The band's first US Top 10 hit, "What You Need" hit #5 on the Billboard charts. It was written by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farris under record label pressure - they were looking for a hit. The men delivered in a big way.
Lyrically, the song is a pep talk. It's literally JUST a pep talk. Musically, the six-piece all have their featured moments in a high-energy way. Visually, the video is done using a rotoscope animation technique.
In 1997, INXS lead vocalists Michael Hutchence died in what appears to have been an accidental suicide. After a few years of hiatus, they did what any normal band would do in their circumstance.
That, of course, is hold a reality television competition to find a new lead vocalist. And they found a vocalist that had a similar bravado to Hutchence - a homeless man from Toronto who went by the name J.D. Fortune (it wasn't his real name).
This song, the only top 40 hot of the J.D. Fortune era, was co-written by Andrew Farris and several of the contestants, includin Fortune. In my opinion, it absolutely holds up against the hits from 1980s-era INXS.
I'm not one to bury the lede. This was INXS's biggest hit. The opening single from the Kick album in 1987, the Andrew Farris/Michael Hutchence classic about living in the moment was a #1 hit around the world and set the band up for superstardom.
More than that, it moved the band a little away from the rock band mentality and more into a zone where it was OK to use electronic instruments to augment their sound. It made them a richer, deeper, and, ultimately, more popular band.
The song is more about the video, which won 5 MTV Video Music Award. It was directed by Richard Lowenstein and used photocopied images to accomplish the visual effects.
I'm pleased to induct Australian icons INXS into the Wicked Guilty Pleasures Hall of Fame. This week will feature a LOT of INXS.
Why are they the choice this year?
Because they released in a relatively short time so many iconic songs and videos. Were they particularly highbrow? No. They're a band that did release more complex and nuanced music than it might have looked on the surface, but still was mass-market sexy.
Their 1992 album, Welcome To Whereever You Are, came at the start of the tail end of their time as a prominent band, but did account for several singles and went platinum in its own right. It is my favorite INXS album, for a lot of reasons. The songwriting was top notch. Michael Hutchence had reached the pinacle of maturity in his performance.
This video was never released in the States, and, well, it's something else. The song was the 4th single from the album, Written by Hutchence and Andrew Farris, the song is cool and sexy, with all six musicians getting their due, but no one dominating. It is a perfect encaptualation of the genius of INXS.
INXS famously found a new lead singer after the death of Michael Hutchence on a reality TV show. We'll talk a lot more about that over this week, but I wanted to touch on this because it's relevant. New vocalist JD Fortune came with a slightly different bravado, but still held his own with this song.
The Flaming Lips are not a band that you would necessarily associate with the word "accessible" or "popular", and yet their 2002 single, which singer/songwriter Wayne Coyne considers to be the best the band has ever written, is exactly that.
The song, with lyrics by Coyne, was written in response to fellow bandmember Steven Drozd trying to kick his heroin addiction. It concerns the fragility of life - and the beauty within it despite and because of that. The song is absolutely beautiful.
The song is one that they preform live often, and is a crowd pleaser. The band clearly appreciates how much the crowd is pleased.
You probably only know one Proclaimers song, and it's this one. It is their biggest worldwide hit, and it was a slow burn. Originally released in 1988, it was fairly successful at the time. It was MORE successful in 1993, when it was featured in the movie Benny & Joon and rereleased.
Written by the Reid twins (who are The Proclaimers), the song is about the willingness to travel long distances to see the one you love, no matter what, because being by their side is the most important thing. It is this purity of message - the sweetness of this song - that makes it one of my true favorites. It's this I wanted to share with you today.
Carole King was - is - a prolific songwriter who could sing. She released her second album, Tapestry, in 1971, and it became a worldwide sensation. Winning several Grammys, it also spent 15 weeks on top of the Billboard Top 200 album chart, the longest any woman has held the spot.
This song, a highlight of Tapestry, was a top 20 hit for her in October of that year. Supported by James Taylor on guitar, the song is very straight-forward about missing someone who isn't there. However, the song isn't just about physical, but also emotional distance. It's a song full of meloncholy on several levels.
All these years later, she still performs the song. Here she is, with James Taylor, in 2013, at the Boston Strong concert, doing an earnest and possibly too chipper version of the tune.
