Suicide Blonde
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| “Suicide Blonde” | |||||
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| Single by INXS from the album X |
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| B-side | "Everybody Wants U Tonight" | ||||
| Released | 1990 | ||||
| Format | 7" single 12" maxi CD maxi |
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| Genre | Psychedelic rock | ||||
| Length | 3:55 | ||||
| Label | Mercury, XPRO | ||||
| Writer(s) | Andrew Farriss Michael Hutchence |
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| Producer | Chris Thomas | ||||
| INXS singles chronology | |||||
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"Suicide Blonde" was the name of the first single from the INXS album X. It reached the top 10 in the US and Australia in 1990 and reached a peak of #11 in the UK.
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[edit] Writing and recording
The song was written by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss of the group INXS, after the band had gotten back together after a year-long sabbatical during 1989. The title track (a term not originating with this song) was named after a woman who had bleached her own hair because she had "dyed" by her own hand and who was "love devastation." It is rumoured that Hutchence's then-girlfriend, Kylie Minogue, gave him the inspiration for the title whilst working on her 1989 film "The Delinquents". Minogue was required to dye her hair platinum blonde for the role and was quoted by Hutchence in an interview in '89 as saying "I'm going suicide blonde today".
The recording of "Suicide Blonde" showed some new influences on INXS. Jon Farriss' drums show the influence of dance music especially the acid house sounds popular in the UK. Similarly, the blues harp on the track was sampled rather than recorded live.
The track became poignant after Hutchence committed suicide on November 22, 1997 and his lover Paula Yates died of an overdose on September 17, 2000 after attempting suicide in 1998. The lyrics of the song do not refer to Yates who did not enter a relationship with Hutchence until the mid 1990s, but (as above) in reference to Kylie Minogue, whom he was dating at that time.
Kym Wilson (and her then boyfriend Andrew Reyment the last people to see Michael alive) also became known as the "Suicide Blonde" in the tabloids.
Garry Gary Beers's ex-wife Jodie can be heard laughing on the track.
[edit] Chart performances
The track was released in September 1990 throughout the world. In the US, the track reached a peak of #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the mainstream and modern rock charts. A dance remix of the track received wide airplay on US top 40 stations reaching the top 10 of the dance charts. In the UK, the track reached a peak of #11 while it reached #3 in their homeland of Australia1 and #1 in Canada.
While X was not as successful as Kick, it went double platinum in both Australia and the US. The band remained a popular live act playing sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium in the UK and Madison Square Garden in the US.
[edit] Track listings
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[edit] Charts
| Chart (1990)[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] | Peak position |
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| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 9 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 25 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 2 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 24 |
| Canadian Singles Chart[citation needed] | 3 |
| French Singles Chart | 23 |
| German Singles Chart | 23 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 3 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 16 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 11 |
| UK Singles Chart | 11 |
| Preceded by "Stop!" by Jane's Addiction |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single September 22, 1990 |
Succeeded by "Never Enough" by The Cure |
| Preceded by "Blaze of Glory" by Bon Jovi |
New Zealand (RIANZ) number-one single October 5, 1990 - October 19, 1990 |
Succeeded by "To Sir, with Love" by Ngaire |
[edit] References
- ^ "Suicide Blonde", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- "INXS: X Marks the Spot" Rolling Stone Issue 590 1 November 1990 page 85
(1) US chart details from Allmusic.com UK chart details from Everyhit.com, Australian chart details from ARIA and Wikipedia INXS article.
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