song of the day – “Need You Tonight” | INXS | 1987.

I was already a big fan of the Melbourne, Australia Rock band INXS long before their sixth studio album, KICK, was released in October 1987.  The album was only out a couple of weeks and change when I saw INXS perform at Colby College’s Wadsworth Gym (in Waterville, Maine) on November 7, 1987.  Leadoff single “Need You Tonight” hadn’t even reached the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 yet… but that would soon change after I saw this show; EVERYTHING for INXS would change forever after I saw them perform just this one time…

The full gatefold cover for KICK…

Unlike concerts now, you could go to a college show like this, wait in line, and rush to the be in front of the stage, which is exactly what I had done.  I saw some folks I met a month before when The Hooters performed there.  On that early November night, were all in the front row waiting for a show to remember.

I’ve seen a great deal of performers in my time, and it was truly amazing to watch Michael Hutchence onstage that night.  The whole band was sensational, but Michael was so charismatic, so confident.  The Colby stop for INXS was among the last Stateside visits for INXS in 1987, and when they returned to the U.S. in late February 1988, “Need You Tonight” had already reached No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, and the band performed three dates at Radio City Music Hall in NYC in mid-March with “Devil Inside” inside the Top 20.  By the time the KICK tour ended in November 1988, INXS had gone from playing colleges like Colby to sports arenas and then some.

Back to that Colby show, “Need You Tonight” and KICK weren’t quite hits just yet, but the momentum was there.  You could tell the band was going to explode into something huge, something they prolly hadn’t expected.  For years, apart from the Top 10 success they had with “What You Need” in 1986, INXS primarily played colleges and smaller venues.  Several of my friends have mentioned attending a concert INXS did in Portland, Maine (at the Exposition Building) with The Go-Go’s back in the early 80s.  Lucky bastards.

Michael Hutchence, 1987.

Between the growing popularity of INXS, the onstage charisma of Michael Hutchence, and the small venue at Colby College, a kick-ass front row view turned into chaos quick.  Everyone wanted to be near Michael and the band, and started migrating towards the front, even though there was no room to be had.  The concert had to be stopped, and one of the kind people I met at The Hooters show a month before had to be carried off the stage because she was getting crushed against the security barrier.  Michael Hutchence himself even told people to move back before anyone else gets hurt.  And, once I left the front row for a spot on the side bleachers (about halfway back in the gym), I started enjoying the show again.

The INXS show was on a Saturday night, and at the time, I was the new DJ at a local chem-free nightclub called Studio 2.  The club was open for chem-free dancing (mainly high school kids) from 8:00pm until midnight every Saturday (and some Wednesdays during the Summer).  I had been DJing there for prolly 5 months.  If I recall, it was my first night off (so I could see the concert).  After the INXS show, I went back to check on things at Studio 2 and to say HI to a girl I was interested in (it wasn’t reciprocated in the end).  I drove back to Colby to see if I could still meet the band, but I was too late.  So, I missed my one chance to meet Michael Hutchence and INXS that night…over a girl.  

I’ll never forget that INXS show, and how the band catapulted from colleges to stadiums within a year, and how I was so glad to be a witness to the early part of that.  Honestly, as much as I love KICK, it’s not my favorite album by INXS – that distinction goes to 1982’s SHABOOH SHOOBAH, the album that introduced the band to the U.S. (including yours truly), and other parts of the globe outside of Australia and New Zealand.

“Need You Tonight” spent a week at No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in late January 1988, a fitting start to a huge year for INXS.  “Need You Tonight” spent nearly half a year on the Hot 100, and was ranked at No. 2 for all of 1988 here in America, ranked just behind George Michael’s “Faith.”  It also charted on several of BILLBOARD’s other charts, reaching No. 7 on the Dance chart, No. 12 on the Rock chart and even No. 73 on the R&B chart.  Pretty impressive.

Around the globe, “Need You Tonight” was a massive hit and was apparently needed almost everywhere, reaching the Top 10 in the U.K., Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and South Africa.  The video for “Need You Tonight” / “Mediate” also picked up five (of nine) MTV Video Music Awards in 1988, for Best Group Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Editing In A Video, Viewer’s Choice and Video Of The Year.

Clips from the “Need You Tonight” video.

KICK went on to sell more than six million copies in the U.S. alone, and remains the band’s biggest album overall worldwide.  The other three singles released from KICK here in America all reached the Top 10 of the Hot 100: “Devil Inside” (No. 2, April 1988), “New Sensation” (No. 3, July 1988) and the gorgeous “Never Tear Us Apart” (No. 7, November 1988).

Ten years and 15 days after the memorable performance by INXS at Colby College, Michael Hutchence sadly took his own life at the far-too-young age of 37.  This year, we’ve lost some music heroes and heavy-hitters, including David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey of The Eagles, Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, Country legend Merle Haggard, and Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead at the end of 2015. 

