INXS Singles Ranked, 21-30

September 19, 2019:  I confess, it has been a bit slow going here for Stu and I and our journey together through INXS singles.  Sometimes, life just gets in the way.  We are going to finish this and, with this chunk of tunes, we’re that much closer to giving you…  what you need…

While we’ve been putting off writing about my choice for the Top 30 INXS/Michael Hutchence songs, a cover of Eric Burden and War’s “Spill the Wine” by Hutchence was released.  It won’t be included in the rankings, but give it a listen.  It was released as a single from the soundtrack of the documentary Mystify: Michael Hutchence.  Furthermore, his songwriting partner Andrew Farriss released his first solo single – the country tinged “Come Midnight” – this past August.  Big goings-on in the INXS-verse.

June 28, 2021:  Well now.  Andrew Farris has released four more country flavored singles since 2019.  Profound apologies to him that they’re not included in this list.  In addition to “Come Midnight,” check out “Good Momma Bad,” “All the Stars are Mine,” “Love Makes The World,” and “Run Baby Run.”  Farriss continues to be a top notch songwriter.

I’m finally in a rush to finish this, so I’ll be including Stu’s thoughts as he adds them – his opinions are awesome.

30.  Listen Like Thieves

Third single from Listen Like Thieves (1985), released as a single in 1986

According to Doyle -When I was a DJ and the Program Director at WRBC while attending Bates College, I was really down on record theft.  I even busted some of my friends for lifting records from the station.  I wasn’t motivated by any sense of “theft is wrong” at the time so much as I was motivated by the idea that if somebody took a record from the station, nobody else could play it.  In essence, I was more motivated by a socialist “don’t mess with the communal property” instinct.  Anyhow, since I also wanted to have copies of the songs so I could listen to them on my own (like a thief), I made endless mix tapes for myself in the production studio.  I’d make a handwritten list of songs I wanted to be able to listen to and then I’d go in either late and night or during the classical music shows when the production studio (and, in the case of the classical music shows, the records) weren’t being used and I’d mix my tapes in peace, replace the records (in alphabetical order so people could find them – the only sin I hated more than record theft was failure to replace albums alphabetically) and return home for years of listening.

I had purchased and loved the two INXS albums prior to Listen Like Thieves so when this record came out, I was very excited.  It was my first semester in college and, thus, one of my first mix-tapes.  I selected which songs I wanted to download rip record from this album to cassette in the normal fashion – dropping the needle on the first few seconds and deciding whether I thought it sounded promising or not).  Thus it came to pass that the song “Listen Like Thieves” came into my life.  It holds a nostalgic place in my heart for all the reasons listed above.  I confess, before today, I never even gave one thought to the lyrics.

As a side note, Was (Not Was) covered this song on their album Hello Dad… I’m In Jail.  I mention this as an excuse to share the title track from that record.

29.  By My Side

Fourth single from X (1990), released as a single in 1991

According to Stu – I listened to X a lot when it came out, probably because I was so starved for a new INXS album. Listening to it now, I don’t enjoy it as much as I did back in the early ’90s. I don’t think it holds up after all these years. But perhaps the track that has best endured the time is “By My Side”. My feel is that it’s because it’s pretty bare. You can really hone in on Michael’s vocal performance, which I really like, particularly when he goes into the lower part of his register. It’s also one of the more poetic songs in their repertoire.

According to Doyle – My relationship with X was immediately set to “It’s Complicated.”  By 1990, they’d already had the tremendous success of Kick and my natural inclination was to reject bands that I loved once they’d had success.  I had mentally rejected my other two darlings – R.E.M. and U2 – for being successful, so why not kick (sic) INXS to the curb too?  Thus, as a DJ on KTUH, I refused to play the album…  and then played (and dutifully recorded) all the singles as they were released.  Back in 1990-91, “By My Side” was not my favorite single from the album (though I liked it well enough) but I agree with Stu that is has aged especially well.  Hutchence’s vocal is indeed a highlight – I particularly like how he sings the chorus – pushing the title phrase in at the last possible rhythmic second.

