Note: the CD I listened to was the original 1987 release, not any of the subsequent re-releases/bonus editions/deluxe editions/anniversary editions.
I was a marginal INXS fan in the early '80s. Singer Michael Hutchence is arguably one of the best frontmen of the '80s. I liked their songs The One Thing and Original Sin and owned a cassette version of the band's 1983 EP, Dekadance, which included a fantastic extended mix of the former. Sadly, that tape is no longer in my collection. I officially became a fan of the band with 1985's Listen Like Thieves album which I had on a dubbed C-90 cassette (Wang Chung's To Live and Die in L.A. was on the flip side.) Then, when I heard the tasty mix of hook-filled dance music and rock music in this album, I was blown away. It was fun to listen to back then and it still sounds good today.
Press of the time:
- Billboard: "uncompromising, purebred rock'n'roll"
- CashBox: "focused, vital effort"
- Robert Christgau (B): "danceable rock and roll that sounds smart"
- LA Times (★★½ ): "aims to put the rock back into dance-rock and the rhythm back into rhythm guitar."
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard 200: #3
- Billboard Pop CD: #1
- CashBox CD: #1
- Rolling Stone: #1
Tracks: New Sensation rivals What You Need for my favorite INXS song. My other top picks are Need You Tonight/Mediate, Wild Life, and Kick. It's pretty much a great collection of songs from top to bottom. The only song I don't particularly care for is the ballad, Never Tear Us Apart, but that song was a #7 hit in August 1988, so I must be in the minority.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Even though it was released in 1987, this album was a large part of the soundtrack to my summer in 1988 (usually referred to on this blog as "The Lost Summer of Mark"), which means it was in heavy rotation on my car stereo as I drove from summer school in Commerce to my job at a book warehouse in Greenville. I'm also reminded of a party at my rental house that summer (in August, maybe?). It was a pretty good party, but by about two in the morning, I was ready for it to be over. It seems I was the only one. So I walked down the block to the laundromat parking lot, piled into the back of my girlfriend's father's cargo van, and passed out until the next morning. Good times.
Of course, who could forget the 2005 reality TV show Rock Star: INXS with beautiful host Brooke Burke? (luv ya, Brooke! Call me.)
LOVE this album. Huge INXS fan as well and it looks like we both jumped on the bandwagon near simultaneously: I still have my 12" of Dekadance. Shabooh Shoobah was a constant companion at the beginning of Junior year and album closer "Don't Change" still mellows me down. (Did I just sound like Snow there?) The undeniable funk of The Swing was welcomed with open ears and it was all doubleplusgood when I saw Nile Rodgers name in the mix. The "Original Sin" 12" was immediately paired up with "Geisha Boys and Temple Girls" by Heaven 17 on all the mixtapes I made although listening to those two together does nothing for me today although I stll like them both.
ReplyDeleteThe release of Listen Like Thieves coincided with a new deck and new 6x9s for my green Bug. It is one of only three albums I ever splurged for a TDK MA-XG 90 to record on. (There is a unopened box of five of those on ebay right now - price is up to $173!!!) Saw them live on that tour and it was best concert I had ever seen until I attended the Kick tour in 1988. The show was on graduation night and was not well attended - it was almost like an intimate club instead of a cavernous convention center.
Was blown away by "Good Times" song on Lost Boys soundtrack and then Kick came out a month after my daughter, our first child, was born and was like my favorite album for months, one of the very few I played start to finish; no skips, no random play. About a month after that concert I mwntioned above (June 1988), I was at a record convention here in town and I found this Surf music book I wanted. The guy goes to grab it for me - it was behind his table - and he knocks over a disc and picks it up. Just like you see in TV and movies, the light hit the case just right and it shimmered and glowed - Kick with an OBI strip. I asked him about it and he handed it to me and I flipped it over, saw bonus tracks and asked how much. He said some crazy number like $30. I said I'll just take book. Got to be near the end of show about two hours later, and he calls me over as I walk by on my way out and says $10. SOLD.