In college, "Kick" was the soundtrack for my relationship with my college love. But she didn't like them nearly as much as I did. So the songs played mostly in my head. Once, I called the college radio station to request "I Need You Tonight" but the DJ insulted me and called INXS "Australian Motley Crue."
I was fortunate to see INXS twice. The first was in Louisville in fall '86 with the Del Fuegos (!) opening. INXS were fantastic and I was blown away by how great Michael was live. I remember being surprised at how tough the band were live -- more Stonesy than pretty new wave boys. The venue was open on the floor and he sweetly stopped the show once because people were started to get too closed in up front.
Then I saw them in the same venue (with PiL opening) in spring '88 after Kick had blown up. Holy cow, it was a whole different context: the show was sold out and teenage girls screamed at Michael's every move like it was an early Beatles show. (My roommate and I were seniors in college and the two teen girls behind us -- and their uncle! -- asked if we wanted to get ice cream afterwards. It was not a euphemism.) I can still vividly see him in a torn black AC/DC shirt and impossibly tight black jeans, prowling the stage. He absolutely owned the arena and he knew it. After hundreds of concerts large and small, it is still one of the most mesmerizing lead singer performances I've ever seen.
What a loss. I was heartbroken when he left us. Thanks for sharing this, Kevin.
I never did a deep dive on INXS, but Kick was a great album -- at the time. It is one of those that I'm not sure holds up today. Is it the nostagia? Or were they good songs? The three main singles all hold up, I think. But Guns in the Sky? I love it, and still put it on from time to time. Maybe it's goofy though?
Genesis' Invisible Touch is another one of those that I suspect is only of its time -- the biggest album in the world at the time (and another I'll put on here and there), but is perhaps a bit flimsy in terms of all-time classic rock.
I'm biased, but I think both albums definitely hold up today. Though they are of their time, the songs remain timeless. I haven't played Kick in a while, and I personally prefer their earlier albums, but I do own it and think it essential. Same with Invisible Touch, which is probably a more arguable pick.
I think some of Kick is definitely of it's time, but some of it still sounds as good today as it did then (I'm specifically thinking of "Tiny Daggers" as I type this).
It's funny though, that concept of "timeless". I was listening to a podcast the other day breaking down The White Album, and they noted that Sgt. Pepper's used to be held up as the best album ever. Perceptions of what ranks as the best classic rock change and will keep changing. So I guess timelessness is as relative as time.
But I guess only one question is truly important: do I still like listening to it? The rest is academic.
It was 1983, or 1984, anyway, I was a college freshman when I first heard INXS. It was fun and somewhat wonky and fun compared other things on college radio. They kept getting more air play finally made their way onto WXRT Radio in Chicago and became part of my dorm room party scene, not yet out on the larger party circuit around campus. We crammed at least a dozen people in to dance and drink Gin and Tonics. It was that kind of school.
Post graduation “Your One of My Kind” was the penultimate pickup song. I can neither deny, nor confirm using it. INXS was in its finest form. The speakers had pumped their songs in our sorority parties just weeks earlier as everyone danced for the close of the school year. Michael Hutchence was in peak form. The future looked so bright in early May 1987.
But as Timbuk 3 pronounced a year earlier with, “I gotta wear shades”, party soon ended. News of Michael Hutchence death seemed unreal. The stock market tanked that October. I felt all alone. My student loan payments started. Reality set in. Where had the good times gone.
During the 80’s, INXS was one of my favorite bands. The first time I heard of them was when I was performing with Smokey Robinson at Ballys Grand in Las Vegas, and he played one of their songs. Smokey had a bit of a crush on me, so he was easily approachable to me backstage. I asked him about what I thought was his new song, only to be told it was a song by INXS. In between shows, I went out and bought the album. May Michael continue to Rest in Peace ✨🙏♥️
Thank you, I’ll tell it sometime. Performing at Ballys Grand in LV back in the 80s afforded me front row seats backstage to get to know some classic artists. Our dressing room was right across from the big stars, so backstage was more exciting then on stage. My only regret at my age was not having photos. But it was considered tacky carrying around a camera. 📸
Great article, and they were a great band with a really unique sound—indie/college rock-leaning early on, but progressively more poppy, a little dance-y, and slicker with each album. I always thought MH was a total star in a Bono-meets-Morrison kind of way. Great live too.
I agree that "I Need You Tonight" is an odd pick, and that probably generated from this anniversary (and/or Kevin's piece, obviously). I would say that they do have some pretty "dark wave" stuff, although that wasn't it.
Such a terrible loss. Never Tear Us Apart still gives me goosebumps every time I play it. There was a time when I was so obsessed with this song that I had dreams about it. My dad had the Kick CD and it was on heavy rotation when I was a kid. I now enjoy it on vinyl (I managed to get an old pressing in great condition). I also love Mystify. But the whole album is great. Fun fact: New Sensation was the first track we played at my wedding when we wanted to get everyone to stand up and dance. Need I say it worked a treat?!