28.  Tight

Single from The Best of INXS (2002), released as a single in 2002

According to Stu – This, along with “Shining Star”, is one of those songs thrown in on a Best of/Greatest Hits/Live album, which I usually see as a throw-in to give big fans a reason to buy an album of songs they already have.  And these throw-ins often weren’t good enough to make the cut onto an album in the first place. At least, that’s what they sound like.

“Tight” doesn’t do it for me. At least with “Shining Star” I could hang on to the bass line. There isn’t a rope for me to latch onto in this song.

According to Doyle –“Tight” was originally intended for Tom Jones.  I encourage you to listen to it with this salient fact in mind because it might influence your enjoyment/lack thereof of the song.  Andrew Farriss’ lyrics in particular scream “Tom Jones” like they’re going to throw their hotel room key up on stage.  I feel that the Tom Jones vibe suits Hutchence pretty well (like I wonder if Hutch would have a career in Vegas had he survived) and I love Tim Farriss’ guitar work.  It has, to my ear, the classic INXS sound.

27.  Friction
Artist: Michael Hutchence

Streaming stand alone single released in 2015

According to Doyle – Hurchence had completed much of his only solo album before he died in 1997.  The album wasn’t released until 1999.  It was he worked very closely with producers Andy Gill and Danny Saber.  Saber apparently had access to Hutchence’s demos and in 2015, finished and released “Friction.”  This is sort of a “Free As A Bird” single in some ways – just like Lennon had no control over the final version of that song, Hurchence had no control over what finally was released here.  None-the-less, it is a very appealing single.  While I’ve previously come down as firmly anti-whistling in pop singles (see #102), I rather like how it works in this song.  I imagine that Hutchence would have wanted to lay down a different vocal, but I think the demo vocal works very well in this context.

26.  Kick

Fifth single from Kick (1987), released as a single in 1988

According to Stu – I remember being rather meh about “Kick” back in the day, which is strange to think back upon now. I like this song considerably more than I did back in ’89 or so, and it has the energy and pace that often like. I can’t recall why I was so lukewarm to the song back then.

I imagine this to be a song that might open up a concert (“kick it off” so to speak, har har). Its crescendo opening and high energy would pump up the crowd, and I imagine it would go well with flashy lighting or even pyrotechnics. Or, I can imagine it being the last hana hou song, with the audience leaving the arena abuzz after the fading horns.

According to Doyle – Stu’s commentary made me look up INXS concert set lists.  While I’m not going to pour through all the data, I will note that the played the song live 247 times.  Furthermore, the first time they played it (in 1987 at Bowling Green) it absolutely did open the show.  Based on absolutely no further research, I am going to proclaim Stu 100% correct and hereby express admiration for his excellent ear.

The thing I love most about “Kick” is Andrew Farriss’ bombastic keyboard work coupled with Kirk Pengilly’s (often underutilized) saxophone.  The gradual build is a great excitement builder, especially coupled with the general excitement of the rest of the players.  I also like the “sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you” sentiment of the lyrics.  I mean, it isn’t deep philosophy, but it is very satisfying to sing.

25.  Bitter Tears

Third single from X (1990), released as a single in 1991

According to Stu – For me, “Bitter Tears” is somewhat opposite of how I feel about “Kick” in that I don’t dig it as much as I did back when it came out. But then, I could say that about much of X. But specifically for “Bitter Tears”, it plods in a rather uninteresting 4/4, and I just can’t find a feel to the song. It’s not that it’s a bad song, but it just feels like something intangible is missing or out of sorts.

According to Doyle – “Bitter Tears” was sort of the song that brought me back to INXS – at least enough to grudgingly like them again after abandoning them upon their mid-80’s success (see #29 above).  It took another couple of years before I fully embraced them again (and the song that made me love them is coming up in the top 20).  Anyhow, when “Bitter Tears” came out, I was immediately taken with the contrast between the dark(ish) lyrics and the upbeat music.  Yes, he’s encouraging you (or, more likely, himself) to push away the bitter tears, but this sounds like a regular occurrence instead of a one-time only deal.  We know now, of course, that Hutchence had his demons and while he didn’t always wear them on his sleeve like, for example, Cobain did, he still occasionally put them out there for us to hear.

