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Ready to share your message with the world? Start your podcast journey with Podbean.
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My school uses Podbean. My church too.
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A
I love it. I really do. Foreign welcome to the Accelerated Culture podcast. A sonic journey through the vibrant and revolutionary sounds of the 1980s and 1990s and now 2024 Webby Honoree for best Indie Podcast. I'm Lori, along with my co host Scott Free. And in this podcast we explore how new waves stormed the airwaves in the early 80s and and gave way for the rise of alternative music in the 90s. Find us on the web at acceleratedculturepodcast.com hello Accelerated Culture Vultures. Welcome to another episode of the Accelerated Culture podcast.
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B
I'm Lori and I am Scott Free.
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A
How you been, Scott? It's been a while.
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B
It has been a while. We did have to take a two week break, a fortnight break if you will. But we are back in full effect with a pretty big episode I think.
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A
I think any episode we do on this band is a big episode.
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B
But yeah, also it is our three year anniversary episode, more or less.
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A
More or less, right. We actually had the anniversary in early August during the break. So yes, three years of Accelerated Culture. And oh my gosh, what an amazing journey it's been, especially since you've been aboard. Scott, thank you so much. You've been a great co host.
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B
Pleasured about a year and a half of those three years I have been aboard and we've seen some changes and dare I say, improvements to the podcast.
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A
I think that's a fair assessment.
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B
And yeah, I can remember, I don't know, Maybe a year, 14 months ago, you and I were very excited at having gotten an electronic certificate congratulating us on 20,000 downloads. And by the time we talked about it in an episode, it was about to roll over to 30,000 downloads. Here we are a little over a year later and we've crossed 430,000. That is bananas. At this rate, if current trends persist a year from now, we will be the most listened to podcast in the world by like 10x and possibly be the most listened to entertainment in the world if current trends persist.
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A
World domination is right on schedule.
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B
Out damn time.
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A
And Dolly Parton, we're coming for you.
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B
Don't hurt us, Dolly Parton, you know we love you.
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A
So Scott, I Have two shouts out this week.
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B
Shout them out.
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A
All right, well, we got an email from a lady named Christine and she writes, hello. I just started listening thanks to a shout out on the who Will Save Gen X podcast. That's our buddy Zabe. Thanks, Zabe. And I had to stop mid episode of It All Started with Duran Duran. So. So she's on episode one. Or she was several weeks ago. And I had to stop mid episode of It All Started with Duran Duran to tell you how much I'm enjoying it. And I can't wait to listen to all of the episodes, especially Happy Mondays, Blur, and Bad.
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B
Those are some great episodes, if I say so myself.
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A
They are. Laurie's comment about Berlin's Take My Breath Away really resonated. I was talking about how much I hate that song. No, I love Berlin. That's just the one song of theirs I can't stand. My friend and I also have a music commentary podcast. We're theme based stereo thematica and our first episode, Origin Stories is about the first songs we were obsessed with. For me, it all started with Our Lips are sealed in 1981.
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B
I can't disagree, Christine, but boy, am I an even bigger fan of the Funboy 3 cover of our Lips Are Sealed. But your mileage may vary well, and you know that.
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A
Actually Jane Wedland and. Oh, I can't think of his name from funboy3. Why can't I think of his name? They wrote it together. They wrote it about their relationship.
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B
I did not know that the Go.
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A
Go's were touring with Madness before they made it big over here. Their first single was actually released on the same record label as Madness and Madness and the Specials.
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Harry Hall.
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A
Harry Hall. That's the name I couldn't think of. Thank you. Madness and the Specials. You know, being on the same record label and everything, they moved in the same circles.
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B
Sure.
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A
And so Jane. Jane Wedlund hooked up with Carrie hall. And the lyrics were based on some love letters that they had written to each other.
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B
I love that story. I've always loved me some Jane Wheatland.
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A
Oh, my God. You know that's my first girl crush right there.
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B
Yeah, I'm gonna say the greatest ever cinematic portrayal of Joan of Arc. Of course, Bill and Tate's excellent adventure.
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A
Yes, yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So, Christine, thanks so much for writing in. Thanks for listening. Wonder how far you've gotten. She's still in the Trey days. That was co host number one.
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B
Oh, just hang on. It gets so much better if I say so myself.
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A
So I plan to check out stereo thematica and listeners. I hope you'll do the same. And then I have one more shout out. My buddy Jason, who's Also a fellow 80s and 90s music aficionado, he has a substack called Synth and Swagger and I wanted to give him a mention. If you live and breathe new wave, you've got to check out Synth and Swagger. It's a newsletter packed with deep dives, hidden stories and the kind of details only real fans appreciate. And I will tell you, Jason gets even more into the nitty gritty of the songs and to the lesser known tracks and stuff like that.
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B
So this is relevant to my interest.
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A
Yes. Yeah. So if you like what we do here at Accelerated Culture, hop on over to Substack and look for Synth and Swagger.
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B
I'm into it.
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A
All right.
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B
I'm taking notes right now.
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A
I can see that. Very diligently, I might add. So Scott.
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B
Yes.
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What have you seen? What have you done?
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B
Right. Well, what I've done, actually the main reason why we had to take that extra two week break is some time ago, about a year ago, I bought what I thought was a house. And while I knew it was going to be a fixer upper, I underestimated the extent to which it was going to be a dumpster fire in a money pit. And so I have spent much of the interceding weeks since last we talked putting out fires. These are metaphorical fires, if Joe, my insurance agent is listening, not actual fires. Yeah. So largely it's been working on the house. However, what I have seen, I did manage to take a break earlier this week and went to the United center, huge arena in Chicago and saw the Nine Inch Nails Peel It Back World Tour.
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A
Oo.
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B
Yeah. So I mean, I have seen Nine Inch Nails before, although it has been something like 18 years, I want to say, since I saw them at Coachella in the OTS and had seen them before that. But this show next leveled it to an extent that it is really difficult for me to do justice to. It's a stadium tour. It is. There's. I don't want to give too much away if people are going to see it because there are a couple big reveals. But suffice it to say, the configuration of the stage, the way that lighting and projection and live camera projection using that lighting plays into the set design. From a set design standpoint, this show is amazing. And Trent Reznor has never been better. He is at the top of his game. You may not follow his current work as much as you did in the 90s heyday or early 2000s heyday. But he is killing it. The sound design, the specific instrumentation and reinterpretation of older material. Yeah, really cannot recommend this show highly enough. Actually, I guess I do have a shout out, shout out to my friend Elizabeth for getting a hold of me a day of and getting me that extra ticket because her plus one had to drop out that day. So shout out, Elizabeth. Thank you. That was a hell of a good.
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A
Show and it sounds like a much needed break for you, so I'm happy for you.
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B
That was way better than working on the house.
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A
Yeah. Okay. Well, I guess that brings us to our album of the week.
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B
Yeah. What are we going to talk about this week, Laurie?
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A
Well, there's a band that you might have heard of before, Scott. They're called In Excess.
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B
It does ring a bell.
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A
Yeah. So today we're talking about their eighth studio album, welcome to wherever you are. It was released on August 3, 1992, and many, not all, but many fans consider it their best album.
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B
All right. Yeah. If you are a longtime listener of this show, you probably have already gotten the history of In Excess Hell. As we talked about earlier, I have only been around for half of the run of this particular podcast, Accelerated Culture that you're listening to, and in that time we have already reviewed an earlier album, their seventh studio album, X. So you probably know some of the history. If you don't know it from that episode, you could check one of the two prior Accelerated Culture podcast episodes about about NXS albums, which you probably have a little better handle on than I do, Laurie.
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A
Yeah, actually episode number three, way back when we started was about Shavu Shaba album.
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B
Oh man.
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A
Yes. Produced by the same producer that produced this one.
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B
Oh yeah.
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Then In July of 2023, episode 21, we did INXS classic album kick.
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B
Just absolutely formative album. The soundtrack of my senior year of high school and the album that launched In Excess. From pretty big rock stars to legit biggest band on earth status. If you are a long time listener of this show, you've already gotten the history of NXS on the three episodes we just mentioned. But I think I having just done this episode like a year ago for every X, I think I can do quick recap of the band's history from memory. So let's see here. Off the top of my head, they are a band from Austria. They were formed in 1917. They are six brothers, all named Ferris and one Michael Hutchins, commonly known as the Hutch How'd I do?
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A
Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor. Scott, you're fired.
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B
Oh, thank God I get my Tuesday nights back. Hooray. No, I figure you are the NXS mega fan, so I'm going to leave the actual band history encapsulation to you, Laurie.
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A
Okay. Yeah. Six boys from Australia. The lead singer, Michael Hutchence, saxophonist and rhythm guitarist Kirk Pengilly, bassist Gary. Gary Beers.
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B
So Gary. That he had to. Gary. Twice. Gary. Gary Beers.
