INXS and Spandau Ballet

[snopes]

Two urban myths have surfaced on the eve of the INXS gig in Zagreb. One is directly related to the band and the other only indirectly so. Naturally, the first refers to the death of frontman Michael Hutchence almost ten years ago, on which numerous stories are still being told. Intentional or accidental suicide (autoerotic asphyxiation), that is the question… It does not really matter, the man is dead and INXS opened the concert in a morbidly predictable way: “Suicide Blonde.”

The other urban myth is the way Spandau Ballet ended their career. Also masters in the 1980s, only to a lesser degree, but also the band that, in the pursuit of the last penny, reportedly saw their end as performers in a disco club somewhere between Cakovec and Varazdin.

http://www.javno.com/en/lifestyle/clanak.php?id=49794

[ThistleS]

I found that article fairly incomprehensible. What is the myth about INXS supposed to be? That Michael Hutchence died from autoerotic asphyxiation?

[diddy]

Originally Posted by ThistleS

I found that article fairly incomprehensible. What is the myth about INXS supposed to be? That Michael Hutchence died from autoerotic asphyxiation?

Thats what I read, unless it was "Accidental" suicide; whatever that means.

It does not really matter, the man is dead and INXS opened the concert in a morbidly predictable way: “Suicide Blonde.”

Huge INXS fan here. Like, huge to the extent that I'm the admin of an INXS fansite. Seen them twice in concert since the addition of their new frontman JD Fortune, who is amazing BTW. Would like to have seen them more, but unlike some of the folks on my site, I'm not made of money, lol.

That said, the sentance I quoted above makes me so....so....well.....

Suicide Blonde is NOT about suicide!!! I mean, it says it right there at the beginning of the song: "Suicide Blonde was the colour of her hair." That's right - the song is about a hot girl, not about the suicide, and certainly not about the death of Michael Hutchence (which, sidebar, would have been quite the accomplishment, seeing as Hutch himself sang the song on their 1990 album X, a full 7 years before his death).

Full lyrics for Suicide Blonde:

Suicide blonde was the colour of her hair
Like a cheap distraction for a new affair
She knew it would finish before it began
Something tells me you lost the plan

You want to make her Suicide Blonde
Love devastation, Suicide Blonde

She stripped to the beat but her clothes stay on
White light everywhere but you can't see a thing
Such a squeeze, a mad, sad moment
Glory to you, glory to you, take me there

Got some revelation put into your hands
Save you from your misery like rain across the land
Don't you see the colour of deception
Turning your world around again

So, here's my point. Why exactly is it in poor taste for a band to open their concert with one of their most popular, rockin', grab-you-out-of-your-seat-and-MAKE-you-dance hits? The vast majority of concert goers are fans of the band and know the song is about a cute girl and not about anyone's actual death. So, just because Hutch happened to kill himself, they should remove a fantastic song from their setlist because it has the word suicide in the title? That would be a travesty!

My guess: The guy that wrote the article found himself at an INXS concert knowing positively NOTHING about the band, save that their former frontman killed himself, and that there were details surrounding his death that suggested autoerotic asphyxiation. The countdown finishes, the curtain drops, and the harmonica riff starts (if you've been to an INXS show, you know....). And, knowing balls about the band, he hears the words "Suicide....something" and immediately assumes that the band is being "morbidly predictable".

Probably had to google the band to find out the rest of the song title. Dumb jerk.

[/rant]


And now that I've ranted, let me be slightly productive.

Thats what I read, unless it was "Accidental" suicide; whatever that means.

While the phrase "accidental suicide" is, well, confusing to say the least, the issue with Hutch's death boils down to either a.) He was a very sad, depressed man with emotional issues he couldn't see another way out of and "intentionally" killed himself, or b.) He was trying to get his jollies and "accidentally" killed himself during a solo-sex act. There are cases to be made either way; his family chooses to believe scenario a, while the band leans towards scenario b. Either way around it, I suppose Hutch himself is the only one that knows for sure.

