Michael Hutchence. Largely forgotten?*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Sondek, May 29, 2016.

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  1. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I didn't realize it was a actual suicide; I was under the impression it was more "death by misadventure", and in that light, it's just something that there's not much you can say about it. People grasp "suicide." But if you blow your brains out just goofing off (Terry Kath), it's just...uncomfortable because no one meant for it to happen. And then the ghoulish jokes start...
    Maybe I'm wrong.
     
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  2. MrGrumpy

    MrGrumpy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Burbank
    IIRC they did not really promote Welcome To Wherever You Are because one faction in the band (Michael?) wanted to go straight back to the studio to do their grunge/slightly political album. And they toured to promote that one (Full Moon ...) before the album was in stores. So a lot of unfamiliar material was being played to a lot of people who had not seen them for a while.

    I am not sure whether Mercury was much of a presence in the US when they signed. The last album had some great stuff - always loved I´m Just A Man - such a cry for help that we never heard. It came out around the same time as albums from peers like Depeche Mode, Cure, U2 - all of which did much better.

    On top of all that, I think they just lost interest in the grind. Michael became a tabloid fixture - Helena C/Paula Y., and a Dad. But all it takes is one great documentary or boxed set or INXS-inspired band, and I think he will receive his posthumous mainstream due.
     
  3. zappinnati

    zappinnati Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    I really liked everything from Shabooh Shoobah through Elegantly Wasted (with the exception of X and half of Kick). The first two and final albums did nothing for me. I never viewed Hutchence (or INXS) as influential or socially important. However, they wrote a ton of great pop songs I still enjoy today. Sometimes that's enough.
     
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  4. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    The singer happened to be Canadian, and that may have satisfied Canadian radio content requirement, which helped drive sales. Despite the overall cheesiness of selecting a singer from a reality show, the songs were pretty decent, at least from this perspective. It was enough to convince me to grab it from BMG or Columbia House, although it hasn't received any play in probably 10 years. Meantime, you'd be lucky to grab a buck for it used, if you wanted to unload it.
     
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  5. FLF

    FLF The insurgency began and you missed it.

    Location:
    Southern Oklahoma.
    Agreed. Max Q is a great album and had some "120 minutes" era indie cred of it's own.
     
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  6. FLF

    FLF The insurgency began and you missed it.

    Location:
    Southern Oklahoma.
    Seriously, these guys were seemingly on the upswing when the wheels fell off. This is among their best work...

     
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  7. sandmountainslim1

    sandmountainslim1 Vicar Of Fonz

    [​IMG]

    Never forgotten but a lesson to us all.
     
  8. FLF

    FLF The insurgency began and you missed it.

    Location:
    Southern Oklahoma.

    Apparently forgot how to spell his name and what country he was from though... ;)
     
  9. Mike .S.

    Mike .S. Well-Known Member

    Agreed. I saw them on the X tour in like 1991 or so. He was the ultimate frontman.
    As a straight man, I wouldn't have turned him down if you know what I mean.
    INXS trying to replace him, using that ****ty show and the hoopla. Terrible.
    Michael was great and sorely missed.
     
  10. Ash76

    Ash76 Wait actually yeah no

    INXS were massive here in Australia and were my favourite band from when I was 11 until about 18.
    They were very influential and had heaps of great songs. All albums from their debut up to Welcome To Wherever You Are were fantastic.
    I still listen to them quite a lot - of course they tarnished their legacy by continuing after his death.
     
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  11. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I thought I saw one of their last U.S.concerts, anyway, we played the Elegantly Wasted cd a lot in our store and sales were pretty good at our store. At the time, I enjoyed that cd and was looking forward to hearing some of the songs in concert and they played 'em. The audience I was a part of were very enthusiastic and engaged. as was the band. They had their hits to play and some new tunes. MH was a really good front man. Had some charisma. We got onstage for the encore as it became a party at the front. We actually were encouraged to stay on the stage because we couldn't get back down since the first few rows were packed. I remember him taking some cigarette hits throughout the show. There was an occasional drink from a bottle and some profanity and it seemed to me once or twice he was living the title of the album in some way. Anyway, one of the most joyous shows I remember being at. If I could go again, I would in a second. He literally reached out to people at times during the show and the band and songs definitely reached people. It was that kind of reciprocity that elevated the concert experience. I remember 2 female backup singers onstage with the band. They might have had an additional keyboardist, not sure. Glad I went to hear and see them when I did.
     