24.  Bang the Drum

From the Bang the Drum EP (2004), released as a single in 2004

According to Doyle – When a band or artist records an album, they oft record more songs than they ultimately use on the record.  Sometimes, songs don’t fit the style of the album (see Elvis Costello’s “Impatience” – #41) and other times a band might just feel that the song isn’t as good as the others (see R.E.M.’s “Ages of You” – #63).  When INXS was recording Elegantly Wasted, they had a pair of songs that they didn’t ultimately end up using on the album and both were included on the 2004 digital EP, Bang the Drum.   “Let it Ride” (which is delightful) had been released in Japan and Australia as a bonus track, but “Bang the Drum” did not see the light of day until 2004 – perhaps because the lyrics (embedded below the video) included the unfortunate line “Oh baby, grab a noose cause we’re looking for a different end.”  To be fair, it is possible that Andrew Farriss spent a bunch more time working on this song before it was released, but it is such a classic, upbeat INXS song that I’m kind of surprised it wasn’t included on Elegantly Wasted to begin with.  Maybe they were looking to move away from that sound?  Hard to say, but when it came out, it felt to me like the band had never left.

23.  Original Sin

First single from The Swing (1984), released in 1983

According to Doyle – According to the liner notes included in their Shine Like It Does anthology, “Original Sin” did not go over well in some parts of the United States:

In the United States, we had a death threat from one listener who took offense to the lyric.  Another dude threw a pistol on stage during a club gig in Texas saying “… in appreciation for your music…”  The one obvious reality here was we were doing something that for the first time was on the edge.

Andrew Farriss, Liner Notes for Shine Like It Does, Page 40

Indeed, producer Nile Rodgers’ suggestion to make the couple in the chorus interracial led to some radio stations in the U.S. refusing to play the song in 1983.  When I heard it back then, I don’t recall thinking it was a big deal.  Or a deal of any size.  It just seemed like a thing people did.  What the heck did I know?

Daryl Hall (who also recently appeared on the Elvis Costello list – #58) sings back-up on the chorus here (at Rodgers’ request).  The song has an appropriately dream-like quality to it that is occasionally punctured by Jon Farriss’ drums (wake up, he thumps).  It still doesn’t sound like a whole lot of the other songs in their catalog.

22.  Slide Away
Artist: Michael Hutchence

Promo single from Michael Hutchence (1999), released as a single in 2000

According to Doyle –  Hutchence sings “I just want to slide away and come alive again.”  He left this track from his solo album unfinished before he died, so his friend Bono was invited to finish the lyrics and recorded a posthumous duet.  The sense of the song, to my ear, is that Bono is responding to Hutchence.  This sort of emotional ground is Bono’s natural territory so I think this song ends up being a poignant reflection on his death instead of a maudlin tribute.  Both Hutchence and Bono sound great.

21.  Elegantly Wasted

First single from Elegantly Wasted (1997), released as a single in 1997

According to Doyle – Let’s just get this out of the way – yes, he does sometimes sing “better than Oasis” instead of “Elegantly Wasted” on the track.  I do love a bunch of Oasis’ music, but man the Gallagher brothers could be jerks in the 90’s.  Enough on that.

“Elegantly Wasted” was the first single (and title track) from INXS’ final album with Hutchence.  There’s not a whole much to the lyrics  – just a kind of general intimation that going through life drunk isn’t really the good life – but it is so much fun to sing the chorus.  This was their final song to chart in the American Top 40 (two songs from Switch charted on the Adult chart) and managed to even be a #1 song in Canada (it didn’t break the top 40 in Canada).  That said, to me, it sort of hinted at a bit of a path forward for the band after their mid-90’s doldrums.  They still sound like INXS, but they were starting to open their sound up a little bit.

Coming Soon: Three years in the making, the top 20!

INXS Singles Ranked – 61-65 – 51-60 – 41-50 – 31-40 – 21-30 – 11-20 – 1-10