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A
Actually, you know, there's an interesting story about that Bea from the NXS Access All Areas podcast recently learned. And that explains it. In their early days, they had a manager named Gary. I think it was Gary Grant. I think that was his name. But so he had two guys named Gary. You had Gary Beers and you had Gary Grant. So people started referring to Gary Beers as Gary Gary, and then, yeah, that kind of stuck. So, interesting story about that.
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B
Noted.
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A
And then we have the three Ferris brothers. We have the oldest, Tim Ferriss, who is the lead guitarist. Andrew Farris, multi instrumentalist, keyboardist, primary songwriter, along with Michael Hutchins, as you mentioned.
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B
Earlier, the middle brother of the Ferris brothers.
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A
Correct. And then the youngest, John Ferris, the.
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B
Drummer, and Laurie, lifetime crush.
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A
Yeah. You saw that on Facebook, did you?
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B
Oh, no, I've just known this for a long, long time.
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A
Oh, it was his birthday about a week ago, and I posted it. I think I said Laurie's lifelong crush.
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B
Oh, all right. Yeah, we've just. We've known each other a long time. I remember this about you. So the boys meet when they are very young, as I vaguely recall.
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A
Yes. In high school. And they started off as a band called the Ferris Brothers.
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B
They did well to change that.
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A
Yes, well, that was their guy, Gary. Not Gary. Gary. But Gary suggested that they change it, and they were inspired by the name of the band, xtc.
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B
Oh, yeah, that makes some sense.
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A
Yeah. By the way, I guess, Scott, you consider me a subject matter expert and I am flattered.
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B
I do.
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A
A lot of my information comes from INXS Story to Story, the Official Autobiography, which is by INXS with Anthony Bozza. B O Z Z A. So that's their official biography. But yeah, so they had some success worldwide. They were one of the few Australian bands to really break out worldwide. The only other ones that come to mind are AC DC and the Bee.
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B
Gees, both absolutely monster, huge bands, but with very different sounds than nx.
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A
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A
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A
Launch your podcast on Podbean today. Again, you know we talked about Kik, we talked about X, we talked about prior to Kick there was Shabu Shaba. So they had a string of hits.
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B
Oh, let's not forget Listen Like Thieves. I think the most underappreciated of the NXS albums and it was pretty well appreciated. But it's so good.
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A
And you know these boys were just made for mtv. Oh yeah, they're good looking, they have stage presence. The visuals that they put together for a lot of their songs were just made for mtv. And I think in this episode we're actually going to talk about some of the videos off of this album. Scott, remember I gave you some homework and I asked you to watch the videos. Did you do that?
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B
Oh, you're going to find that I am a student very much like your current students. You know, I did some of the homework.
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A
At this point I want to talk about what was going on with the band leading up to this recording.
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B
Previously on Accelerated Culture. What had gone on with the previous album, their seventh studio album, X. It was the third album produced by one Chris Thomas, X, not as in the unknown, but X as in the Roman numeral 10 for 10 years since the self titled debut album in 1980 until the 1990 album X. It was the album that turned the group into superstars in South America, in the UK and in Europe. It did 4 million in sales. And although that was less than half of what the previous album Kick had done, that is kind of an unfair bar because Kick was an absolute monster hit of an album. So what are you going to do if you don't quite hit that high water mark? Live Baby Live. Their concert film had come out, a live show with them playing to 75,000 people in Wembley Stadium in England. X had peaked at number five on the US charts, spent 43 weeks on the charts and was a big freaking deal. The band did have some personal life stuff going on that kind of helped determine how welcome to wherever you are happened. What I'm about to quote from is an article that I'm going to quote at several points throughout the podcast, a great article from ultimate classic rock.com an article entitled when in Excess Embraced new direction on welcome to wherever you are. It's an August 3, 2022 article by one Gary Graff, actually kind of a big deal music critic. Anyway, so, coming off the multi platinum trifecta of Listen like Thieves, Kick and X and platinum success with 1991's Live Baby Live concert set, the Australian sextet was at a bit of a crossroads. Despite X's global success, including its fourth consecutive number one at home and a peak at number five on the Billboard 200, there was critical grousing that the album was more of the same. And so Michael Hutchins told Gary Graf, we kind of felt the same about X, although we liked the album at the time of welcome to wherever you are's release. You know, we've been touring so hard all around the world, it hasn't left the time that maybe we would like to be creative. So INXS approached Welcome to wherever you are with an eye towards change or at least towards musical adventure. And many members of the band had some big life stuff happening. Guitarist Tim Ferriss was suffering medical problems, Bone spurs in particular, bassist Gary. Gary Beers. He and his wife were having a kid, so his attention was elsewhere. Kirk Pengilly had a really bad breakup of a long relationship, so he was not fully there. And John Ferris was getting married. And my condolences, Laurie. He was getting married. And so again, he wasn't fully engaged in the writing process leading up to this album.
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A
So, yeah, on February 14th of 1992, I remember it well.
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B
Were you in mourning? Were you dressing in black?
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A
I was always dressing in black. So, yeah, no. John the drummer married American actress Leslie Bega.
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B
Leslie Vega. You may know her from such acting jobs as well.
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A
She was on the TV series Head of the class, do you remember, with Howard Hessman.
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B
Oh, yeah, yeah.
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A
She played Maria Borges and more recently Valentina La Paz in the Sopranos. All right, yeah. And that was a very tumultuous relationship. I won't go into any more detail about that because I might be a little bit biased, but it was not a healthy relationship. So also, another one that you neglected to mention. Andrew Farris's first daughter, Grace was born around this time.
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B
Oh, there we go. Nice.
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A
Yeah.
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B
So with that said, four of the six members of the band kind of preoccupied. So the creative groundwork for the album was laid and the writing work was done largely by the creative team of Michael Hutchins, Andrew Farris and producer Mark Opitz. I had mentioned earlier that the previous three albums, X, Tick and Listen like Thieves, had been Produced by the same producer, Chris Thomas. But the band wanted to, as I said, they were creatively restless and they were getting criticized and self criticizing for kind of retreading some of the same ground. So they wanted to forge new paths or try to get more sonically adventurous, but they also wanted to retain that distinctive in excess sound, even if taking it new places. So they actually dug further back into their history and enlisted producer Mark Opitz, who they had worked with for several of their earlier albums, including Shibu Shaba, which was just an absolutely brilliant album that took them from new wave stars to oh, these guys have some pop sensibility chops that make them a band to watch. Don't change, if nothing else.
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A
Oh yeah, good song, good song. So yeah, they actually started writing a lot of the material for this album on their X tour, the tour that brought us the Live Baby Live concert performance. The band went back to Rhinoceros Studios in Sydney in November of 1991. As you mentioned, they were looking for a new sound a little bit more experimental. They also weren't working on a deadline. However long it took is however long it took. That was their attitude towards this album.
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B
And they were a big enough band that they could do whatever the hell they wanted at this point, right?
- [23:42]
A
Yes. Although that did put them at odds a little bit with their manager, C.M. murphy, because after the X tour, the band all decided they wanted to take a year off. Murphy was kind of against that because he wanted him to keep building on that momentum. Also worth noting is musical tastes were shifting at this point. Right? I mean, look at the bands that we talked about in 91. Nirvana, Pearl Jam. Right, sure. Things were really kind of moving towards grunge and wisely, I think rather than trying to change their sound to grunge, they just decided to go in a completely different direction. And I think that they were true to themselves with this album.
- [24:24]
B
When we get into the track by track, you're going to hear me referencing much earlier In Excess tracks as much as anything else. They also went with blazing new sonic territory for themselves. But yeah, there's some throwback in here as well. So again, that hand of Mark Opitz, the fingerprints are on it.
- [24:47]
A
Scott, I'm curious because I think if memory serves, you hadn't actually heard this album before. So I'm curious, now that you've listened to it from start to finish, what's your opinion?
- [24:58]
B
Right, it is ambitious. It has. I mean, I hadn't heard the album as a sit down and listened to it start to feel Finnish album Before, but there were several tracks on it that are like, oh, yeah, this track was absolutely immense. Not just on alternative radio, but on pop radio as well. So I wasn't unfamiliar with all of the material. But yeah, the deeper cuts, I think there are a couple that are ambitious but maybe don't quite hit for me. There are some that are throwbacks to classic early In Excess that I do really dig. There are other musical influences that creep in and other ways of composing and arranging that are like, this is not your father's in Excess. Or maybe it is because it sounds more grown up than some of the early wave sensibilities. Mixed bag, but overall positive impression.
- [26:05]
A
Okay.
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B
And you said some people consider this In Excess's best album. I don't understand how that can be the case in a world in which listen like Thieves Kick the Swing and Shibu Shaba exist. But it is a solid album and has some monster hits on it and some cool sonic directions. So, you know, a mixed bag. But do I think it's their best album? No. Do I applaud its adventurous spirit? Absolutely. You know, that's the type of thing we'll get into as we get into the track by track.
- [26:43]
A
Awesome.
- [26:44]
B
Cool.
