In Case You Missed It: INXS’ Wembley Show Lives Anew in Digital Reissue

If you’ve ever wondered why so much INXS catalogue activity centers solely around 1987’s Kick, there’s something new and different for you available: a live concert from the early 1990s, instead.

The Australian band have recently released Live At Wembley Stadium 1991 to digital retailers. This 22-track album features audio from the band’s July 13, 1991 concert at London’s famed stadium, which exactly six years prior held a rapt audience for Live Aid. Their Summer XS tour promoted the previous year’s release of tenth studio album X, another polished collaboration with Kick producer Chris Thomas that yielded more global success with singles like “Suicide Blonde” and “Disappear” becoming worldwide Top 10 hits.

Fans will recognize this program as identical to what was released on the videotape Live Baby Live that same year. A live album of the same name was recorded throughout the tour, and added one new studio track, “Shining Star.” (That same track features here, as well.) The audio from that video is here newly remastered by producer Mark Opitz, who produced the band’s Shabooh Shoobah (1982), Welcome to Wherever You Are (1992) and Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (1993) as well as the original Live Baby Live album.

So far, only iTunes seems to be the place you can get Live At Wembley Stadium 1991, although the band’s official site is selling a two-disc edition of the set, ostensibly to tie into the recent Australian broadcast of INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, a miniseries about the country’s favorite musical sons (the critical reception of which actually bought Kick and a recent compilation back into the country’s Top 10). The track list for this vintage show is below.

INXS, Live At Wembley Stadium 1991 (Petrol Electric, 2014)

1. Guns in the Sky
2. New Sensation
3. I Send a Message
4. The Stairs
5. Know the Difference
6. Disappear
7. By My Side
8. Hear That Sound
9. Original Sin
10. The Loved One
11. Wild Life
12. Mystify
13. Bitter Tears
14. Suicide Blonde
15. What You Need
16. Kick
17. Need You Tonight
18. Mediate
19. Never Tear Us Apart
20. Who Pays the Price
21. Devil Inside
22. Shining Star

All tracks except Track 22 recorded live at Wembley Stadium, London – 7/13/1991
Track 22 first released on Live Baby Live (EastWest 9031 75630-2 (AUS)/Atlantic 82294 (U.S.), 1991)

Release Round-Up: Week of February 12

Merle Haggard, The Complete ’60s Capitol Singles / Wanda Jackson, The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles / George Jones, The Complete United Artists Solo Singles (Omnivore)

Joe’s review of all three of these new country/rock singles anthologies from Omnivore speaks for each of them pretty well!

Merle: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Wanda: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
George: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Borderline, Sweet Dreams and Quiet Desires/The Second Album / Sam Dees, The Show Must Go On / Kenny O’Dell, Beautiful People / Pozo Seco, Shades of Time / Sam Samudio, Hard and Heavy / Billy Joe Shaver, The Complete Columbia Recordings /Rick Wakeman, No Earthly Connection (Real Gone Music)

The latest from Real Gone (some of which is on tap in the preceding link), including a solo LP from Sam The Sham, all of Billy Joe Shaver’s Columbia work and a solo disc from Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

R.E.M., Original Album Series / Yes, Original Album Series (Rhino U.K.)

Two new entries in Rhino’s “Original Album Series” sets, budget boxes packaging five albums by the same artist together, with a minimum of frills. R.E.M.’s set includes their final five albums, all recorded as a trio after drummer Bill Berry retired (Up (1998), Reveal (2001), Around the Sun (2004), Accelerate (2008) and Collapse Into Now (2011)), while Yes’ box includes their final works for Atlantic/Atco (Going for the One (1977), Tormato (1978), Drama (1980), 90125 (1983) and Big Generator (1987)).

