28 November 2021 - INXS - Heaven Sent

As has become customary for this little blog that could, when there's a Hall of Fame artist, we give you a little extra, for the loyal readers.

Thus, "Heaven Sent", the first single from what was considered something of a comeback album, the band's eighth (save for their live album, Live Baby Live) and in my opinion, their high water mark, Welcome To Wherever You Are. 

This is a high water mark on an album that is already a high water mark.  It's a pretty typical INXS song - Michael Hutchence frequently goes to the megaphone vocal trope, as he does on this song, and it's straight-ahead pop-rock - but it is the band at their happiest.  They clearly enjoyed making this song, which is lyrically about the beginning of a life-altering love.  

This was a song that became a live staple throughout the 1990's for the band.  At their last show ever, in Pittsburgh, they performed what has become my favorite version of this song.  Hutchence sings the song with more passion and energy than even the original recording - or any pther live version. The rest of the band matches his vigor here.  

28 November 2021 - INXS - Don't Change

I had way too much material for just one Hall of Fame week.  This is why I'm posting on the weekend.  

And I couldn't ignore the biggest INXS anthem of all.   Initially not a big hit song, this has become one of their most played and most popular.   And it's for good reason - the song is so uplifting and sweet.  Opening with one of the most iconic synth solos of the 1980's, it erupts quickly into a full band showcase.  

The song is about a love that was lost and found again.  I like to think of it as the reclamation of a relationship after a breakup, or maybe finally finding that love after failed attempts.  The resolution of happiness and execution of bitterness in the lyrics is referring directly to that love, and the pleas to not change are a wonderful reminder and acceptance to love those who we love just as they are.  

Of course, because Michael Hutchence is no longer with us, there were a finite number of times he performed this song.  This performance, from September 27 1997 in Pittsburgh PA, is sad in hindsight, knowing that it was the final time he'd sing the song - he would be dead exactly two months later.  Still, even though it's only audio, you can hear his stage presence, even in his exhaustion.  

In 2011, Kirk Pengilly and Andrew Farris - not typically lead vocalists - took the vocal duties for a slower, deeper version of this song they co-wrote.  It is a fitting tribute.

27 November 2021 - INXS - Simple Simon

Right now, most of you are wondering what the hell this is.  

This was the debut single by INXS in 1980.  Notice the more new wave sound - a little more punk-edged. Originally only released in Australia, their debut album, which featured this song and many others written by all six members of the band, made it internationally in 1984, after the band started having some hits in Europe and the US.  

This song wasn't a hit.  It was six guys looking for a sound.  It is frantic and fun and simple.  

26 November 2021 - INXS - Never Tear Us Apart

This song isn't one I had ever really enjoyed by INXS.  It is NOT a song I really enjoyed all that much. It's not bad, mind you - but modern Vienna waltzes weren't my thing in the 1980s.  It was a pretty big hit, and one that was inescapable in 1988, between radio and heavy MTV rotation.  

But then, I got a girlfriend, and of course the song took on a new meaning.  The girlfriend and I didn't last forever, but the song resonated for our time together.  It's a classic love song for the ages, with a great arrangement by Andrew Farris. 

The song also resonated again in 1997, when INXS lead vocalist and lyricist for this song, Michael Hutchence, passed away.  The five remaining members of INXS, as well as Michael's brother, Rhett, served as pallbearers.  What song played as they carried the coffin from the cathedral?  This one.  

So, at the end of the day, because of its romantic meaningfulness and its meaningfulness to fans of INXS, it grew on me.  I hope it grows on you, too.  

25 November 2021 - INXS - What You Need

Today, in the United States, it is Thanskgiving.  I felt it was appropriate, therefore, to share my first favorite INXS song - it isn't anymore, and wasn't as soon as I actually listened to all of Listen Like Thieves - but I loved it at the time.

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.  

24 November 2021 - INXS - Pretty Vegas

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.  

23 November 2021 - INXS - Need You Tonight

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.