- [26:45]
A
So this album did go platinum in the United states for selling 1 million copies. It peaked at number 16 here in the US. It actually went to number one in the UK and Sweden and number two in Australia. So it was a pretty big album worldwide. Let's talk about the album cover, Scott.
- [27:09]
B
Okay.
- [27:10]
A
Because it's creepy.
- [27:11]
B
Well, you have been a big fan not just of the band, but of their album artwork in the past, right?
- [27:17]
A
Yes. And basically it's three boys from an Irish marching band called the Artane Boys Band. And these kids look like something out of Children of the Corn. They are creepy.
- [27:31]
B
I mean, they've got a fresh faced 1960 Boy Scouts, but in a different color scheme thing going. It's somewhere in between creepy and campy. It is an odd call for a band that historically has been kind of regarded, at least between lead singer Michael Hutchence and drummer John Ferris as sex symbols. Right?
- [28:00]
A
More Michael than John, but yeah, yeah.
- [28:02]
B
I mean, he was the cute one. Michael was the smoldering hot one. John was the cute one in the videos. And instead of highlighting the band's sex appeal or using the sort of really stylish graphic approach that they did in some previous albums, they've got white background stock photo or clean portrait studio photo of these three Utes. And it is an odd approach. What was the Thinking, do we have any information?
- [28:38]
A
You know, I'm not entirely sure on that. I didn't really do a lot of digging. But I do recall that they did a promotional campaign with some merchandise that kind of tied into this thing. Theme of welcome to wherever you are about these Boy Scout looking kids. Like, there was a compass they were giving out as swag that said welcome to wherever you are. There was like some other like camping type merchandise.
- [29:03]
B
Oh, I want to.
- [29:05]
A
If you look on ebay, every once in a while, one turns up.
- [29:08]
B
Nice.
- [29:09]
A
So, yeah, I guess now that we've given everybody the history, I guess we can get into the track by track. Yeah.
- [29:17]
B
Talk about the music.
- [29:20]
A
So we're going to start at the very beginning with track one. Questions.
- [29:48]
C
How you know when it's time for you to go? How can you stop when you don't know how to stop? How can you go back when you don't know how you're here? How can you see when your eyes begin to fade? How do you feel when you cut it off your.
- [30:11]
B
Right. So this is in Excess, huh? I would not have picked them out of a lineup, especially if Jesus Jones was also in that lineup.
- [30:21]
A
Oh, I, I, I, I see the similarity there. So this is unusual for a number of reasons, but mostly because that's Andrew Farris on the lead vocal.
- [30:30]
B
Really?
- [30:30]
A
And Andrew does not typically sing lead.
- [30:33]
B
Huh. You know, I was just mentally filing away as, okay, that sounds like Michael Hutchins and it was not.
- [30:41]
A
And Kurt Pengilly, the saxophonist, he used a brass horn to create that almost Far east like sound. That doot doot, doot. I yeah, I can't do that.
- [30:52]
B
But I really enjoy you trying, though.
- [30:55]
A
Oh, God. And I'm pretty sure that there's a sitar in there too.
- [30:58]
B
Well, there is. I looked up, as we tend to on this show, this track on whosampled.com and they claim that the Middle Eastern bending bowed string riff is from a sound library sample compilation. But I gotta say that barely counts as a sample. I mean, it's a sample fine, but it's not like a fun entry in the Find the Sample game. But anyway, yes, it's obviously this Middle Eastern orchestration. And you know, this is not your typical In Excess track. But then the vocal part, I think of the confusion where I thought, okay, this could be Michael Hodgins, is that it's so heavily processed, heavily affected. It's like all treble and mids and enough reverb to make it sound like it's in a tunnel and a Little bit of phase or maybe flange to give it this slightly spacey or at least exotic sound. Whatever. It's cool and unusual. They don't tend to go in for that sort of heavy vocal processing because Michael Hutchins is Michael Hutchins and his voice is one of the big money makers for this band. But it's only a 2 minute, 8 second, 1 verse, no chorus and out situation. It seems like a sketch of a song that I kind of want to see the whole fully rendered painting of. So that's kind of a ripoff as far as I'm concerned. That said, it's a pretty great sketch.
- [32:28]
A
Well, that's interesting that you should say that because this is going to come up when we get to another track. The instrumental portion of it actually originated with another song on this album. So this is going to come up. Yeah, so this is going to come up again.
- [32:42]
B
I like learning things. All right, so that track review is quick and dirty, just like the song itself. That brings us to track two, Heaven Sent.
- [33:15]
C
Girls. Oh, perfectly true. In my life now I'm a survivor.
- [33:39]
B
Yeah, that's just a straight up banger.
- [33:41]
A
I mean, old school rock and roll.
- [33:43]
B
Yep.
- [33:44]
A
Like right from the get go.
- [33:46]
B
Yeah. Coming out strong after a weird short intro. So, you know. Yeah, a banger.
- [33:53]
A
Andrew Ferris explained in that In Excess story to story biography that I mentioned that this song actually started off as a ballad.
- [34:01]
B
A ballad in three, four. Weirdly.
- [34:04]
A
Yeah. And actually there is a waltz version of that that was released in the 2002 special edition.
- [34:11]
B
Huh.
- [34:12]
A
Yeah. But yeah, he said the band heard it and rocked it up to make it the recording it became. And the vocal effect helped give the track some extra attitude.
- [34:24]
B
Yeah, this one just from the Wikipedia. Sometimes you don't have to dig all that deep, but Wikipedia quoting an article in Q, Slashing guitar tone. A more conventional In Excess song, apart from the snarling megaphone vocal redolent of Stooges era Iggy Pop. But where the old INXS were all weighed down with big funk pretensions, this has an air of pure, unselfconscious glee. It rocks. And you know, that's. I think that's pretty much dead on. Right. You know, lyrically there's some pretty typical damn, girl, you are fine as hell and I really want you and I'm super into you stuff, which, you know, Michael Hutchins is good at and he sells it well. But then you get some weirder stuff, like the final verse.
- [35:17]
A
Oh, I love that verse. Scott, what do you got Tuesday. She works in the library uptown. Some useful knowledge can always be found. Don't burn the library till you've read all the books. Sometimes in life you get a second look.
- [35:33]
B
Yeah. I am going to be intentionally obtuse, not see this as metaphor, and just take this as good advice about the proper timing of the burning down of libraries, which I think is just good advice to take in this really fricking weird era that we live in, because it's only a matter of time.
- [35:54]
A
I suppose that's true. I just love the fact that the girl that he's singing to is a librarian. You know all this in brains too, right?
- [36:05]
B
Yeah. As a nerdy girl, I could see how you would appreciate that.
- [36:11]
A
Are you calling me a nerdy girl or are you a nerdy girl?
- [36:14]
B
As a nerdy girl, you would appreciate that, I would think, Professor.
- [36:18]
A
Okay. Oh, you're blushing a little bit. So, interestingly enough, this song was released as the first single, but not in the United States. It was only released in Europe, Japan and Australia. And it predated the album. It was released on June 22 of 92.
- [36:35]
B
This one was written just by Andy Farris. This was not a Michael Hutchins track, despite it really sounding like a rockin Michael Hutchins track.
- [36:46]
A
Despite the fact that it wasn't released as a single here in the States, it did peak at number two on Billboard's US Alternative airplay chart and number four on the US Mainstream rock chart.
- [36:59]
B
I mean, that really tells you something when a track that you didn't even release as a single can go to number two, at least on how much it's getting played on the radio. People are reading for NXS to rock hard, I guess.
- [37:13]
A
Well, yes and no. And we're going to talk about this, I think, when we get to the end of the album. I think that there was a little bit of a backlash, some in excess fatigue. Yes, exactly. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't experience that either. I mean, I didn't come to this album until much later than 92.
- [37:33]
B
Yeah. About 33 years later for me. So I feel you.
- [37:37]
A
I'm doing the math here. So that would be this year.
- [37:39]
B
That's correct.
- [37:41]
A
Okay, so then that brings us to the next track. This is called Communication.
- [37:53]
C
Eyes from Drift into your satellite. Your dis.
- [38:02]
A
Respons.
- [38:07]
C
Communication, disinformation. So.
- [38:33]
B
All right, so song structure wise and arrangement, instrumentation wise. This one feels like it wouldn't be that out of place in earlier albums again, maybe Chibu Shaba which again, makes sense because we're back to that production team from that era, particularly producer Mark Opitz. But then we've got the additional layers of slickness that they didn't have back then. The channel flipping and the telecommunications noise in the background of the intro and the outro and the instrumental interludes, the backup singers doing the octaves, the vocal doubling on the chorus, the vocal effect again, that sort of phase Y tunnel sound. And then that huge riff that comes in during the chorus. That where this huge crunchy guitar riff within the chimes octaving it. That right there is some classic NXS stuff, right?
- [39:31]
A
Yeah, that's Tim Ferriss all the way, man.