R.E.M. Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Yes: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Joni Mitchell, The Studio Albums 1968-1979 (Rhino)

Already available in the U.K., this domestic new release features the iconic singer-songwriter’s first ten albums in one box. Nothing new in the way of packaging or remastering, just a quick way to snag ’em all at once. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

INXS, Shabooh Shoobah/The Swing (Friday Music)

From Friday Music comes the Australian band’s third and fourth albums on one compact disc. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Aretha Franklin, In the Beginning: The World of Aretha Franklin 1960-1967 (Wounded Bird)

A 1972 compilation of Aretha’s oft-overlooked early days on Columbia gets reissued by Wounded Bird. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Pat Boone, I’ll See You in My Dreams/This and That / Jane Morgan, What Now My Love/At the Cocoanut Grove / Tony Mottola, Roman Guitar 2/Spanish Guitar / Original Soundtrack Recordings, The Road to Hong Kong/Say One for Me (Sepia)

Some special two-for-one albums, many with bonus tracks, making their CD debuts from this British reissue label.

Are You Ready for a New Sensation? INXS’ “Kick” Expands for 25th Anniversary (UPDATED)

INXS’ Kick is a favorite around The Second Disc parts. We envisioned another deluxe reissue (after two on both sides of the Atlantic) in one of our first Reissue Theory posts, and its slinky, perfectly-crafted blend of pop, R&B and hard rock – combined with a host of non-LP material – makes it a perfect candidate for the growing trend of super-deluxe box sets.

So when such a set was first reported and then recently confirmed, you can imagine our excitement at bringing on the news to you. So what can one expect inside the 3 CD/1 DVD box, beyond the hardback book, poster and stickers previously discussed? Thanks to a few well-placed online retail sources (first reported by Slicing Up Eyeballs, to which we tip our hats), we have an answer.

First off, the good news: if you’ve ever been torn between which version to get – either Rhino’s American expansion in 2002 with four unreleased demos or Mercury U.K.’s long out-of-print 2004 deluxe set – you’re in luck. Every track from both of those versions has been reinstated for the new deluxe version. So that’s four demos, three non-LP B-sides, three dance remixes and three live cuts from an American show in 1988.

The not-as-great news? Well, it might seem like there’s not much beyond that – particularly in the way of “unheard tracks” promised by the initial news release. The bonus disc houses five tracks that didn’t appear on either edition, including non-LP tunes “Do Wot You Do” and “Different World” and edits of “New Sensation” and “Devil Inside.” The only “unheard” tracks, however, looks to be an unreleased remix of “Calling All Nations” by Nile Rodgers and a “soul version” of “Never Tear Us Apart.”

Things get better on the DVD, though, with “various band footage” accompanying performance footage from Denmark’s Midtfyns Festival and three of Kick‘s iconic promo videos. A red vinyl edition of the album and a two-disc distillation of the deluxe set have also been announced, but no details about the latter have been confirmed. All formats are due out in the U.K. only on September 17, and that full track list with annotations is after the jump.

Short Takes, International Edition: INXS Celebrates 25 Years of “Kick” Plus The Byrds Go Mono and Stereo

Welcome to the working week!  This morning’s Short Takes brings us to the U.K. for the 25th anniversary of a pop classic, and to Japan, where one of the 1960s’ greatest bands is getting the red carpet treatment!

Though we’re reluctant to rush the summer away, it sure looks like this September’s going to be a month with kick!  Kick, that is.  It appears that Universal U.K. will be giving the full, Super Deluxe treatment to Aussie band INXS’ 1987 breakthrough album.  The multi-platinum Kick yielded the band’s only American No. 1, “Need You Tonight,” and three other Top 10 tracks, and established Michael Hutchence’s group as pop hitmakers.  This marks the culmination of a story we’ve been following here at The Second Disc for over two years now.  We first posited, Reissue Theory-style, on an expanded edition back in February 2010 that could possibly improve on Universal’s 2004 Deluxe Edition.  Then, in May 2011, Universal Strategic Marketing veep Andrew Daw told Music Week that a 25^th anniversary, multi-format deluxe edition of Kick would arrive in 2012 along with an array of other INXS-related projects.  Mr. Daw is keeping true to his word, as the first details of this Super Deluxe Edition of Kick – due on September 17 in the U.K. and approximately one week later in the U.S. from Mercury Records – have been revealed.