That's crazy that it's been 26 years since he passed. It feels so recent to me.
The first video from Shabooh Shoobah I remember seeing on MTV was for "The One Thing" with the band and guests at a long dining table, seductively eating fruit, bread, and cheese. I was transfixed! And became a big fan immediately.
Have you seen Mystify: Michael Hutchence, the documentary about him? It's worth a watch, for sure. I saw it in the theater with the director in attendance. So tragic about how the beating completely changed his entire personality.
To me, he was the new wave Mick Jagger, all cool swagger, who seduced and transfixed all in his path.
As a teenager in Jr High, I watched the movie Reckless with Aiden Quinn and Daryl Hannah in a motel room with my friend and her mom (it must have been 1894). Shabooh Shoobah was half the soundtrack and I was hooked! Songs from that album and Listen Like Thieves are still in my rotation! Huge fan!
Great stuff, Kevin! Here to say that Welcome to Wherever You Are is massively underrated in their catalog. Picked that one up again on CD this summer and it’s been in regular rotation since!
‘Don’t Change’ is an all-time fave for me. PIL and INXS? That’s quite a combo!
I just looked up the setlist, and man, does that look like it was a great show!
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/inxs/1988/san-francisco-civic-auditorium-san-francisco-ca-2bdb2096.html
In college, "Kick" was the soundtrack for my relationship with my college love. But she didn't like them nearly as much as I did. So the songs played mostly in my head. Once, I called the college radio station to request "I Need You Tonight" but the DJ insulted me and called INXS "Australian Motley Crue."
LOL!
Hahahaha. Yup!
Lol. That's brutal.
Kick is an incredible record!
Right?
Some time ago, I paid (probably) far too much for a copy of it, but it was totally worth it.
Did the same thing, and 100% concur. Never Tear us Apart would be a desert island track, and the album would be right up there.
Dancing in the aisle at Radio City - usher tried to get my friend and I to sit down instead all of the folks around us poured into the aisle. We won.
The good guys won that night.
I was fortunate to see INXS twice. The first was in Louisville in fall '86 with the Del Fuegos (!) opening. INXS were fantastic and I was blown away by how great Michael was live. I remember being surprised at how tough the band were live -- more Stonesy than pretty new wave boys. The venue was open on the floor and he sweetly stopped the show once because people were started to get too closed in up front.
Then I saw them in the same venue (with PiL opening) in spring '88 after Kick had blown up. Holy cow, it was a whole different context: the show was sold out and teenage girls screamed at Michael's every move like it was an early Beatles show. (My roommate and I were seniors in college and the two teen girls behind us -- and their uncle! -- asked if we wanted to get ice cream afterwards. It was not a euphemism.) I can still vividly see him in a torn black AC/DC shirt and impossibly tight black jeans, prowling the stage. He absolutely owned the arena and he knew it. After hundreds of concerts large and small, it is still one of the most mesmerizing lead singer performances I've ever seen.
What a loss. I was heartbroken when he left us. Thanks for sharing this, Kevin.
You bet! Both of those lineups sound fantastic.
I never did a deep dive on INXS, but Kick was a great album -- at the time. It is one of those that I'm not sure holds up today. Is it the nostagia? Or were they good songs? The three main singles all hold up, I think. But Guns in the Sky? I love it, and still put it on from time to time. Maybe it's goofy though?
Genesis' Invisible Touch is another one of those that I suspect is only of its time -- the biggest album in the world at the time (and another I'll put on here and there), but is perhaps a bit flimsy in terms of all-time classic rock.
I'm biased, but I think both albums definitely hold up today. Though they are of their time, the songs remain timeless. I haven't played Kick in a while, and I personally prefer their earlier albums, but I do own it and think it essential. Same with Invisible Touch, which is probably a more arguable pick.
I prefer Listen Like Thieves, but was still happy to find (and probably overpay) for a copy of this in the wild.
I think some of Kick is definitely of it's time, but some of it still sounds as good today as it did then (I'm specifically thinking of "Tiny Daggers" as I type this).
I'm glad it's not just me!
It's funny though, that concept of "timeless". I was listening to a podcast the other day breaking down The White Album, and they noted that Sgt. Pepper's used to be held up as the best album ever. Perceptions of what ranks as the best classic rock change and will keep changing. So I guess timelessness is as relative as time.
But I guess only one question is truly important: do I still like listening to it? The rest is academic.
A terrible loss. I didn’t remember that it was 1997. I thought it was later than that somehow. Thanks for invoking his memory today!
Same here. The older I get, the squishier time becomes.