The death of Michael Hutchence was the first music death that really hit me hard, especially since I thought ELEGANTLY WASTED (released in April 1997) was the band’s best album since KICK.  It would have been cool to see the direction they were going.  But, it was not to be. 

From ROCK STAR: INXS, 2005 (from left, guitarist Tim Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, lead singer and ROCK STAR: INXS winner J.D. Fortune, keyboardist (and then some) and chief songwriter Andrew Farriss, rhythm guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly, and bassist Garry Gary Beers).

I applauded the band for wanting to move forward, even without their brother Michael.  They did a worldwide reality TV show (ROCK STAR: INXS) to find a new lead singer (Canadian J.D. Fortune got the call), released an album because of it (2005’s SWITCH), and picked up their biggest hit since 1992 (“Pretty Vegas,” No. 37 Hot 100, No. 1 Canada).  INXS released a remix album in late 2010 before calling it quits in November 2012 after 35 years.

“Need You Tonight” has been oft-mentioned as being the “sexiest song of the 80s.”  It’s a fair statement.  I don’t, however, believe that was my reasoning for choosing the song as my debut attempt at karaoke with my dear friend Michelle in Portland a week ago, but I’m glad I chose it.  I was even nerding out and wearing my INXS “Need You Tonight” 12” single T-shirt while singing the song.  It’s what I do.  And, I didn’t think my performance was all that bad.  I got some applause, my friend (and karaoke-er extraordinaire) Michelle enjoyed it, and I’ll prolly do karaoke again because of the experience. 

That’s me nerding out in the WMPG studio under the bright lights, 2.28.2016, with my matching import “Need You Tonight” single and T-shirt.

Though Michael’s been gone 19 years this year, and it’s been six years since they parted ways, INXS has long been my favorite band.  And, even though I got to see them just the one time, it was a part of music history – and my music history – that I’ll never forget.  For Michael Hutchence, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Tim Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, Garry Gary Beers (and J.D. Fortune too), I thank you, and I will need you and your music to stay with me forever, but for now, I’ll take tonight…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F93ywiGMDnQ

(real) one-hit wonder of the week – “I Wanna Be A Cowboy” | BOYS DON’T CRY | 1986.

Between late 1979 and the end of 1989, there were nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s that reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 just one time, a list that includes Soft Cell, Gary Numan, Timbuk 3, The Church, Bronski Beat, Nik Kershaw, The Buggles, The Waitresses, Ultravox and two different bands named The Silencers.  Once a week, I’ll highlight a (real) one-hit wonder for you.

When you think of the words “boys don’t cry,” you prolly think of two things: the 1979 song by The Cure, and the band with the 1986 novelty hit, “I Wanna Be A Cowboy.”  Contrary to belief, the U.K. Pop / Rock band formed by Singer / Keyboardist Nick Richards in 1983 did not get the band’s name from The Cure classic, but actually from a line in the 1975 10cc Dream Pop gem, “I’m Not In Love” (“be quiet…big boys don’t cry, big boys don’t cry…”). 

The band Boys Don’t Cry had already released an EP before Paul Oakenfold discovered them.  In the mid-80s, well before he became a famed producer and DJ, Paul Oakenfold was a talent scout for Profile Records in London (the same label as Run-D.M.C.), and signed the band to Profile for their U.S. releases.

The self-titled album (and first full album) for Boys Don’t Cry was released in 1986, and from that album came a fun novelty single called “I Wanna Ba A Cowboy,” which has been described as the perfect musical realization of a spaghetti western movie.

“I Wanna Be A Cowboy” spurred its way onto the BILLBOARD Hot 100 chart in early April 1986, debuting at No. 90.  In mid-May, it had shot into the Top 40, and in late June, it spent a week at No. 12, and a total of 19 weeks on the Hot 100.  “I Wanna Be A Cowboy” would go on to reach the Top 10 in Australia and South Africa, most likely due in part to its kitschy video, which featured a cameo by the late, great Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead.

Lemmy in the video for “I Wanna Be A Cowboy…”

 

The follow-up single to “I Wanna Be A Cowboy” was called “Cities On Fire.”  This was a straight-up, Synth-driven Rock song, and I really enjoyed it (still do), but the novelty of Boys Don’t Cry was gone for most folks.  Though the band released another album, WHO THE AM DAM DO YOU THINK WE AM, and most recently, HEAR IT IS! (released in 2014), Boys Don’t Cry never graced the Hot 100 again.

It’s not an exaggeration that “I Wanna Be A Cowboy” is one of the most-requested songs on my little 20-year-old radio show, STUCK IN THE 80s.  It exudes the qualities of 80s music people most identify and love with the decade.  Who thought a song about a guy named Ted could be so much fun?  Can you believe that?

One more fun side note: knowing many people associated their name with the 1979 song of the same name by The Cure (and getting a kick out of it), Boys Don’t Cry included an instrumental song on their second album, titled…”The Cure.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHCsbrc8xKA