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Musical Memory Box: Eternal Winter Edition

Wednesday, April 06th, 2011 | Author:

Tuesday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Pretty Vegas, INXS, Switch, 2005. Stephane Dubord garners his first bonus point in April, on a song that stirs emotions deep within his gut.

In a previous edition of MMB featuring INXS, Stéphane clearly stated his disdain for this incarnation of the band, and its reality-tv winning frontman. If anything, the comments that follow are bit more tame than they were a few months back:

“Ah yes, the infamous “JD Fortune-fronted INXS” (I refuse to call this incarnation INXS). Who would have thought that a reality-show winner wouldn’t be the answer to replace a legend like Michael Hutchence?

In all honesty, I watched that show attentively, and throughout the show, I thought JD Fortune was a perfect fit for the part, while also appreciating some of the other contestant who also went on to interesting things (Suzy McNeil for one, Mig Ayesa as well). It was a very fun show to watch, blending just a tad bit of drama with some really captivating looks at what goes into songwriting, especially under enormous pressure. That said, I never took the band really seriously as “authentic INXS”. Some of their material was very good, Pretty Vegas and Afterglow being solid songs, but it was never more than an interesting experiment to me. No one could replace Michael Hutchence, and anyone who tried was bound to fail to live up to such a high standard.”

Denis Gagnon was also a loyal Rockstar: INXS viewer:

“I really should have been able to get this one as I watched most of this season as well as the next of Rock Star. From Season one “Rockstar: INXS” my favorite was Marty Casey and his original song Trees. In looking up this song, it prompted me to go find this gem that I had forgotten about. This guy was very talented and came in second. I didn’t like Trees because of the name but because it was a brilliant pop rock song with a great beat that was made for radio. It wasn’t deep by any stretch, just one of those fun songs. I shall have to look it up when I get home.

Rockstar was probably one of the better reality shows ever done and I would argue that is was the best for producing and showcasing raw musical talent. This wasn’t bubblegum pop crappy American Idol stuff – this was real gutsy rock singing and people had to really belt it out and sing for their lives. It showed some of the partying and backstage antics that gave it more of a Rock’n'Roll feel. Two bad it only lasted to seasons but the Canuck rockers went 2 for 2 in taking top prize.”

Laura and I were also fans of the Rockstar reality show. Obviously, the second one with Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke and Jason Newsted was inferior in many ways, but Dave Navarro was stellar as the host of both shows, and the content was the best I’ve ever seen in a reality show. Because the first one featured an established mega-band looking for a real lead singer, the stakes seemed more real. With Rockstar: Supernova, you really always knew that the project was dead in the water. I mean, Tommy Lee was involved.
I was even surprised that there was a second show. What made Rockstar: INXS work is that it was real. Any follow-up trying to fit into that format was bound to fail, barring another band’s lead singer dying, and keeping in mind that the band had to have a vast library of huge international hits to make the music recognizable. Rockstar: Blind Melon just wasn’t going to work, you know?
Some people suggested that Queen could have followed the Rockstar format, but I disagree for the reasons that Stéphane didn’t like J.D. Fortune. No one but an already established star was going to replace Freddie Mercury. And even then they got it wrong (Seriously? Paul Rogers?). I’ll repeat here what Marc Dubé wrote a few days ago when discussing this very issue, mainly because I agree with him 100%:

“This guy (George Michael) should’ve replaced Freddie Mercury in Queen. Only singer with the vocal chops to do it (his stage presence isn’t the same, then again how can you replace the greatest front man ever?).”

No reality show could have produced a singer to replace Freddie.
In the end my personal opinion of the “INXS Experiment”, as Stéphane calls it, is that it was a great fit. They found a singer that, if you closed your eyes, sounded similar to Hutchence. He had the sex appeal and charisma, the rock attitude, and some pretty decent writing chops. We saw him twice in concert fronting INXS, and he lived up to my expectations, bringing to life all the old INXS standards. I was sad when it didn’t work out.
Here are your lyrics for today:
“Clothe me in any fashion.
Glitter to so mundane.
Tell me how you’d love to change me.
Tell me I can stay the same.
I just want to shake us up.”
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