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  12. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    They was basically a pub band from the suburbs who were content to tour up and down the east coast of Australia. Their manager, Chris Murphy, took things to the next level and told them who were their strongest songwriters and what to do to conquer the world. The band's biggest mistake was liking being famous and forgetting what it took to get there in the first place. The mini series is actually pretty accurate in that respect. Working with Nile Rogers and Chris Thomas also didn't hurt. Most of their stuff sounds great.
     
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  13. Ash76

    Ash76 Wait actually yeah no

    And had trouble finding a photo of him so had to use a stand in
     
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  14. Rocketdog

    Rocketdog Senior Member

    Location:
    ME, USA
    Not to me he isn't. Loved Michael's vocals and lyrics, and INXS were a great band. I still think Michael was one of the greatest voices and frontmen Rock music ever saw. Until his untimely passing, INXS were one of the handful of bands to have been around as long as they were (20 years at the time) with no lineup changes. That say's lot right there.

    However, as other's have pointed out, they just didn't have the cultural impact that a lot of other bands did, despite many great albums and hits. Sure, I still will occasionally hear their influence in an artist or song here or there, but it's relatively minimal in the grand scheme of things.
     
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  15. Mike .S.

    Mike .S. Well-Known Member

    I feel like 20 years from now some band will cover them and suddenly they will be introduced to a new audience. There will be lore about their success and MH's death.
     
  16. Miriam

    Miriam Forum Resident

    Location:
    -
    Not many people know this film. It's one of my favorites.

    Dogs In Space (1986) by Richard Lowenstein

     
  17. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    It's worth getting the 2 DVD version for the incredible documentary We're Living On Dog food which is an 100% accurate on the Melbourne post punk scene by the people who were there.
     
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  18. Mike .S.

    Mike .S. Well-Known Member

    I wouldn't disagree with that. When I saw him he definitely had the "young lion" persona going on.
    I'm probably in the minority,
    But I think Morrison could possibly be the best front man in rock. Just my opinion.
     
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  19. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    I think the main reason is that INXS were a band identity, more than many bands where the front
    man is well known by name. I realize that fans knew him by name, but he didn't have the name recognition that the others mentioned by the OP had.
     
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  20. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse's careers were still on the rise, or in their prime, when they passed. You could make a good case that Jim Morrison had plenty left in the tank, as well. I think people view the passing as more tragic if we are left wondering what else the artist could have done. What great works we missed out on... Always keep them wanting more, as they say. Hutchence seemed to have already made as much of an impact as he was going to make at the time of his death.

    Hutchence was a great front man with a great voice. INXS had some really good songs. However, I don't see them as the kind of visionaries that Cobain, Morrison or Hendrix were. Also, I think Mercury was on a different level of stardom than Hutchence.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2016
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  21. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    [​IMG]

    mmmmmm Max Q
     
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  22. GLUDFSSR

    GLUDFSSR Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    One of the last Great frontmen. Almost like Morrison reincarnated.
     
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  23. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    The band was irrelevant by 1994 (in the U.S, anyway) as far as being popular in the mainstream. If they had any comeback singles in between then and when he died, I don't know about them (which to be fair is entirely possible).
     
  24. fitzysbuna

    fitzysbuna Senior Member

    Location:
    Australia
    well they were on the comeback at that stage ! I think the next album ( if they had got to record it ) would have been huge just as big as U2s album All That You Can't Leave Behind. then they probably would have faded away just like U2.
     
  25. Sondek

    Sondek Forum Resident Thread Starter

    U2 hasn't faded away. Their albums aren't as good as they used to be imo, but they're still releasing them, and their tours are absolutely huge.
     
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