- [39:33]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lyrically, it's very much of its moment. Again, this came, this is written in 92 and it's about the new to the early 90s 24 hour news cycle where you could watch the war unfold on CNN and you could watch the protests across the world against that war. And you were watching, and they talk about this a bit, that you were watching missile strikes in real time and finding yourself able to watch this as entertainment and just sort of totally became detached from the actual horrors of what you were watching. Because it looks like a video game and you're seeing it on loop on tv and just the desensitization that happens as a result of it.
- [40:26]
A
Well said.
- [40:27]
B
Yeah.
- [40:28]
A
And the chorus. Right. Communication, disinformation. So entertaining. Blood money. Blood money. I mean that's, you know, the 24 hour news networks, that's how they make their money by presenting news as a form of entertainment.
- [40:46]
B
Yep. You've got these vignettes of war protest in the streets, particularly, I guess in Zurich. Okay. But then nestled there in the middle is this really odd stanza. Laid back living and creativity go hand in hand. The satellite dish responds. The ambiance attracts obvious insane leftovers from the Beat generation who worry more about their bohemian influence. Wow. Right. Yeah. You know, you don't necessarily always credit in excess with going for it. Social conscience wise or topical in the news, ripped from the headline stuff. But here, that's the topic du jour. And then they just get oddly social commentary, almost philosophical with it. I don't know, I. I enjoyed that weird little aside. Okay, right.
- [41:49]
A
That sounds good.
- [41:50]
B
Yeah.
- [41:52]
A
All right, well, that's all I have on that one. So, Scott, what's next?
- [41:55]
B
What's next is track four, Taste it's nest.
- [42:13]
C
I will be faking with the best thing it seems A crime I will commit without difference of all the world's gifts Sweet, sweet, sweet to taste it Never, never, never, never, never, never.
- [42:44]
B
Yeah, a lot going on there. Musically, this one feels, to me at least, like a hybrid of Listen Like Thieves era in Excess Music, in particular, what you need, but with a little bit of the X era. The harmonica echoes of Suicide Blonde there, but less jammy, more bluesy and mournful. But, yeah, this track feels like a close cousin to what you need to me.
- [43:15]
A
I could see that. Yeah. One article I was reading somewhere actually was comparing it to, like, Madchester. I don't know that I agree with that.
- [43:23]
B
Well, I mean, a lot of the drum machine sounds that we're hearing on this album. INXS was always a dance rock group, but they were a dance rock group before Manchester really repopularized the idea of a dance rock group again. Right. And Manchester did that with these shuffling drum loops in particular. And. And so I could see how this particular drum loop feels like a nod to that, at least. I don't think they were trying to make a Manchester track, but there's some kinship in their drum programming here.
- [44:00]
A
All right. You know, we can't talk about the song without talking about the music video, which was banned by mtv.
- [44:11]
B
Really?
- [44:12]
A
Yes. It was directed by Bailey Walsh and Scott. We talked about Bailey Walsh in our episode on Massive Attack. Michael Hutchins was actually a big fan of Massive Attack, and that's why they contacted Bailey Walsh and asked him to direct the video.
- [44:28]
B
Okay. Yeah. So that actually makes a lot of sense. We Talked about Massive Attack's 1991 album Blue Lines on episode 59 of the Accelerated Culture podcast. If you haven't listened to that one, go back and do. It's a great episode. But when talking about the Massive Attack track Daydreaming, there's a video to that song that starts with the camera outside the house and coming inside, and the band is hanging around and other people. And this video, to Taste, it follows that exact same format with one notable weird twist. The beginning of this video for Taste. It opens with two young boys sneaking up to a house and peeping through the window. The camera then goes into the house, where weird stuff is going on that two young boys should probably not be witnessing.
- [45:31]
A
Right. So it starts off with Kirk Pengilly getting a manicure, but getting, like, long acrylic nails, like, on the kitchen table, right? Yes. And then we have Michael engaged in some light bondage with a female model.
- [45:47]
B
He's getting rubbed down. She's pinning him down on the living room floor in front of the television. She's whipping out a huge pair of scissors and mostly cutting off his already somewhat cut up sleeveless T shirt. And then there's the biting of the nipples and the unzipping to the pants. And okay, I'm starting to see maybe why MTV might have banned this.
- [46:12]
A
And then we've got Tim Ferriss and Andrew Farris sitting on the couch looking like the Kray brothers and they've got those meditation balls. So basically they're sitting there playing with their balls, watching the scene unfold with Michael and the model.
- [46:25]
B
There's somebody getting their feet licked.
- [46:27]
A
Oh, yeah, Gary Beers is sucking on this model's toes. Which, by the way, that was not part of the script. And that was hot.
- [46:36]
B
Yeah.
- [46:37]
A
Then you got John and his tighty whities. And I'm not gonna lie, I did slow that part down a few times. But man, that whole video, it's frenetic at points where, you know, things are kind of happening so quickly. Crashing on the screen. Yes. But oh my God, that video is so sexy.
- [46:57]
B
And what is going on in Excess's home life? You know, we've crossed over from potentially sexy to really unseemly at times. But like, hey, no kink shaming. You're into what you're into. But yeah, there's some stuff going on in there, man. But. All right, so here's the thing with this one. Like, why the two young boys opening this one, peeping on all this, like, it just makes it even creepier. Although I guess the adolescent boys on the COVID maybe they're the stand ins. I don't know what's happening, but yeah, it seems gratuitous and intentionally scandalous.
- [47:37]
A
Yeah, but man, I wouldn't mind partying with these guys after seeing this. It's like, that's a party.
- [47:43]
B
Yeah.
- [47:44]
A
So this was the fourth single off the album. It was released on November 2, 1992. It peaked at number three. 36 on the Australian singles chart and also charted in New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK and the United States.
- [48:00]
B
Huh.
- [48:01]
A
Yeah.
- [48:02]
B
Say, I do not remember hearing this one on the radio, but nor do I.
- [48:06]
A
No, I don't either.
- [48:07]
B
Fourth single, you said yes.
- [48:09]
A
Number four.
- [48:10]
B
All right.
- [48:11]
A
Yeah.
- [48:11]
B
New to me, the whole Taste it experience. And boy, that was quite a taste in excess. Thanks for that.
- [48:21]
A
Can't get that out of your head now. Right? All right, so then the next song, Scott was, I think, probably the biggest single off of this album.
- [48:31]
B
Oh, yeah. And like, by a lot.
- [48:35]
A
This is not enough time.
- [48:39]
C
An hour's last words in your arms Attempting to make sense of my aching heart if I could just be everything and everyone to you this life would just be so easy not enough time for all that I want for you not enough time for every kid Every touch and all the night I want to be inside you.
- [49:22]
A
That is a sexy, sensual song. I freaking love it.
- [49:28]
B
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this one is one of a sort of whole archetype that happened in the early 90s, mega new wave stars of the 80s. Doing a mid tempo, drum machine driven, very melodic track. Just absolutely crafted to be a mega alternative radio crossover to pop radio, mega hit. The other one that comes to mind, to me, at least in this mode right around then, is Duran Duran's Come Undone.
- [50:02]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [50:03]
B
You can see the kinship there. And I am here for both of them. Both great songs.
- [50:08]
A
INXS was kind of not on my radar a lot in 92, when my taste had kind of shifted a little bit. But I do remember hearing the song on the radio and, ah, I was smitten. I mean, that beautiful, growly, sexy voice that Michael puts on.
- [50:23]
B
Yeah.
- [50:24]
A
You know, and then I'm like, did he just say, I want to be inside you? You know, I mean, it's not something I expected to hear on the radio.
- [50:32]
B
I think he's saying emotionally, okay, we'll.
- [50:35]
A
Go with that, sure. But. Oh, man, such a good song.
- [50:41]
B
It's just a really big, slickly produced mega pop song, but again, in that sort of mid tempo, sultry, seductive, sexy sort of mode. It's designed to sell records. And I have zero problem with this.
- [50:57]
A
And that whole idea of make time stop. I mean, have you ever been with somebody in the moment where it's just like time seems to stand still? It's like time bends. Have you ever experienced that with somebody?
- [51:10]
B
I most definitely have. Yes.
- [51:12]
A
Okay. All right. I've got a couple things about this one I want to talk about. So, first of all, this is one of two tracks in the album that has this beautiful, gorgeous, soulful backup singer named Denny Hines.
- [51:27]
B
Yeah, who is she? Because it's a next level addition to this band that, like, you're used to hearing Michael Hutchins, you're used to hearing some of the other guys singing, you know, a response in a call and response song. But she, yeah, really brings the level way up.
- [51:46]
A
So she's pretty well known in Australia. I didn't recognize any of the other stuff that she had done. But, you know, you mentioned earlier that Kirk Pengilly was just coming off of a bad relationship. He fell really hard for Denny. And actually they would get married a year later in December of 1993.
- [52:04]
B
Well, good for them.
- [52:06]
A
Well, it was a very tumultuous marriage, and it only lasted 10 months.
