The Lover Speaks was the new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 duo

Duet (music)

A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...

 of David Freeman (vocals), and Joseph Hughes (arranger

Arrangement

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

). They sang the original version of the song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 "No More "I Love You's"

No More I Love You's

"No More I Love You's" is a song written by Joseph Hughes and David Freeman and was first released by their band, The Lover Speaks, in 1986. The song was later covered by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox and became a hit for her in 1995.-The Lover Speaks version:"No More "I Love You's"" was the...

", covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...

 in 1995 on her Medusa

Medusa (Annie Lennox album)

Medusa is the second solo album by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released in March 1995. It consists solely of cover songs, all originally recorded by male artists. It entered the UK album chart at No. 1 and peaked in the US at number 11, spending 60 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. It has...

album, taking it to #2 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

.

Freeman and Hughes formed The Lover Speaks (deriving the name from Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes

Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...

' book A Lover's Discourse: Fragments

A Lover's Discourse: Fragments

A Lover's Discourse: Fragments , written by Roland Barthes, contains a list of "fragments", some of which come from literature and some from his own philosophical thought, of a lover's point of view...

in 1985, after working together in the punk outfit the Flys

The Flys (UK band)

The Flys were a British punk rock band that originally formed in 1976 in Coventry, England. After the self-release of their initial EP, Bunch of Fives, they were signed by EMI Records. With EMI they released the albums Waikiki Beach Refugees and Own...

. Dave Stewart

David A. Stewart

David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...

 of the Eurythmics

Eurythmics

Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...

 got the duo a recording contract

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 with A&M Records

A&M Records

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

 and their self-titled debut including contributions from among others Stewart, June Miles-Kingston, Nils Lofgren

Nils Lofgren

Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...

 and production by Jimmy Iovine

Jimmy Iovine

James "Jimmy" Iovine is an American music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.-Biography:...

 was released the following year. Freeman's vocals received praise, but the album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 never took off. "No More "I Love You's"", the first single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, fell off the UK chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 after rising to #58. The band opened for the Eurythmics

Eurythmics

Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...

 during the 1986 Revenge world tour and the following year Freeman and Hughes wrote and produced the duet "Sleep Like Breathing" with Alison Moyet

Alison Moyet

Alison Moyet , is an English singer, songwriter and performer noted for her bluesy voice.Her UK album sales have reached a certified 2.3 million, with 800,000 singles sold, all in the UK, where all seven of her studio albums and three compilation albums have charted in the Top 40 UK Album Chart,...

, included on her album Raindancing

Raindancing

Raindancing is the title of the second solo music recording/album of singer/songwriter Alison Moyet. The album includes four single releases; "Is This Love?" , "Weak in the Presence of Beauty", "Ordinary Girl" and "Sleep Like Breathing", a duet with David Freeman of the band The Lover Speaks...

.

They returned to the studio in 1994 and recorded another album, The Big Lie with Iovine, Stewart and Daniel Lanois

Daniel Lanois

Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...

 sharing production - only to face A&M Records who declined to release it. The duo then split; Freeman went on to release a few solo albums in the 2000s.

Singles

• "No More "I Love You's
  No More I Love You's
  "No More I Love You's" is a song written by Joseph Hughes and David Freeman and was first released by their band, The Lover Speaks, in 1986. The song was later covered by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox and became a hit for her in 1995.-The Lover Speaks version:"No More "I Love You's"" was the...
  
  " #58 UK
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  
• "Every Lover's Sign"
• "Tremble Dancing"
• "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" (a cover
  Cover version
  In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
  
   of the Dusty Springfield
  Dusty Springfield
  Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
  
  song)

External links

• [ Allmusic biography]