered by Annie Lennox in 1995 on her Medusa album, taking it to #2 on the UK singles chart.
Freeman and Hughes formed The Lover Speaks (deriving the name from Roland Barthes' book A Lover's Discourse: Fragments) in 1985, after working together in the punk outfit the Flys. Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics got the duo a record deal with A&M Records and their self-titled debut including contributions from among others Stewart, June Miles-Kingston, Nils Lofgren and production by Jimmy Iovine was released the following year. Freeman's vocals received praise, but the album never really took off. "No More "I Love You's"", the first single, fell off the British charts after rising to #58. The band opened for the Eurythmics during the 1986 Revenge world tour and the following year Freeman and Hughes wrote and produced the duet "Sleep Like Breathing" with Alison Moyet, included on her album Raindancing.

They returned to the studio in 1988 and recorded another album, The Big Lie with Iovine, Stewart and Daniel Lanois sharing production - only to face a hostile A&M Records, which refused to release it. The duo then split; Freeman went on to release a few solo albums in the 1990s.