Epi 95: INXS Song Deep Dive: What You Need

2022-03-01

Well, folks, we are up and running in “Song Week” as we deep dive into the third groundbreaking and pivotal song that proved to be a shapeshifter for INXS. Today it’s 1985’s “What you Need” from the album Listen like Thieves. A song that nearly never came to fruition if not for both Chris Thomas’ insistent ask for “one more song” with the hit-making scope and the band’s preparedness to polish up an old demo. With little time, Michael and Andrew came up with the lyrics, the band rehearsed and recorded, then it was added to the final pressed disc/album—all in 48 hours! Talk about pressure! Hitting number 2 in Australia on its debut week, What You Need was surpr...

A song that nearly never came to fruition if not for both Chris Thomas’ insistent ask for “one more song” with the hit-making scope and the band’s preparedness to polish up an old demo. With little time, Michael and Andrew came up with the lyrics, the band rehearsed and recorded, then it was added to the final pressed disc/album—all in 48 hours!

Talk about pressure! Hitting number 2 in Australia on its debut week, What You Need was surprisingly released as the second single in the USA, where it climbed to number 5 on the Billboard Charts. Accompanied by arguably their best film clip by Richard Lowenstein, it was a fitting reward after nearly 10 years as a band, thus opening the floodgates for the album Kick that followed some 18 months later.

So kick back, put the headphones on and enjoy What You Need!

Love and Peace ✌️

Haydn

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