Michael Hutchence. Largely forgotten?*

INXS wasn't as faceless as, for example, Toto and Boston (at least outside the U.S), as even the front men of those acts didn't particularly stand out. I wouldn't say REM were faceless.

And Warrant were nowhere near as successful as INXS. They weren't on the same level at all.

Warrant discography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia »

INXS discography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia »

 

Please do as I'm considering getting the Mofi pressing of X.

 

Well, they still made relevant music well into the 90s but unfortunately their core audience moved on. INXS were viewed as a club/dance act, and once one gets pigeon holed, it is very difficult to sustain a career. Bands like U2 and Rem were given the opportunity to reinvent themselves. INXS didn't have that luxury.

 

Not sure the correlation between Warrant and INXS. Bizarre.

 

They were close. INXS was Michael Hutchence and the other guys. No one knew anyone but Michael and even his name wasn't that well-known stateside.

Ed

 

He was well known at least in Australia and the UK. The same couldn't really be said for the lead singers of Boston and Toto.

 

Micheal was a global superstar and a household name . Kick sold 10m copies worldwide.

 

AS a proud Aussie, I can only agree 100%. I turned 18 in 1980 and I soent a large part of the decade in pubs watching Aussie bands, or at home playing records by Aussie bands. Yet I never saw INXS play and I dont have any of their records. Hutchence was an excellent front man but their music was over-shadowed by many better groups.

 

Better is a subjective term. "Different" is more applicable.

 

Ok, INXS was over-shadowed by many different groups.

 

For the record...the Church is my fave Aussie band

 

Indeed, I live in the UK. I think I have a pretty good music knowledge. I couldn't name a single member of either Boston or Toto, I couldn't confidently tell you any of their song titles either, they don't mean much over here.

INXS were still very popular in the UK around the time of Full Moon, Dirty Hearts. I know a lot of friends on Facebook were recently posting about how much they still love Kick.

I don't get out much these days but I went to an indie night in the city where I live and the very young DJ played 'This Time' (from Listen Like Thieves) as part of his set of super-cool new Indie bands. So I guess 'the kids' are still listening.

I think Beck covered Kick in it's entirely, Bruce Springsteen covered Don't Change when he toured Australia recently.

I don't think INXS are forgotten at all.

 

It's a ridiculous comparison. INXS weren't faceless, and they were far more successful - they've sold more than 45 million albums worldwide. Their tunes still get played on the radio. I can't say the same for Warrant.

 

I've got one of Toto's greatest hits albums. Africa and Rosanna were well known tunes. But that's about it for me when it comes to Toto or Boston. I couldn't name a member of either group, and I wouldn't recognise any of them if I walked past them in the street.

 

Kick has sold around 15 million worldwide.

 

From the mid 80s to 1990, I can't think of many. U2? Who else?

 

That is like living in Paris but never seeing the Mona Lisa (or at least Whistler's Mother). Not sure I would be broadcasting that tidbit.

And - re others' ¨faceless¨ comments. That is the stupidest thing I have read. The guy was an Adonis. If he is faceless then the rest of us are amoebae (not sure if they have faces).

 

INXS was huge from about 1986-1989. Kick is definitely in the running for one of the greatest 80s albums. Michael Hutchence was extremely well known. I am pretty sure most of the people who don't remember this were a little too old to be following Top 40 religiously. I remember seeing him in Dogs In Space, which was one of my ex girlfriend's favorite movie. Anyway, the reasons why he is forgotten have pretty much been stated. 1. Declining sales due to a failure to keep up with changing tastes. 2. Manner of his death. and 3. Failure to keep in the public eye.

 

I'm not really surprised that he has been forgotten...

But I do think INXS is a respectable group, and Michael was the best performer for them.

 

86 to 91. Their Wembley concerts were in 91, which was the year they reached my radar, and they were on top form at that point. And check the sales for X in 1990 - it didn't do as well as Kick (that one did exceptionally well by any groups standards) but it did very well (their second biggest selling album). I listened to that and Kick after posting this thread, and X has aged quite a bit better than Kick.

Nirvana got big after X came out. That was the game changer. U2 did good with Actung Baby and managed to survive through the grunge phase, but the next INXS offering wasn't so great. Shame.

 

INXS were huge on MTV so people at least knew what all the members looked like. The same can't be said for Toto.

 

Those videos (smartly) mostly focused on Michael Hutchence. People certainly didn't know their names. That's more what I was referencing. Total truth regarding Toto. No one had a clue who any of them were. They were totally anonymous, though I'm thinking that was by design.

Ed

 

Correct, I was speaking from a US point of view. I think X sold well, but interest dropped off fairly quickly.

 

Nope... Haven't forgotten about Michael Hutchence anymore than, say, David Carradine... When it comes to auto-erotic asphyxia, those two are pretty much a dead heat.

 

There was plenty of 'scandal' with Hutchence, read up!!

I just think their music can sound a bit dated now. I still listen to kick on lp now and then and I still love suicidal blonde but I dunno it almost seems too polished..a lot of the more favoured ill fated "rock"stars music seemed looser and more improvised like Hendrix,cobain,keith moon amd jim morrison... I could be wrong, stranger things have happened