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INXS “Kick”

sfilzen — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 17:00:14 +0000

INXS “Kick” released 35 years ago today, October 19th 1997 (however, some sources, like Wiki, put the date as October 12th but some, like Billboard say the 19th – I’m going with today!). INXS’ sixth LP was a monster smash and catapulted the band from underground status (alternative kids like me in the 80’s were totally listening to INXS for a few years before Kick) to Top 40 rock stars: it reached the Top 10 in all major markets (#3 US, #9 UK and of course #1 in Australia). It also spawned a swath of hits including the sexiest single of all-time, “Need You Tonight.” That song came out about a month before the record (September ’87) and became their first (and only) #1 single in the US and its video received MTV’s Video of the Year award in ’88. The rest of Kick is iconic mid-80’s awesomeness, full of sex, swagger and funk (and don’t forget about the saxophones). The suggestive single “Devil Inside” hit #2 in the US, the upbeat, highly danceable “New Sensation” went to #3, the slower, waltzing and sultry ballad “Never Tear Us Apart” got to #7 and the final single, “Mystify” fared a bit less well, only getting to #17 on the Album Rock Tracks chart. Many of the non-single tracks are almost as strong: the opener “Guns in the Sky” is a tough rocker and politically scathing (it critiqued the ridiculous Reagan-era Star Wars defense system which at the time was totally unfeasible), “Wild Life” and “Calling all Nations” are both exuberant parties and the title track “Kick” is also a good time. I loved Kick when it came out and have continued to listen to it for the past 35 years.

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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 “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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