michael hutchence Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

INXS “What You Need”

sfilzen — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 11:26:54 +0000

INXS “What You Need” released 35 years ago today, August 26th 1985. The lead single from their fall ‘85 release Listen Like Thieves is still a fantastic dance track all these years later. It was their big breakthrough to the US market, hitting #5 on the US charts; it went to #2 in Australia and #51 in the UK. This 12″ single has “What You Need (remix)” which adds in extra saxophone (🙄oh 80′s I miss you!), bigger drums and some vocal effects that were also super popular in the 80′s – similar to what Robert Palmer used on his hits around that same year. The b-side has a couple of my favorite songs from their ‘84 album The Swing (my overall favorite INXS LP): “Melting in the Sun (12″ Version),” which has more synths-new wave dance effects than the original track, and the anthemic new wave “Burn For You (12″ Version).” The single version of “Burn For You” was a single release in Australia and went to #3 there in ‘84.

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INXS “Shabooh Shoobah”

sfilzen — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 16:21:07 +0000

INXS “Shabooh Shoobah” 1982. I’m spinning INXS’s third (and one of my favorite) album today in honor of what would have be Michael Hutchence’s 60th birthday (b. Jan. 22nd, 1960, d. 1997). Shabooh Shoobah was INXS’s first big international breakthrough LP, reaching #46 in the US and #5 in Australia, propelled by one of the best singles from the 80′s: “The One Thing” which leads off the album with Hutchence’s ultra-sexy, ultra-slinky lyrics “Well you know just what you do to me/ The way you move soft and slippery/ Cut the night just like a razor/ Rarely talk and that’s the danger.” “The One Thing” was released in July ‘82, a couple of months before the LP’s release; it went to #30 US and to #14 in Australia. But the rest of the album is so so good, too – the sultry “To Look At You” (released as a single in March ‘83), the bright yet haunting (like a gothy anthem) “Spy of Love,” the dark and rocking “Soul Mistake,” the new wave/dancey “Black and White” (the last single from Shabooh Shoobah released in June ‘83) and “Golden Playpen” (“I’m drunk. Can’t see my glass). Shabooh Shoobah concludes with another one of my favorite INXS tracks, the soaring anthemic “Don’t Change” (released in October ‘82, #80 US, #18 Australia).

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INXS “Need You Tonight”

sfilzen — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 14:51:54 +0000

INXS “Need You Tonight” b/w “I’m Coming (Home)” 1987. Today, March 27th, is INXS keyboardist and primary composer Andrew Farriss’ 60th birthday (b. 1959). The massive hit “Need You Tonight,” probably the sexiest single of the 80′s, from their album Kick went to #1 in the US and #2 in the UK and its video won MTV’s Video of the Year in ‘88. A few years ago I watched the INXS biopic INXS: Never Tear Us Apart (2014) which chronicled the band’s formation, rise to fame and the events leading up to the tragic suicide of Michael Hutchence. In the show, there’s a pretty good scene about Farriss (played by actor Andrew Ryan) composing “Need You Tonight” on the keyboards, striking the iconic opening riff (eventually played on guitar) over and over, realizing he’d pretty much struck pop gold. (I have mixed feelings about the entire two-part miniseries program, but that part was cool.) The B-side, “I’m Coming (Home)” is, to quote myself when I wrote about the 12″ single of “Need You Tonight,” weird. Lots of saxophone and 80′s synth and a creepy/sexy low voice talking with moaning and groaning in the background, Michael Hutchence occasionally singing “I’m coming home, coming home.”

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INXS “The Swing”

sfilzen — Wed, 02 May 2018 00:37:33 +0000

INXS “The Swing” 1984. ‘84 was, in general, a remarkable year for album releases (and my own personal turning point into full-on music obsession – I even wrote my first research paper, in 8th grade, on new wave acts from England and Australia) and I’ve had INXS’s fourth full-length album on heavy rotation the past several weeks. Other INXS records have, arguably, stronger single tracks but The Swing’s 80′s new wave, alternative pop perfection make it my favorite to listen to from start to finish – I genuinely love every song. The lead track on Side A, “Original Sin,” was the first released as a single, in December ‘83, and produced by Nile Rodgers with Daryl Hall singing on the chorus. It hit #58 in the US and #1 in Australia. The next two songs are super-funky and danceable: “Melting In the Sun” and “I Send a Message,” the latter the second single from The Swing, released in March ‘84, hitting #77 in the US and #3 in Australia. “Dancing on the Jetty” was the fourth and final single from The Swing, released in October ‘84, and I love the haunting intro’s lyrics: “Watch the world argue, Argue with itself, Who’s going to teach me peace and happiness?” Side A concludes with the title track “The Swing,” on which Farriss bros Andrew and Tim get to totally rock out. Side B starts off with one of my favorites among favorites, the achingly sad pastoral “Johnson’s Aeroplane” which is made even sadder with the ubiquitous 80′s sax solo. “Love Is (What I Say)” is one of the more keyboard-forward, new wavey tracks on The Swing and “Face the Change” is back to the funky groove that characterizes most of Side A. Then we come to “Burn For You” which is upliftingly and anthemically brilliant; it was the third single released from the LP and hit #3 in Australia. I’m not sure if it was released in the US or not but if it was, it’s simply criminal that it wasn’t a hit. The album concludes with “All The Voices,” one of the more experimental tracks on The Swing, lots of echoey effects on the keyboards and vocals.

