The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 551

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Number 551 - INXS

Number 551

INXS

"Suicide Blonde"

(1990)

Genre:Rock

art by Nadalin

Suicide. The most selfish act a human can do. Hitler did it, yes probably twenty years too late, but was that selfish? Is suicide just God's master plan of eradicating the weak from the strong? To me, to end ones life would seem to be an extraordinary amount of courage as death seems pretty infinite, let alone the religious complications of damnation for the believers of a creator.
So what was Michael Hutchence thinking before he hopped on a chair examining the ceiling at close range? Did the light bulb need changing? Was the bellhop at lunch?

Or was it really Mrs Purple with a leather belt with Michael tied to a bed post indulging in a lewd act?

Whatever the case or the fact, suicide seems highly unlikely and maybe in one of those rare occasions in life about celebrities.... (except for his family's sake) we don't really want to know. (Or do you?)

The seventh album from Australia's INXS basically sticks to the formula set up on Kick, mixing solid remixable dancefloor beats with slightly quirky production tricks, Michael Hutchence's rough-edged, bluesy vocals, and some good solid song hooks. The most immediate numbers are, of course, the two singles, "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear," but other tracks stand out as potential hit material as well, including the anthemic "The Stairs." The biggest problems with the album are a tendency to play it safe, sticking to the tried and true -- echoing a line in the thumping "Who Pays the Price," when Hutchence sings "it's all been felt before" -- and the fact that there's very little in the way of subtlety on the entire album. All of the songs are designed for immediate radio contact -- they don't really give you a chance to grow into them, they just grab you by the throat and start shaking. "Know the Difference," as an example, threatens to be sneaky but immediately switches to an obvious assault instead. In the finish, the overwhelming lack of subtlety and sense of sameness overcomes the album as a whole. It's not that's it's a bad album. It's just nowhere near as good as it could -- and should -- have been. ~ [Steven McDonald, All Music Guide]

"Suicide Blonde" trivia

The track became poignant after Hutchence committed suicide on November 22, 1997 and his lover Paula Yates died of an overdose on September 17, 2000 after attempting suicide in 1998. The lyrics of the song do not refer to Yates who did not enter a relationship with Hutchence until the mid 1990s, but in reference to Kylie Minogue, whom he was dating at that time.
Kym Wilson (and her then boyfriend Andrew Reyment the last people to see Michael alive) also became know as the "Suicide Blonde."
Garry Gary Beers ex wife Jodie can be heard laughing on the track. The song was written by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss of the group after the band had gotten back together after a year-long sabbatical during 1989. The title track (a term not originating with this song) was named after a woman who had bleached her own hair because she had "dyed" by her own hand and who was "love devastation." It is rumoured that Hutchence's then-girlfriend, Kylie Minogue, gave him the inspiration for the title whilst working on her 1989 film "The Delinquents". Minogue was required to dye her hair platinum blonde for the role and was quoted by Hutchence in an interview in '89 as saying "I'm going suicide blonde today". [Source:Wikipedia]

For Kylie Minogue see Number 886
For more INXS see Number 719
For Rolling Stones view on INXS also see Number 719

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Far to lewd for us) and the Album ranked at (Well maybe not)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 73.6 out of 108 pts