I took a few days off from listening to music, mainly to enjoy Thanksgiving (2024), and continue packing up the house for an upcoming move. This not only gave me a well needed break from INXS, but reinvigorated me a little bit to jump into their 1982, third studio album, Shabooh Shoobah.
Personally, I wasn't too impressed with their prior released Underneath The Colours. My opinion seemed to mirror that of fellow band member, Kirk Pengilly, who felt they, INXS, didn't have enough material ready when it was recorded. Overall, it just didn't resonate with me as much as their self titled debut.
During my review of Colours, I noted the bands previous work on singles with Producer Mark Opitz, which led to them signing with WEA, as well as other labels for international distribution. However, when it came time to work on their next release, both the band and their manager didn't feel Opitz would be able to produce a full album which would garner international attention. After visiting the UK and USA in search of someone else for the job, they not only found that the individuals they sought after weren't available, but were informed that Opitz's work on their previous singles was the best they could hope for.
Lead single, The One Thing, would not only become their first USA chart topper, but be the first (of many) videos from INXS aired on MTV. Their native popularity saw a boost in 1983 when the band joined the lineup of musicians playing at the Australian Stop The Drop, a concert promoting nuclear disarmament. However, when performing their first show in the USA, there were a mere twenty-four people there. Things would eventually pick up as they continued touring the states, supporting acts such as Adam And The Ants, The Kinks, Hall & Oates, The Go-Go's, and Men At Work.
Shabooh Shoobah would become INXS's first platinum album, and even be nominated as Best Australian Album at the 1982 Countdown Australian Music Awards. Must be an amazing album then, right?
Well, it's okay. It's definitely better than Underneath The Colours. It ventures away from the prior ska sound of the band, and adopts a more pop friendly tone. This definitely, for me, makes things stand out a bit more for me. That 1982 - 1983 new wave sound is my sweet spot.
Let me explain that a bit. For me, the 80's can be broken down as follows:
1980 - 1981: Fading sounds of the 70's
This is the infancy of the 80's where you would still hear tunes that were akin to those of the 70's. This was a mixture of soft rock, disco, and what would become classic rock. I equate these years to the likes of Olivia Newton-John, Kool & The Gang, Pretenders, Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra, The Police, etc. Yes, many of these artists would go on to pop success, but in these early years, it was very much trapped in a decade of disco, soft rock, and again, classic rock.
1982 - 1983: New Wave and Synth Pop
This was the era of bands that embraced the synthesizer in all its glory, typically utilizing these with drum machines to bring about a full pop sound, even when accompanied by a full band. This is the time of Duran Duran, A Flock Of Seagulls, Kim Carnes, Devo, Men At Work, Hall & Oates, Culture Club, Thompson Twins, and far too many more to note here. These are the groups that built the foundation of the 80's. There was also that one cat, maybe you heard about him, Michael Jackson. He had this little album called Thriller, which was kind of a big deal.
1984 - 1985: Pop Rock and Legends
Here is where the legends came out to play. They took the 80's sound, built on it, and revolutionized the era; Madonna, Prince, Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins, Van Halen (David Lee Roth would hate being categorized as pop rock), Billy Ocean, Huey Lewis And The News, Bruce Springsteen, and so on.
1986 - 1987: Hair Bands and Rap
A resurgence of guitars, shredding, and solos. Basically, things started to get loud. You had Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Aerosmith, and Poison, just to name a few, leading the charge. It was all about the volume of the band, and the length of the guitar solo. A lot of "pretty dudes" in makeup, which as Steven Tyler himself said, (Dude) Looks Like A Lady, a song he wrote after mistakenly thinking Crüe lead singer, Vince Neil, was a hot chick from behind. Rap also went mainstream, ushering in the likes of Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and even DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince.
1988 - 1989: Everything Everywhere All At Once
The final two years of the 80's were a mish-mash of everything which had become the decade all sandwiched together. Rap, rock, pop, new wave, and synth pop all jumped in a blender together, with everything considered mainstream. On any given day you could hear most, if not all of these genres on The Weekly Top 40. The end results were Roxette, Rick Astley, Richard Marx, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Public Enemy, and even a resurgence of Cher.
Anyway, I type all of that just to then summarize that while Shabooh Shoobah definitely has that distinct sound which resonates with me, what it lacks, for sure, is the hits. The One Thing is probably the best it has to offer, and being the leading track on the album sets a stage that the rest of the songs just don't perform well on. It wasn't bad by any means.
I did grab a couple extras for my shuffle, Black And White, and Old World New World. However, I'd be lying if I said I honestly remembered them at this point. That in and of itself has been a common problem I create for myself. My shuffle list is riddled with songs that are just okay, but not necessarily memorable. I add them as I hear them, but then by the time they come back around, I find myself skipping them. I really need to do better in this regard.
Overall, I'm not hating INXS. I'm just waiting to hear that amazing sound that is garnering them accolades and awards across Australia. Maybe that will happen next time when I jump into their 1984 release, The Swing.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 18, 1983 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 18, 1988 |
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