- [52:10]
B
Yeah, not so good for them.
- [52:13]
A
Yeah. But I think it adds to the mystique or the allure of the song, I guess.
- [52:18]
B
It was just so powerful and sexy and seductive a song that even they got sucked into it.
- [52:25]
A
Right, Exactly. Oh, that's. That's perfect.
- [52:28]
B
Yeah.
- [52:29]
A
So the original recording of this song, which, by the way, is a bonus track on the 2002 re release, was called the Indian Song. And if you listen to it very carefully, you'll recognize the background music as questions. But it's Michael singing the lyrics to Not Enough Time over that instrumental. It's really fascinating. And so Indian Song split into two. They took the lyrics and they made it into Not Enough Time.
- [53:00]
B
Well, I said during that first track that it felt like a sketch and that I want to see the fully realized painting. And I guess all I got to do is look that up and I get to see that. Hear that?
- [53:11]
A
It's available on YouTube.
- [53:12]
B
All right.
- [53:13]
A
Yeah. So check it out for sure. What else? The video.
- [53:18]
B
The video.
- [53:19]
A
Can't talk about the song without talking about the video. It was directed by Howard Greenhage. Greenhalgh. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly. I gotta say, this is tied for my favorite NXS video with. With just the dirt.
- [53:37]
B
Oh, yeah. Good stuff.
- [53:38]
A
Yeah.
- [53:39]
B
Yeah. This one, they are just going for the sexy, although without some of the sleaze as we saw in Taste It. Yeah, Just Michael Hutchins and a model getting sexy in a bed with satin sheets. But that bed is underwater. Plus then the band playing their instruments. Clocks spinning and fast motion. Clouds being used as a video compositing mask. And then slow motion confetti explosions and a couple of road flares. What about the video do you love so much?
- [54:12]
A
Well, there's two different parts that I like. Okay, So I do like. There's this one scene underwater where she's on the bed and Michael kind of dives into the water and he puts his hand behind her head to kind of cradle her head. Like he's saving her, like he's lifting her up. And I thought that was really beautiful. But the entire second half of the video, right, it starts off, the first half of the video is basically it's water. But then the second half of the video is fire and destruction and the band is playing instruments while the stage is Burning around them. Michael is riding in on a wrecking ball. Pre Miley Cyrus, by the way.
- [54:50]
B
By, yeah, 25 years.
- [54:53]
A
It seems totally gleeful as everything's being destroyed around them. And I, I'm kind of seeing this with the theme of, you know, not enough time. The world is coming to an end, you know, and here we are. And, and, oh, I just, I. I love the video so much.
- [55:10]
B
Right on. Yeah, yeah, it's a good one. And again, going for the sexy and nailing it, I think.
- [55:18]
A
So this was the third single off the album. It was released in August of 92. This one was only released in the United States, Canada and Japan.
- [55:27]
B
They buried this one for the rest of the world.
- [55:30]
A
Well, when we get to Baby Don't Cry, we'll talk about what happened there. So this was the biggest hit off the album, at least here in the States. It went to number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the Alternative Airplay chart, 13 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, and 17 on the Pop airplay chart. So it really was everywhere. It was mainstream, it was alternative, it.
- [55:58]
B
Was pop, it was a big hit. It's a great song. Curiously, though, it is the biggest selling single from the album by a fair amount. Curiously. If you look at the YouTube video plays now, this is still really respectable. Not Enough Time coming in at 9.1 million plays. But another single from the album that we will talk about a Little later has 40 million plays.
- [56:33]
A
Oh, wow.
- [56:34]
B
So while at the time Not Enough Time was the big one, history has changed that. It has less than 1/4 of the plays of another track on this album.
- [56:46]
A
Oh, you have me very curious now.
- [56:47]
B
I met.
- [56:49]
A
Yeah, I'm in suspense. But of that 9.1 million, I think probably at least 2 million were me, just FYI.
- [56:58]
B
All right, fair, that's fair.
- [56:59]
A
And by the way, can I just say, please do. The boys with eyeliners, so sexy.
- [57:07]
B
We, we like to call it Guy Liner.
- [57:10]
A
Oh, we, We. Okay.
- [57:12]
B
Oh, I'm, I, I'm, I perform sometimes. I got, you know, gotta do a little something extra for the stage.
- [57:18]
A
All right, all right, that's fair. That's all I got on Not Enough Time.
- [57:23]
B
Well, all right, then it brings us to track.
- [57:33]
C
See the rising sun Feel the one and one we become a sack of truth Once begun no one's really sure how to make it up. Keep the main way.
- [58:12]
B
Yeah, another straight up rocker.
- [58:14]
A
You know, the challenge with bands of this caliber like In Excess, and I think I've said this about some of the other bands that We've talked about is for anybody else, this would be an amazing song. But the bar is so high for In Excess, not just in the previous albums, but the other tracks on this album, that this actually may be one of the lesser tracks on this album compared to some of the other ones.
- [58:40]
B
Yeah, it is a straight up rocker, but it is not especially remarkable other than that kind of hard driving straight up rock track thing it's got going. Right?
- [58:52]
A
Yeah.
- [58:52]
B
Like it doesn't have the sultry beauty of not enough time. The sweetness of beautiful girl that we'll see later. The sort of weird bluesy thing we sometimes get with this band. It's just straight up rock track. I think you're right. Any other band it would be like, oh, it's a banger, these guys. It's all right.
- [59:13]
A
Lyrically, this seems to be returning to that same theme that we had in communication with the news as entertainment kind of thing.
- [59:20]
B
And yeah, I mean, like, lyrics are going for socially aware, like touching on issues, but it's really just like approaching them, like coming up close to them and painting these little single quatrain vignettes, but then not following through and like digging into them. Right. Like, there's one. A man, he buys a gun he is his father's son but one day he takes the gun and like, really we're rhyming gun and gun. And I. I guess I let Adrock of the Beastie Boys get away with it. You know, rhyming commercial and commercial. So I gotta give these guys the same slack. But still. But one day he takes the gun and the lives of one and many another one look out. One day a message comes to me I saw a woman tell the truth with pride and end up behind bars first of all, there is no rhyme scheme whatsoever to this song, which is.
- [60:24]
A
Odd, except for sun and gun.
- [60:28]
B
Yeah, that's pretty much it. And then the repetition of the same word, which barely counts as rhyme scheme, but okay. But yeah, it comes right up to the edge and then backs off it at points. I'm like, okay, I like where this song is going. And it's like, nope, that's just where it goes. That's it. The song really feels like an excuse to get from those verses to the repeated all around and around. Right.
- [60:56]
A
I kind of see that. I kind of interpreted it as history repeats itself.
- [61:01]
B
Okay.
- [61:02]
A
That's how I interpreted that. Whether it's, you know, the mass shooting with the gun or the woman behind bars because she dared to speak the truth. Look at what's happening. Now, in 2025. Right. I mean, are things happening in 2025?
- [61:16]
B
I thought it was just, what a boring era to be alive.
- [61:21]
A
What I wouldn't give to live during precedented times, let me tell you.
- [61:25]
B
Right.
- [61:26]
A
Yeah.
- [61:28]
B
Now, just worth noting that this is another Andy Farris and Michael Hutchins joint as much of the album. I don't want to be so harsh as to call it filler, but I think your earlier point about, in anyone else's hands, this would be a crowning achievement. And here it's like, yeah, you guys have done better.
- [61:50]
A
It's good enough, good enough, good enough. And if it weren't for Michael's distinctive voice, I don't think that it would have even registered for me that this was an NXS song, because it could be anybody.
- [62:03]
B
Oh, damn. It's generic.
- [62:04]
A
I didn't use that word.
- [62:06]
B
But hard for it to be with Michael Hutchins singing. So. All right.
- [62:09]
A
Yeah, okay, a bit.
- [62:11]
B
But it's not our favorite song. That's fair.
- [62:14]
A
Okay, that brings us to track seven. Baby don't cry.
- [62:29]
C
Baby.
- [62:34]
A
Don'T cry.
- [62:39]
C
Baby don't cry Baby don't cry baby.
- [63:04]
A
What do you think of that one?
- [63:06]
B
Right? Sometimes a rock band playing with an orchestra really works. The Beatles did it to great effect. Paul McCartney and his later band Wings, famously with Live and Let Die. Hell, ELO was the orchestra. And for that matter, just last episode I mentioned that I went and saw Beck playing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and great show here. It feels a bit bloated. The hugeness of the horns overshadows the song, as does the choir. Baby don't cry because the song is just okay by the band's usual standards. And it's like, let's take this just okay song and make it gigantic.
- [64:01]
A
Yeah, it's a little bit jarring. So this is the 60 piece Australian Concert Orchestra. They actually appeared in two tracks on this album. And yeah, right out of the gate. It's loud, it's bombastic. It's, you know, you got the horns and everything, and then the band comes in singing, and that's where they lose me. And people who have heard me on the In Excess Access All Areas podcast before, in the past, you've heard me complain about this. Somebody in the band is singing off key, and it drives me freaking nuts. Yeah. And I have my suspicions about which band member it is, but I'm not going to say. But there's somebody that sings off key and that just wrecks the song for me.