According to an image now available at Amazon, the 3-CD/1-DVD Kick 25 set includes, on CD, the original album plus two discs of “remixes, demos, [and] unheard tracks.”  The DVD will feature a “documentary, unseen band home footage and promos.”  A hardback book will tell The Story of Kick, and a poster and sticker sheet will be among the swag.  It’s likely that this set will be distilled into other formats, as well, so be sure to watch this space for the latest developments on Kick 25 as well as news on whether Rhino, the U.S. rights holders to INXS’ catalogue, has any celebrations in the works!  In the meantime, you can pre-order the Super Deluxe Edition right here!

Our next item is for you Byrdmaniax out there!  Hit the jump to venture into the Wayback Machine for a flight – or flyte – to the sixties with The Byrds!

In Case You Missed It: INXS Release New Hits Set

You certainly wouldn’t be wrong in debating the merits of another INXS compilation on store shelves, particularly after the good job Rhino did with 2001’s double-disc Shine Like It Does: The Anthology and the breezy, single-disc The Best of INXS the next year. (The band, of course, haven’t released much new material worth covering since the tragic death of original frontman Michael Hutchence in 1997.) But in the U.K., new things are happening with the band’s catalogue – Universal Music has acquired the license to all of INXS’ albums outside the U.S. – and while great things are planned, it’s worth starting small and reminding the public of one of Australia’s best pop-rock acts of the past few decades.

With that in mind, October saw Universal release The Very Best, a new compilation both available in single-disc and deluxe two-CD/one-DVD formats. The single disc set includes all the hits you’d come to expect from an INXS hits set (“Need You Tonight,” “Original Sin,” “Never Tear Us Apart,” “Suicide Blonde,” “What You Need,” “New Sensation”) and a few you might not (“Just Keep Walking,” “Baby Don’t Cry”).

Collectors, and even those whose fandom is more than casual, are going to want to spring for the deluxe set. In addition to adding some of the more glaring omissions from the single disc version (“Don’t Change,” “The One Thing”) and a few album cuts (most from Kick), there are a few rarities and unreleased goodies to enjoy. These include “Good Times,” the band’s collaboration with former Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes that appeared on the soundtrack to The Lost Boys; four vintage live tracks and a mashup of “Need You Tonight” with an unlisted song by Gwen Stefani of No Doubt (if the proliferation of amateur remixes are any indication, it’s likely her solo hit “Hollaback Girl”). Additionally, a DVD includes a 45-minute documentary, videos and rare live performances for television.

The sets are available now and the full breakdown is after the jump.

Release Round-Up: Week of June 7

Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On: 40th Anniversary Edition (Motown/UMe)

Two CDs feature the original album and a host of rarities, single mixes, and all the best outtakes leading up to the making of this R&B classic (almost a dozen of which are unreleased). The deluxe package is rounded out by the great Detroit mix of the album on vinyl. (Check out our two-part interview with Harry Weinger on the set!) (Amazon)

Paul Simon, Paul Simon / There Goes Rhymin’ Simon / In Concert: Live Rhymin’ / Still Crazy After All These Years (Columbia/Legacy)

The Rhino reissues (plus Simon’s first live album with two unreleased tracks, which was never released when Warner reissued his catalogue) are back in print, only on Legacy instead. Plenty of worthwhile stuff if you missed it the first time around, and not a total loss thanks to Live Rhymin’. (Official site)

Frank Sinatra, Ring-a-Ding-Ding! Expanded Edition (Concord)

The Chairman’s first release for his own label, Reprise, comes out on Concord with two bonus tracks (including the unreleased “Have You Met Miss Jones?”). (Joe has a review coming up later today.) (Official site)

INXS, INXS Remastered (Universal U.K.)