[Richard W]

Also masters in the 1980s, only to a lesser degree, but also the band that, in the pursuit of the last penny, reportedly saw their end as performers in a disco club somewhere between Cakovec and Varazdin. What does this have to do with INXS? Nothing, as we witnessed with our own eyes yesterday.

So why mention it, whatever it actually is? I suppose he's saying that INXS's career isn't over, but it's a bit of a convoluted way of saying it...

[Jay Tea]

Also masters in the 1980s, only to a lesser degree..

Interestingly, Spandau Ballet's 'True' sold 23 million copies. 'Kick', the big INXS seller, sold about 9 million. 'Lesser degree' my arse!

[BamaRainbow]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

Interestingly, Spandau Ballet's 'True' sold 23 million copies. 'Kick', the big INXS seller, sold about 9 million. 'Lesser degree' my arse!

Not sure where your figures came from, but in the US, Spandau Ballet never even went "gold" (sales of 500,000 copies) with anything, while InXS had cumulative sales (from 1982-2007) of 16 million copies of 8 albums released. Of those, only Shabooh, Shoobah has failed to reach "platinum" level (sales of 1 million copies). Three others (Listen, X, and Kick) have achieved "multi-platinum" status (in the US alone, Kick has been certified as 6x Platinum) and the others have all achieved "platinum" status. (These certifications are from the RIAA searchable database where Spandau Ballet doesn't appear at all--I checked all available years, in both albums and singles formats. SB's failure to appear indicates that the group didn't sell a minimum of 500,000 copies of any single album.)
Even the listings on Vorash.com indicate InXS's worldwide sales surpassed those of Spandau Ballet. InXS ranks at #228 (with an estimated 30 million worldwide) while SB ranks at #290 (estimated sales of 20 million worldwide). I don't particularly regard the Vorash figures as accurate as the RIAA's, but I'm not aware of a single reliable industry-wide source that tracks worldwide sales.

[Jay Tea]

My figures came from a BBC interview - how reliable they are is indeed questionable, but my point was largely in the direction of the fact that SB were hardly lesser lights to INXS in the 80s - perhaps they were in the US but that's one country - the website on the OP is European and they should have known better, even your own 'figures' suggest SB outsold INXS everywhere else in the world other than the US, though probably only for the one album

[Joostik]

Originally Posted by Danamac448

Suicide Blonde is NOT about suicide!!! [SNIP] ... the song is about a cute girl and not about anyone's actual death.

So suicide doesn't mean suicide, suicide means cute?

Originally Posted by Joostik

So suicide doesn't mean suicide, suicide means cute?

No, it has to do with coloring (dyeing) your hair blonde.

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

My figures came from a BBC interview - how reliable they are is indeed questionable, but my point was largely in the direction of the fact that SB were hardly lesser lights to INXS in the 80s - perhaps they were in the US but that's one country - the website on the OP is European and they should have known better, even your own 'figures' suggest SB outsold INXS everywhere else in the world other than the US, though probably only for the one album

In the US, SB was essentially a one-hit wonder, with the song "True" (which still only made it to #4 on the pop charts), and a couple of other very minor hits (like "Gold"). INXS on the other hand had a couple #1 hits, a couple #2's, and a slew other others in the top 100. Check out allmusic.com's "Charts and awards" page on either band -- it's clear that INXS had far more charting singles.

-Tim

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Joostik

So suicide doesn't mean suicide, suicide means cute?

No, in this context it means "dangerous" or "destructive."

- snopes

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by snopes

No, in this context it means "dangerous" or "destructive."

- snopes

Sorry Snopes, but Doug4.7 is correct; the term 'Suicide Blonde' refers to an artificial blonde in the UK and presumably Australia. It comes from the legal definition of suicide (often quoted in film and television) as 'Died by their own hand', hence a suicide blonde has hair 'dyed by her own hand'