- [64:46]
B
I mean, and they're going for an almost shouted bar crowd feel to the chorus singing. So I don't find it a huge offense necessarily that somebody's a little out of tune. It's just, I mean, let's be real. The strength of In Excess lies in a few key factors. It is danceable rock with very distinctive, affected, rhythmic guitar sounds, the occasional sax solo and Michael Hutchins's voice. This is the bedrock that the band is built upon. Right. And this song doesn't really rely on any of that. It's not a particularly danceable rock song. Michael Hutchins is one of many voices in it. The orchestra is starring, not the usual rhythm section.
- [65:43]
A
And then you've got Michael doing that weird rap at the end, which, I mean, wasn't bad. It wasn't like Bernie Sumner.
- [65:54]
B
Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I don't know if I consider that rapping because as we've talked about rock stars attempting rapping, particularly in this era. Yeah, that could get ugly. This is more like vamping, like riffing, almost scatting, although not scatting because he's actually using words, but just like rhythmic shouting. Yeah, I don't think that's the most offensive part of the song, but I agree it's hardly the strongest point in the album either.
- [66:23]
A
So the song was written by Andrew Farris and he said it was written about his daughter Grace and how he missed her while he was touring.
- [66:31]
B
Okay.
- [66:32]
A
The music video was directed by Marcus Nash and there are some things about it I like. You know, the band is all wearing matching houndstooth suits and they look pretty sharp.
- [66:46]
B
It is visually striking. The really washed out, you know, white background with very graphic bits of black backdrop and rug or something coming in. Super white piano, like everything's super washed out and the contrast is ultra high. And it's real good looking.
- [67:06]
A
See, now that's the thing I don't like about it because it's so washed out. Michael Hutchins, you can't see his nose. He looks like Voldemort.
- [67:16]
B
You know, I'm a sucker for Swiss design, graphic design wise. And I feel like this is going for that sort of look and I0 problem with that. If you want to see Michael Hutchins being fully pretty, there's plenty of other stuff. Just go back to never tear us apart and have a good time.
- [67:35]
A
There you go. All right, so that 60 piece orchestra that we talked about.
- [67:41]
B
Yes, the Australian Concert Orchestra.
- [67:45]
A
Correct. That actually led to kind of a backlash against the band in March of 1990. Two, they were asked to play a concert. It's called the Concert for Life in Centennial park in Sydney, Australia. It was a benefit concert to raise funds for St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney and for AIDS research. There were other performers involved. It was like a little mini festival. Crowded House, Jenny Morris, who has collaborated with INXS before, Yothu Yindi, Def FX and the band wanted to make this a really good experience for the fans. They had just recorded these songs, but they hadn't been released yet. So they paid $200,000 of their own money to ensure, number one, that the 60 piece orchestra could be there and also so that they would have lighting equipment, sound equipment, you know, I mean, they, they paid out of pocket for this because they wanted a good experience, experience for the bands. The orchestra joined them for the encore, which was two songs. Never Tear Us Apart and Baby Don't Cry.
- [68:59]
B
I could see having the live orchestra on Never Tear Us Apart be amazing.
- [69:06]
A
So that was the first part of the controversies. I guess the weather wasn't great on this day. They had expected 100,000 people, but they didn't get that many. And the event only raised $250,000. This according to In Excess, story to story, because I know different figures have been bandied around.
- [69:24]
B
It only raised a quarter million dollars and people are like, oh, that's not enough.
- [69:28]
A
Well, that's exactly it. There was something that was referred to in the book as Tall Poppy syndrome, where if you get too big for your britches, they'll cut you down to size, Right? And INXS had just come off the X tour. They were the biggest band in the world and I think that their fellow Aussies were experiencing some resentment. So there was controversy about how much money they spent to put on this show. Was it tone deaf? You know, people are dying of AIDS and you're spending $200,000 on an orchestra. There was also other controversy about the fact that the boys arrived to the show in limos, that their dressing rooms were bigger than the other bands. Really, it kind of seems like, I think it was a very unfair criticism. But as a result of that backlash, number one, they scrapped a planned tour. They were going to do a small tour in Australia to debut the songs from this album. They scrapped it, okay? In fact, they did not tour to promote this album at all. And I think that that had an effect on the chart performance of this album. The backlash against them was so bad that CM Murphy, their manager, basically made them promise not to play in Australia for something like five years. Or something. Because it was that bad. Yeah.
- [70:50]
B
Like, the band raised a quarter of a million dollars, and people are like, oh, you shouldn't have done that.
- [70:57]
A
Well, because they spent $200,000 to do it, I guess. I guess that's the issue.
- [71:03]
B
All right, whatever. There's no pleasing some people.
- [71:06]
A
No. And the band has come to refer to this as the Concert for Strife. Yeah. So I. I think it was a little bit unfair, and I think that it was also maybe a little bit of a blow to their egos, especially Michael and Andrew, so.
- [71:24]
B
And those egos were sizable, but, yeah, whatever.
- [71:28]
A
Not, Not. Not as much as you'd think.
- [71:30]
B
Fair enough.
- [71:32]
A
So this was the second single off the album, released only in Europe and Australia on August 9, 1992. This was an unusual strategy. They released it the same day as Not Enough Time, which you'll recall, was released in the us, Canada, and Japan. I'm not sure why they pursued that strategy.
- [71:51]
B
Yeah, that is curious.
- [71:53]
A
Yeah. It seems like it would split their sales numbers, but I'm sure they had a reason to do it. That's all I got on that one.
- [72:01]
B
Seems like plenty, I guess. That brings us to track eight. Beautiful girl.
- [72:15]
C
With the black coat on Running from a bad home with some cat inside Where'd you find her? The neon lights that haunt the streets outside she says stay with me.
- [72:44]
A
Beautiful.
- [72:44]
C
Girl stay with me.
- [72:52]
B
Well, that is just undeniably sweet on a whole lot of levels. There's that lilting opening guitar line and the ultra simple piano line, which kind of reminds me of the Rolling Stones. She's. She's a rainbow Hey, I could see it. Maybe it's just the style of the playing, because that track piano line is a little more complex, but whatever. I don't know. Maybe it's the engineering. Whatever it is, it's a super simple piano line that is undeniably sweet. And then the beat comes in and Michael Hutchence's voice, low and right there in your ear is the call and response. Hutchins singing Beautiful Girl. And the guy's responding with Stay With Me again. Just sweetness throughout. Yeah.
- [73:42]
A
Back to that piano for a second. I don't know if it's actually a piano. I suspect it's a synth, but I mean, piano sound.
- [73:49]
B
Close enough.
- [73:49]
A
It reminds me of, like, a little child's play piano, actually. It reminds me my sister growing up had one that was a dinosaur that had the keys and, you know, you would. That's kind of what it sounded like.
- [74:04]
B
I have one. We use it to great effect in One of my bands, I have a dinosaur. I wish it was a dinosaur, but it is bright pink and it's a tiny toy piano with chimes instead of strings. So it's great sound.
- [74:18]
A
You're gonna have to invite me to one of your shows sometime. I. I gotta see you guys there.
- [74:22]
B
One of these days.
- [74:23]
A
All right. Andrew Farris has said that he wrote this song about his five month old daughter, Grace.
- [74:30]
B
So I have read that. I've read that same idea. And I gotta tell you, I am struggling to see how or how that plays into the lyrics.
- [74:42]
A
Right. Nikki's in the corner with a black coat on, running from a bad home.
- [74:47]
B
Right?
- [74:48]
A
Yeah. But the chorus, beautiful girls stay with me. I could see that. I could see that part. So maybe it started off inspired by her and then it.
- [74:57]
B
Inspired by. It's a song for her, not about her, but whatever. It's again, just the. Again the sweetness of that melody and everything about it. That really works for me.
- [75:11]
A
Yeah, yeah, I agree. It is a good song.
- [75:15]
B
Apparently it works for the whole world and for all of history. I mentioned earlier, not enough time the big single from the album has to date, racked up 9.1 million views. This track, Beautiful Girl, 40 million views.
- [75:32]
A
Oh, okay. Okay, now that makes sense.
- [75:37]
B
Yeah.
- [75:38]
A
It was directed by Mark Pellington and I'll be honest, I don't like this video. This is my least favorite In Excess video. Well, you know, I appreciate what they were trying to do. It was featuring stories of women who had battled eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia. Was trying to call attention to the cause on that. I appreciate it. But there was this trend, 92, 93, where some of these music videos would get so heavy handed with a cause.
- [76:10]
B
We are socially aware.
- [76:13]
A
Yeah, like Soul Asylum, Runaway Train, that was another one. It's just like, dude, turn this shit off. I love the song. Can't stand the video.