It was 1983, or 1984, anyway, I was a college freshman when I first heard INXS. It was fun and somewhat wonky and fun compared other things on college radio. They kept getting more air play finally made their way onto WXRT Radio in Chicago and became part of my dorm room party scene, not yet out on the larger party circuit around campus. We crammed at least a dozen people in to dance and drink Gin and Tonics. It was that kind of school.
Post graduation “Your One of My Kind” was the penultimate pickup song. I can neither deny, nor confirm using it. INXS was in its finest form. The speakers had pumped their songs in our sorority parties just weeks earlier as everyone danced for the close of the school year. Michael Hutchence was in peak form. The future looked so bright in early May 1987.
But as Timbuk 3 pronounced a year earlier with, “I gotta wear shades”, party soon ended. News of Michael Hutchence death seemed unreal. The stock market tanked that October. I felt all alone. My student loan payments started. Reality set in. Where had the good times gone.
These are the stories I love to hear (the college ones, not the stock market crash)!
During the 80’s, INXS was one of my favorite bands. The first time I heard of them was when I was performing with Smokey Robinson at Ballys Grand in Las Vegas, and he played one of their songs. Smokey had a bit of a crush on me, so he was easily approachable to me backstage. I asked him about what I thought was his new song, only to be told it was a song by INXS. In between shows, I went out and bought the album. May Michael continue to Rest in Peace ✨🙏♥️
Wait, performing with Smokey Robinson? Would love to hear more about this!
Thank you, I’ll tell it sometime. Performing at Ballys Grand in LV back in the 80s afforded me front row seats backstage to get to know some classic artists. Our dressing room was right across from the big stars, so backstage was more exciting then on stage. My only regret at my age was not having photos. But it was considered tacky carrying around a camera. 📸
Have a wonderful day! ✨🤗
Great article, and they were a great band with a really unique sound—indie/college rock-leaning early on, but progressively more poppy, a little dance-y, and slicker with each album. I always thought MH was a total star in a Bono-meets-Morrison kind of way. Great live too.
100% agree with you here. I would've loved to have seen them live.
Nice work, Kevin.
Springsteen does a great cover of Don't Change.
Really? Would you know where I can listen to it?
Get ready!! It's good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAqcpc4e6hU
Thank you! And thanks for the link; I had no idea he'd covered this.
Kevin, right as I clicked into your email, "I Need You Tonight" began playing on my Pandora "Dark Wave" radio station.
Couldn't not share that.
Hutchence was brilliant.
I love INXS dearly, but that seems an odd choice for "Dark Wave" -- oh, I get it. They were honoring him on all the various themed stations...nice.
I agree that "I Need You Tonight" is an odd pick, and that probably generated from this anniversary (and/or Kevin's piece, obviously). I would say that they do have some pretty "dark wave" stuff, although that wasn't it.
*twirls mustache
Someday I will have enough gravity to influence Pandora! Bwahahaha
"Those who believe they will never change the world are right."
-me, 2023
The universe works in mysterious ways.
Never Tear Us Apart has come up in several of my readings lately. I'd wondered why it keeps peeking through. Interesting. Great piece! Thank you! 🙏🏻💜💫
You bet! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Such a terrible loss. Never Tear Us Apart still gives me goosebumps every time I play it. There was a time when I was so obsessed with this song that I had dreams about it. My dad had the Kick CD and it was on heavy rotation when I was a kid. I now enjoy it on vinyl (I managed to get an old pressing in great condition). I also love Mystify. But the whole album is great. Fun fact: New Sensation was the first track we played at my wedding when we wanted to get everyone to stand up and dance. Need I say it worked a treat?!
A great way to pack the dance floor indeed!
That's crazy that it's been 26 years since he passed. It feels so recent to me.
The first video from Shabooh Shoobah I remember seeing on MTV was for "The One Thing" with the band and guests at a long dining table, seductively eating fruit, bread, and cheese. I was transfixed! And became a big fan immediately.
Have you seen Mystify: Michael Hutchence, the documentary about him? It's worth a watch, for sure. I saw it in the theater with the director in attendance. So tragic about how the beating completely changed his entire personality.
To me, he was the new wave Mick Jagger, all cool swagger, who seduced and transfixed all in his path.
I haven't seen it! Thanks for mentioning it. I have some time off coming up, and am looking for stuff to watch.
As a teenager in Jr High, I watched the movie Reckless with Aiden Quinn and Daryl Hannah in a motel room with my friend and her mom (it must have been 1894). Shabooh Shoobah was half the soundtrack and I was hooked! Songs from that album and Listen Like Thieves are still in my rotation! Huge fan!
Oof 1984!!
Those are both great records & still get played here relatively often.
Great stuff, Kevin! Here to say that Welcome to Wherever You Are is massively underrated in their catalog. Picked that one up again on CD this summer and it’s been in regular rotation since!
Thank you! Definitely an overlooked record.