This is the tour I saw INXS on, 1983 and Adam and the Ants opened. Great teenage memories, y'all! Very cool hearing The One Thing, it's been years and years. I had forgotten about the video, it is kind of along the lines of Duran Duran or some-such. The song is terrific and holds up very well. As so many have said, tons of hooks.
There are so many wonderful things about The One Thing. Tim's guitar riff that anchors the verses in place. Michael's sultry lyrics that drew the females in. Kirk's amazing sax solo that perfectly builds to the necessary climax before the track drops back into the verses. And Jon's ingenious polyrhythmic/syncopated drum fills in the first couple of choruses, that are totally unexpected. After all the hard work touring the pubs in their homeland for 5 years straight, literally playing 300 shows per year, and writing/recording new material whenever they could squeeze it in their incredibly tight schedule, it had clearly begun to pay off. By the 2nd half of '82 into '83, this was the first song that made the world aware that INXS had clearly arrived and were destined for massive success.
I can't really say much about The One Thing that hasn't been said already but this is one of my favorites, another top 5 track for me. It's a shame they stopped playing it live later in their career. I would've really liked to see it in the Live Baby Live film. Tim's guitar riff is so simple but really memorable. Andrew's keyboard almost sounds like some sort of synth Caribbean sounds but it really works and is the last thing I would've expected. An early live version is on Stay Young The Deluxe Years and it sounds really different. They really improved the song from what it sounded like there but still neat to hear in its own right.
Absolutely. And I forgot to include in my summary just how cool Andrew's synth lines are and how that uniquely delicate Caribbean style adds such a different flavor. Also, I just re-listened to the early Deluxe Years version from Wanda Beach in Jan. '82, and was reminded of how there's no solo from Kirk and instead, Andrew takes a new wave-ish solo - which of course, puts a completely different spin on the track. And how the song stops cold at the end instead of letting the instrumentation ring out.
To Look At You. The third single from the album released in March 1983 was the wonderfully atmospheric, yet pumping along To Look At You. In some ways this song really shows how far the band had come from their first two albums, as we do have a sort of typically Inxs type of song, but at the same time it is quite unique in its own way. We open with this big sounding drum set, and for all intents and purposes one might be expecting a big ol' guitar to come chunking into the mix at this point, but instead we get this light and airy keyboard/synth, and it is like gentle brush strokes on the canvas rather than anything the opening drums would suggest. We get this really nice descending pattern on the keys and Hutchence comes in with a really well measured, and gentle, almost whisper like vocal. What is the name to call For a different kind of girl Who knows the feelings But never the words To look at you And never speak Is so good For me tonite Who do you ask when there's no one Left to turn to You ask me and I'll always try to hear Past money and colours and make believe Good cheap values for a thrifty clown To Look at You And never speak Is so good For me tonite What do you fear in the simple Still of a summer's nite I understand I sympathize for a day dream Fairytales and I love you What is the name to call For a different kind of girl Who knows the feeling's But never the words To this ... real life documentary Songwriters: Andrew Charles Farriss To Look at You lyrics © Browning Music, Mca Music Publishing, A.d.o. Universal S, Songs Of Universal, Inc. I really like the lyrics here. It is another variation on the love song, but I think it manages to change the face of the love song lyric well, and Hutchence is really starting to put together some nice lyrics, that have enopugh of a unique style to be interesting and engaging. Again the bass is really very good, and when we get to the stripped back arrangement of the chorus it shines as the main driving force of the song. Then in a beautiful piece of dynamic contrast we roll into this beautiful, i suppose, second section of the chorus.... We get this powerful guitar come in with a nicely phrased arpeggio. It is bolstered by a held keyboard chord, and again we see how well the guys worked together and rather than trying to shine themselves they all work together to make the song shine. One interesting thing about this song, is it really doesn't have a typical pop/rock song structure. It is an ever changing series of sections linking the chorus section, and I think it works well. To be honest when I first heard this song, I was still in my rock above all phase, and so it slightly drifted by me, although I liked it well enough. Over the years I have grown to love this track. We move into an instrumental type break, and we get a nice bass and some interesting sound, that I presume come from Andrew. We get Hutchence come in with a different type of vocal again, and I assume we would call this the bridge. Tim adds some nice rhythm guitar, which again is just the right amount of colouring for this section of the track. Then we move into the second part of the chorus and it also is a variation. The end of the song is a really well arranged crescendo type thing that chops off cold. This is a beautifully arranged song, and it is certainly a 5/5 (if you like that kind of grading lol) in terms of melodic, structural, and engaging pop/rock songs.