- [76:22]
B
I don't think anybody really liked Soul Asylum except for Winona Ryder. Why didn't she marry the lead singer, Rinnella Ryder?
- [76:30]
A
Really?
- [76:31]
B
Be fair. Anyway, nobody liked Soul Asylum. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. It should be noted though, backing up. I'm not saying that the video to Beautiful girl has 40 million views. The playing of the song, the album version of the song has 40 million plays.
- [76:50]
A
Oh, okay. The video was nominated for a Grammy in 1994 for Best Music video.
- [76:57]
B
And they never know a lot of stuff.
- [76:59]
A
Yeah, that's true. And somebody liked it. Okay, so it was released as a single in February of 1993. One source says February 1st. One source says February 11th. I don't know. It peaked at number 46 on the US Billboard Hot 145 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. Now, I don't know how I feel about that because to me, Adult Contemporary is easy listing.
- [77:24]
B
It's softer rock. And this does qualify.
- [77:28]
A
Okay. It went to number 10 on the US Alternative Airplay chart and number 24 on the US Pop Airplay chart. So again, this is one of those songs that was inescapable back in 92, 93. And whether you were listening to mainstream radio stations or alternative stations or the easy listening station, adult contemporary, you could not escape this song.
- [77:54]
B
The pop for grown ups, the video equivalent would be VH1 versus MTV. It's the more grown up, smoother soft rock. You know, it's. It is hardly their hardest hitting track ever. And again, it's that overriding sweetness to the song that makes it very accessible and poppy. Yeah, it's no Suicide Blonde, that's for sure.
- [78:22]
A
Yeah, that's true. Okay, the next song on the album is called Wishing Well. Let's listen to that one.
- [78:42]
C
If you ever want to taste it Go down to the wishing well Boys in the well we'll make it Keep yourself as strong as can be.
- [79:00]
A
All.
- [79:01]
C
Right I take you Take it down and tell you why I said woman gonna take you Take it down away.
- [79:16]
A
There'S definitely a darker vibe to this song. And you'll notice a little bit of a theme because the first line, if you ever want to taste it Go down to the wishing well so it's kind of a callback to that track.
- [79:31]
B
It's the. Yeah, yeah. Like, this is a comparison to another slightly earlier song, but I'm hearing echoes of the. The violence of truth off of 19, I want to say 89's mind bomb album.
- [79:51]
A
Okay.
- [79:51]
B
It's mostly the syncopated organ line and the bass line and to some extent the vocals, but it's like groovier than that track, and it's not that track, so. Okay. Right. I guess we can talk about this track.
- [80:05]
A
You guess.
- [80:06]
B
Instrumental, Groovy bass. And the organ. And the drum opener. The vocals start with the chorus, strangely, and then the first verse and then the chorus, and then it just kind of starts meandering. The song is weird structurally, and it's the second time on the album that I say this. The lyrics are like, really free form. There's no discernible rhyme scheme. That's unusual, especially for these guys, but I guess not on this Album because now it's the second time, and I don't actually know what he's talking about.
- [80:46]
A
So I had read in a book by Chris Frantz from Talking Heads, he and his wife Tina Waymouth actually recorded a song with Michael, and they described his lyrical process. The first few times that he goes through a song, he just kind of is scatting or, you know, humming or Glossolalia. But then eventually he started to pick up on some words that would fit the song. And that when you do it that way, that doesn't necessarily mean that there's a deep meaning behind it. That might be what happened here. I'm not entirely sure.
- [81:25]
B
Yeah, I mean, it is groovy, but it's dark and groovy. Right? Like, got a sort of dark, bluesy thing going to it. And I've. I compared it earlier to the. Those track, but that track is the Violence of Truth. And, like, they both have this dark sensibility to it. I'm with you.
- [81:43]
A
Yeah. But then the very last lyrics, I'm the healer. You're believing.
- [81:48]
B
Apparently. He's a healer. I don't know. All right. So, you know, I mentioned earlier that I don't, just from reading the lyrics, have a really strong sense of what this song is about. So I, as we both tend to, went and did a little digging, Googled the song, Googled the song lyrics, meaning. And I think you also got this same result having done the same thing. The Google AI overview. I love this. Google tells us there isn't a song called Wishing well by the band inxs. There are songs with this title by other artists such as Terence Trent, Darby Free and Juice wrld, but not inxs. The question likely refers to one of these songs or is a misremembered title for an INXS song either. We're dealing with a Mandela effect situation where you and I are the only people on Earth for whom this track exists anymore and history has rewritten itself. Or AI still sucks. And I'm sure I'm going to come to regret this later when our robot overlords rise up and put us into eternal servitude. But for now, Google AI, you still kind of suck.
- [83:12]
A
I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
- [83:15]
B
I also welcome our new robot overlords. Sorry about that thing I said earlier. I was just kidding.
- [83:21]
A
I always, when I'm doing a search, I always say, please, please do this for. You know, I hope that when they take over, they remember that. That I was polite. I know. All right. Anything else on that one.
- [83:35]
B
No, I think that's plenty. Okay, next track is track 10, back online.
- [83:58]
C
When you're looking out of control all the ways I could have taken just that up to indecision. To me there's no reason why all my troublesome.
- [84:27]
B
All right, so for me, this one really feels like some earlier in Excess, particularly that big piano line. It's just like so pleasantly big new wave tinged pop. And then for the chorus, that rapid fire guitar kicks in almost like Edge U2 style, but with that distinctive Kirk Pengilly in Excess sound. And then those organ blasts that accompany it. And then we go back to the pop pleasant piano ness. Yeah, it's just an old school in Excess song, but bigger.
- [85:07]
A
And it's interesting that you should mention that because this is the one song on the album that was written by Michael Hutchins and John Ferris, the drummer.
- [85:14]
B
Yeah.
- [85:16]
A
In their earlier albums, all of their songs were written as a collaboration. But then Starting Around Kick Kick was entirely written by Andrew and Michael. And so, you know, we're starting to see some of the other band members dipping their toe back into the songwriting a little bit. I agree with everything that you said. I think that the organ on the choruses kind of reminds me a little bit of a carnival. But that's not a bad thing.
- [85:43]
B
Got a Kalia kind of going.
- [85:45]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, the thing that I want to mention about being back online in 1992, the World Wide Web was just barely a thing. I mean, unless you were a physicist working at CERN or you were with the National Science foundation, you probably didn't even know it existed. So I know in 2025, we think of Back Online as being, you know, getting connected and online in the Internet or something like that. But this is more of the metaphorical meaning of getting back into your groove, you know, feeling connected again with the world. All my troubles soon be leaving Wash away the pain of mine so whatever negativity, whatever pain and sadness have been in the past, it's all about to go away. All my troubles soon be leaving. Maybe I'm reading too much into this because I know it's co written by John, but it's kind of hard for me not to interpret this in the context of his marriage just before this started, you know, he really did fall very hard for Leslie. And I'm sure at the very beginning, as all marriages always start off very optimistic, where you think, you know, this is a new beginning and all the troubles are going to be over.
- [86:58]
B
And this was totally a good idea.
- [87:03]
A
So I could be reading a little too much into it, but I do enjoy this song. This is a catchy tune.
- [87:09]
B
Yeah. Again, it's that that huge sound with the piano line also reminds me of a not quite so fast OMD dreaming.
- [87:20]
A
Oh, I could see that. So the next track, Scott, is strange desire.
- [87:30]
C
Is all. And this is unique. Turning into another dream Please don't be another dream do you think we're careful? Do you know we love looking your heart.
- [88:12]
A
So let me start off by saying the choruses. That's Michael singing with Denny Hines again. Kirk Pengilly's soon to be wife.
- [88:20]
B
Right on. I would say that is one of two things that really levels this song up. And it can be the littlest thing, I think her voice. Not a little thing. It's big. The little things that can really level a song up. And for me it is that somebody is just going to town on the cowbell. John Ferris, presumably, what with him being the drummer and all. But there is this constant super energetic thing going on the bell and that brings some next level energy to what would otherwise be a decent, if relatively typical in excess dance rock track. Typical is maybe underplaying it like this is a solid song, but guess what, I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell.
- [89:16]
A
Speaking of those choruses.
- [89:17]
B
Yes.
- [89:18]
A
I really like the kind of rapid fire lyrics. Do you really think you're cared for? Do we really know we're loved? Look at all my resolutions Promises to break your heart Just the rapid fire rhythmic delivery. I love it. And then you've got Andrew's keyboards in the background kind of drifting in and out and creating this mood.
- [89:40]
B
Oh yeah. That low key wail of a keyboard line in the chorus. Is that what you talk about? Yeah, that's some classic in excess right there. Right?
- [89:50]
A
Yeah.
- [89:51]
B
Also back to that chorus. Once again, rhyme scheme is just something they are no longer concerning themselves with and I find that interesting.
- [90:00]
A
Yeah, well, who says it has to rhyme?