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INXS “New Sensation”

sfilzen — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 19:18:38 +0000

INXS “New Sensation” 1988. UK 12″ single release, limited edition Poster Pack – the record sleeve unfolds to reveal this:

“New Sensation” was the third single from the 1987 LP Kick and it reached #3 in the US, #25 in the UK and #9 in Australia. Also on the 12″ is the great track “Do Wot You Do” which also appeared on the amazing soundtrack to the 1986 film Pretty in Pink, a track from INXS’ 1984 album The Swing (which I’ve been listening to ALOT lately) “Love Is (What I Say)” and “Same Direction” from 1985′s Listen Like Thieves. This is a great 80′s 12″ that captures the giant pop sound of that decade and I’m really shocked that the poster survived to 2018.

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INXS “Dekadance”

sfilzen — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 17:42:44 +0000

INXS “Dekadance” 1983. Four-song EP of remixes from their 1982 album Shabooh Shoobah. (The Australian edition of Dekadance was completely different, including seven remixes from the 1984 album The Swing). Dekadance has two of my favorite tracks from Shabooh Shoobah: “To Look At You” and “The One Thing.” The extended version of “To Look At You” has a much longer instrumental portion, with a funky bass line, lots of bright 80′s keyboard effects and world-music rhythms and retains my favorite line from the song “fairy tale, and I love you.” “The One Thing (extended version)” has a super-highly produced and drawn-out intro (and extra Michael Hutchence vocals = beautiful, echoey) before moving all soft and slippery into the epic new wave pop anthem (with added marimba effects). Also on Dekadance are the songs “Black and White (extended version)” and “Here Comes II (new version)” which is, not surpassingly, a new version that plays around with the originals’s tempo, alternating between upbeat dance and slow and sultry.

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INXS “Kick”

sfilzen — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 12:35:33 +0000

INXS “Kick” released 30 years ago on this date, October 19th, 1987. Kick, INXS’s sixth studio LP, was a massive international success, reaching #3 on the US album chart (#1 in Australia and #9 in the UK), making it the band’s best-selling album. Four singles from Kick reached the top 10 in the US: “New Sensation,” “Devil Inside,” “Never Tear Us Apart” and the sexy slinky “Need You Tonight,” that single’s video (along with its tack-on “Meditate” which imitates Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”) winning five MTV VMA’s. It is highly polished dance rock, oozing with sensuous swagger. A guilty pleasure? Absolutely. Every time I hear Michael Hutchence whisper “Come over here” at the start of “Need You Tonight” I admit to feeling a bit tingly.

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INXS “New Sensation (Nick’s Twelve Inch Mix)”

sfilzen — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 15:36:36 +0000

INXS “New Sensation (Nick’s Twelve Inch Mix)” b/w “Guns in the Sky (Kick Ass Mix)” 1988. Yesterday, January 22nd, would have been Michael Hutchence’s 57th birthday (b. 1960 d. 1997). “New Sensation” was INXS’s third single from their massive 1987 smash-hit album Kick. The single hit #3 in the US, #9 in their native Australia and #24 in the UK. The remix on this 12″ single is even more danceable than the original with increased electronica effects and expanded length. The “Nick” referred to in the title is record producer Nick Launay, who has worked with a sea of new wave, post-punk and alternative acts from the 1980′s through today like Nick Cave, PiL, Talking Heads and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Side B’s remix of “Guns in the Sky” is kick-ass: an operatic intro is followed by the classic Monty Python statement “And now for something completely different.” It then launches into a stuttered beat version of the original track (that also appears on Kick) and sneakily includes tidbits from the sexiest song ever, “Need You Tonight.” Today I especially appreciate the highlight and repetition of the line “It’s a load of shit!”

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INXS “Need You Tonight/Mediate”

sfilzen — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 18:45:44 +0000

INXS “Need You Tonight/Mediate” 1987. 12″ single b/w “I’m Coming (Home).” Arguably the sexiest hit single of the 80′s, “Need You Tonight” reached #1 in the US and #2 in the UK. The video received five MTV VMA’s in 1988 including Video of the Year. It’s slinky sexy first half merges animation and stop-motion action shots on 35mm film, then cut and layered; the second half is a tribute to Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” using flip cards to match the lyrics of “Mediate.” (It’s always fun to see which band members are proficient in card-flipping and the ones that had to really really concentrate.) “I’m Coming (Home)” is, um, weird. Lots of saxophone and 80′s synth of course, and a creepy/sexy low voice talking with moaning and groaning in the background, Michael Hutchence occasionally singing “I’m coming home, coming home.”

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INXS “Shabooh Shoobah”

sfilzen — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 15:38:46 +0000

INXS “Shabooh Shoobah” 1982. Today, January 22nd, is singer Michael Hutchence’s birthday (b. 1960 d. 1997). Shabooh Shoobah was INXS’s third album and reached #5 in Australia and #46 in the US, propelled by the excellent single “The One Thing” which charted at #30 in the US.

Shabooh Shoobah is one of my favorite INXS records, one of those 80′s albums that I can sing along to every single song. So many excellent tracks: the sultry “To Look At You,” the haunting yet melodic “Spy of Love,” vaguely dark “Soul Mistake” and the soaring anthemic “Don’t Change.” But I still get a little giddy hearing (and watching) “The One Thing” – its first two verses neatly describing Hutchence’s slinky sex appeal.

Well you know just what you do to me
The way you move soft and slippery
Cut the night just like a razor
Rarely talk and that’s the danger

It’s the one thing
You are my thing

You know your voice is a love song
It’s a cat call from the past
There’s no ice in your lovers walk
You don’t look twice ‘cause you move so fast

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