Space Shuttle This was the b-side of the One thing Single. It starts with, what I presume are the drums from To Look At You, and moves into a strange quirky little track that is very different to To Look At You. We get some volume swell guitar and a pulsing bass and some interesting sounds with an almost Devo-like guitar. We have some effected vocals that sound a little creepy and weird. It is interesting to me that the band really seem to do a bit of experimenting on their b-sides. I wouldn't say this is in Inxs's best songs or anything, but I really like the fact that they are playing around with the songs nicely.
Phamtim Of The Opera This track appeared on the One Thing 12"single. Again we get a sort of experimental type thing here .... For the record, I will just say now, rather than every time, that I suppose I have never heard any of the Inxs b-sides. Here we have a moderate to uptempo piece of music, and a strange collage of edits from a movie soundtrack, I presume. This is a strange and haunting piece of work, that again, isn't in the top line of Inxs songs, but it certainly interesting.
The Sax Thing This is the b-side of To Look At You. Essentially this is a little piece of work by Kirk Pengilly, and it has an almost Glenn Miller in the eighties type sound feel and arrangement. Again the guys put together an strange interesting b-side.
You Never Used To Cry This track is really quite unusual, we have this twisted doo wop type thing going on. I am not sure who is doing the vocals, I assume it is Jon Farriss with it being credited to him as writer. We have some quite prominent drums and as weird as this track is, it is quite fun and interesting.
These are all pretty cool. I do admire the adventurism they employed on the B sides. Space Shuttle does remind me of Devo and maybe Neil Young's Trans record. Weird and good!
Here Comes II Here we have a very different version of Here Comes. This is a really stripped back arrangement, and we have an almost vocal and keyboard mix, and in the chorus we get bass and drums. At the very least this shows how much the guys were experimenting with arrangements and mixes.
To Look At You extended mix Here we have a completely different working of To Look At You. We open with the drums and a rhythm guitar, and then we get a sort of variant on the original opening. The arrangement after the intro is very similar, but some levels are changed and it gives the song a bit of a different feel. There are a couple of fills in this song that really show Jon's great taste and skill with fills. We get an extended instrumental section that has some really nice percussion and drum fills. I much prefer this type of 12" mix to the chop into a stutter type mixing that was so prominent in the eighties. This is a cool mix to me.
Ok sorry about so much this morning. I should have done those b-sides for The One Thing yesterday, but I ran out of time. Please go through these as you are able, and if necessary I will hold off posting tomorrow, if you guys are still posting about the b-sides and alternate mixes.
I have to agree. I never realised the band had such a vast array of unusual b-sides. I must admit it has taken me a little off guard, and apologise for the messy approach, so far.
To Look At You was the one song on the album that always really stood out from the rest of the album for me. Don't Change is my favorite track on the album, but To Look At You is a close second. Far from an obvious choice for a single, it's one of those that slowly works its way into your brain with repeated listenings. INXS seemed to really find themselves on this album, and To Look At You is a perfect example of their comfort levels during this period. I loved their reworking of the track with Kav Temperley on the Original Sin album as well. It doesn't better the original (remakes rarely ever do) but I find it to be quite good and to be one of the highlights of that release.