- [90:02]
B
It doesn't. And that's, you know, that's innovative. If there's a rhyme scheme, it's super abstract and oftentimes it's just A, B, C, D. There's no rhyme scheme. And I. Good for them.
- [90:15]
A
Yeah.
- [90:17]
B
Okay, then that brings us to the album's final track, track 12. Men and women.
- [90:40]
C
Spirits were kept behind my back Men, women, man and women man and women Give each other the shame.
- [91:08]
B
So basically it's never tear us apart but in a spaghetti Western.
- [91:14]
A
That's an interesting interpretation.
- [91:16]
B
Yeah.
- [91:18]
A
Men and women giving each other the shaft. It's a really kind of dark, ominous way to end the album. And this one also has that symphony orchestra on it, the Australian concert orchestra.
- [91:30]
B
A 60 piece orchestra conducted by Andrew Piper.
- [91:35]
A
Okay.
- [91:36]
B
I knew that off the top of my head. Right.
- [91:40]
A
Right towards the end of the song, that orchestra becomes very overpowering again. But I. Obviously it's intentional on this one.
- [91:48]
B
Prominent, I would say. And that's the thing is the mood, the tempo, just the song in general. The orchestra supports it instead of overshadowing it as it did in the previous one.
- [92:00]
A
Right, Yeah, I agree.
- [92:02]
B
I have an interesting quote on this one from Kirk Pengilly, once again, from the ultimate classic rock article I've already referenced. That was something different. Pengilly recalled. We recorded the whole track live with the orchestra and band playing together. During one of the breaks, when we were out mingling with some of the orchestra players, they asked how come every time we do a take it sounds different. One of the guys explained to them that we were actually playing live with them. They were astounded. They're used to playing with a recorded backing track. Consequently, the track after that was really fantastic because they were so jazzed up that we were playing together.
- [92:45]
A
Wow.
- [92:46]
B
Right?
- [92:46]
A
That's cool.
- [92:48]
B
Yeah. The actual synergies of that you get from live musicians playing together rather than. Okay, we're just. We're just your backup. Right.
- [92:57]
A
Yeah. Incidentally, the orchestral arrangements on both that one and Baby Don't Cry were done by Andrew Farris.
- [93:03]
B
Huh.
- [93:04]
A
All right, so before we talk about what happened next, you know what I'm about to ask you, Scott. What's your favorite track on the album?
- [93:15]
B
Well, before I answer that, you know that I am oftentimes conflicted about choosing as my favorite track on whatever album we are reviewing, choosing the biggest hit on the album, which, you know, I'm not even that ashamed about. They tend to be the big hit because they were seen as the strongest track on the album. But obviously, as I already talked about, Not Enough Time is an amazing track and it is inextricably linked in my mind with that time. So huge nostalgic points for that one. And it's just a great song in its own right. That said, Wishing well is also a really strong contender. And just to go against my usual pattern, I'm going to say Wishing well is my favorite track on the album. That said, if you check a year from now and see which song has gotten more plays from me on streaming. Yeah, it's almost certainly going to be Not Enough Time.
- [94:15]
A
Okay, that's fair. And you know, I'm kind of back and forth, too. I mean, not Enough Time's definitely one of my top ones.
- [94:21]
B
Oh, good.
- [94:22]
A
But I'm going to go with Heaven Sent.
- [94:24]
B
All right, interesting. What is it about that one for you?
- [94:27]
A
It's just a classic rocker. You know, you can feel the energy. And then of course, that whole part about Tuesday. She works at the library uptown. I mean, I love that. Come on. I may or may not have a crush on a librarian, but all right, fair. Yeah. I don't think she's listening.
- [94:46]
B
You need to give her one of our stickers.
- [94:49]
A
Yeah, actually I do.
- [94:52]
B
Before we talk about what happened next for the band, we should really talk about how this album did and how it has been overall judged within their whole catalog. So an article I found from 2015 on stereogum.com entitled In Excess albums from worst to best by Alicia Kennedy. They placed this album at number five of INXS's 11 albums, so cracking the top half. Others generally put it around there, although you've said a lot of people regard it as among In Excess's strongest. Again, in a world where Kick exists, I have a hard time with that, but all right, once again quoting that ultimate classic rock article that I've already referenced. We were happy with the album, Andrew Farris told Gary Graff years later. We worked really hard. I thought there were some really good songs on there that still hold up. I still talk to fans who say that it's their favorite album. So I think it connected with a lot of people. And, you know, you could do way worse. It still produced hits. It did not hit the stratospheric level of X or Kick. But not every album can. Things can only get so big, and there were big singles off of this one. You know what? It was a success. If it wasn't the biggest success they had ever had, and that's the only acceptable trajectory, then every other band on earth failed before they even started, right?
- [96:29]
A
Yeah, exactly. So as of 2012, welcome to wherever you are sold over 2 million copies worldwide. As I mentioned earlier, it was certified platinum in the United States, selling 1 million copies, and it peaked in the US at number 16. We've talked about some of the reasons why I think maybe this album wasn't as popular as it could have been. It wasn't on my radar in 92. Number one is because they decided not to tour to support this album. What they did do, eventually, after their next album, they went on the Dirty Honeymoon tour, and that was kind of a combined promotion for both Albums that was in 93, 94. There was also, you know, as we mentioned, I think there was a little bit of a backlash, not just in Australia with that whole tall poppy syndrome in the Concert for Life, but also here in the US and other places around the world. Musical tastes were changing, or it's just.
- [97:27]
B
Some in excess fatigue.
- [97:29]
A
Yes, yes, I think that's a fair statement. My top bands in excess, Duran Duran, you know, the ones that, you know are my favorites. I wasn't listening to any of them in 92. You know, it was a little bit of fan burnout there. Now, something else that happened that was really significant right after the release of this album. So remember, the album was released on August 3, 1992. And if you've ever watched the documentary film Mystify, Michael Hutchins, they talk about this as well. Just a few days after the album was released, Michael Hutchinson, his girlfriend, Helena Christensen, were in Copenhagen, and they were riding their bicycles at night, and Michael got into an altercation with a cab driver. The cab driver got out of his car, punched Michael, and Michael fell and hit the back of his head on the curb.
- [98:21]
B
Hello.
- [98:23]
A
The cab driver got into the car, and to this day, nobody knows who he was. But Michael was hospitalized. Actually, I think Helena even said that at first she thought he was dead, but he was hospitalized for a skull fracture. He also had symptoms of traumatic brain injury.
- [98:42]
B
Yeah, TBI will mess you up, man.
- [98:45]
A
A number of things happened as a result of this. Primarily, he lost his sense of smell and of taste. And for someone like Michael, who is such a sensualist, that was devastating for him. That was part of the pleasure of life. He said in an interview, I can't taste Helena anymore. You know? So that was really hard for him. But then also it explains some of his later behaviors where he kind of came a little bit unhinged. And at one point, I think he got into physical altercations with all five other members of the band.
- [99:21]
B
Oh, damn.
- [99:22]
A
Yeah. And a lot of fans didn't know this. I didn't know this until that Mystify documentary came out a few years back. It's really well done. If you have the opportunity to watch it, I highly recommend it. But it really puts a lot of things in a very different perspective. And it's really so sad, you know, that if we had known back then, we, meaning as a society, if we had known back then what we know now about traumatic brain injury, maybe things would have been different for him. You know, maybe he'd still be with us.
- [99:56]
B
God, Damn.
- [99:57]
A
Yeah. Something to think about. So that is the end of that.
- [100:03]
B
Welcome to the end of. Welcome to wherever you are and to the end of this episode.
- [100:09]
A
So, Scott, you have not told me yet what we're doing for the next episode.
- [100:13]
B
I have not, but I am excited about it. I know it is an album that you are not particularly familiar with, but a band that would become pretty big later in the 90s. What we are going to be listening to is the debut album by Stereo Lab Penguin with an exclamation point.
- [100:34]
A
When I was in your class, I do remember you were a big fan of Stereo Lab because it seems to me you actually had us listening to a Stereo Lab album one day during a lab project or something.
- [100:44]
B
I am not admitting to the public performance copyright violations that may or may not have happened in my classroom over the course of a decade, but you probably heard me play you personally in a one on one situation. Stereo Labs album ping.
- [101:02]
A
Fair enough.
- [101:02]
B
You're gonna hear it in great detail over and over and review it back here in just a couple weeks.
- [101:09]
A
All right. Well, you know, you always surprise me. I end up liking things I didn't think I'd like. So I'm looking forward to doing the deep dive on that one. All right, so thank you again for joining us. Three years. Thank you everybody who supported us.
- [101:25]
B
Three years. 436,000 listens. That's crazy. Thank you for sticking with us. Thank you for listening. More great music to come in many episodes to come.
- [101:40]
A
I can't wait. So this is Laurie signing out.
- [101:43]
B
Thank you for listening and Scott Free. We'll see you back here in two weeks.
- [101:54]
C
Sa.