A 10-disc boxset featuring straight remasters of all the band’s albums, from INXS (1980) toElegantly Wasted (1997). Don’t forget, though, that expanded reissues of some of these albums exist – and another reissue of Kick is allegedly in the works. (Official site)

Suede, Suede: Expanded Edition (Demon Music Group)

The Britpop band’s first album was reissued in the U.K. last week as a 2 CD/1 DVD package, and it’s now available on U.S. shores. The remainder of the band’s catalogue shall be expanded over the next month. (Official site)

Dean Martin, Classic Dino: The Best of Dean Martin / Dino: The Essential Dean Martin (Capitol/EMI) / Cool Then, Cool Now (Hip-O/UMe)

On the very day of Dino’s birth, three(!) compilations are released: a single-disc set, a double-disc reissue of Martin’s 2004 compilation (with an unreleased track), and another two-disc CD with book from Hip-O featuring some rarer tracks. (Official site)

Depeche Mode, Remixes 2: 81-11 (Mute)

A hefty collection of remixes old and new, including some mixes by Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder – essentially reuniting the band’s original lineup. (Official site)

Joy Division/New Order, Total: The Best of Joy Division and New Order (Rhino U.K.)

The first commercially-available compilation of both bands on one package. Outside of the one New Order track on the set, though, there isn’t much for anyone but brand new fans. (Rhino U.K.)

David Bowie, Golden Years (Digital EP) (Virgin/EMI)

Some new digital-only remixes of the Station to Station classic. (iTunes)

AC/DC, Let There Be Rock (Warner Bros.)

The DVD/Blu-Ray debut of the Aussie rockers’ 1980 concert film, shot in Paris at the end of 1979, mere months before original lead singer Bon Scott died. (Official site)

Iron Maiden, From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-2010 (EMI)

Two discs of Iron Maiden from 1990 to now, including one rare live B-side. (Official site)

Black Sabbath, Born Again: Deluxe Edition (Sanctuary/UMC U.K.)

The only Sabbath album with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan on lead vocals, this import reissue – already available in the U.K. – comes with an unreleased live show and a few outtakes. (Amazon U.K.)

Roger Waters, Roger Waters Collection (Sony Music U.K.)

Remasters of all of Roger Waters’ solo studio LPs plus the live CD/DVD set In the Flesh from 2000. Worth picking up if you’d like to catch up with all of the ex-Pink Floyd member’s solo work at once. (Official site)

Justin Bieber, My Worlds Acoustic (Island)

Nope, not making this one up! This cash-grab EP is making its debut to general retail, having been a Wal-Mart exclusive since last Christmas. (Official site)

INXS Catalogue Expansion Due in U.K. – America Needs This Tonight

There are some acts that don’t get their due even at the points one would imagine they’d have earned it. The painful loss of Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS, didn’t give the Australian pop-rockers the posthumous respect they deserved; the remaining members did that whole reality show thing and Rhino reissued a few of the band’s albums in the U.S., and that was it.

This year, however, with a new album full of guest vocalists, it’s a pretty fair-sized year for INXS. And Universal Music Group, which controls the band’s catalogue outside of America, has some ambitious plans in the works to bring the band’s catalogue back to audiences. British magazine Music Week reports that Universal is gaining the rights to all ten of the band’s studio LPs with Hutchence as lead singer – the first time all of them are under one label, Mercury Records, internationally – with intentions to reissue the albums both physically and digitally as well as provide some content from the vaults.

Among the plans discussed by Universal Strategic Marketing vice president Andrew Daw:

• Physical and digital reissues on May 30 (no Amazon listings have sprouted yet)
• A new best-of compilation in the fall of 2011, as well as a televised documentary with previously unseen footage
• A 25th anniversary, multi-format deluxe edition of Kick to be released in 2012 (of course Universal’s done a deluxe edition in the U.K. before)
• The first career-spanning box set for the band, slated for a fourth quarter 2012 release
• “Other bits and pieces,” with possible vintage live material

The question, of course remains: will U.S. fans be on the receiving end of any catalogue gold from INXS? One can only hope that Rhino will come to the same conclusion that Universal is in the U.K. – that INXS is a great, high-selling band that, for whatever reason, haven’t had a lot of catalogue respect in recent years – and rectify that in some way. Otherwise…well, at least we’ll have imports.

Short Takes: Cars on Friday, INXS Live Show and Howard Jones Tidbits

• Our friends at Friday Music have found a great way to celebrate the reunion of The Cars: a reissue of one of their albums! A straight reissue of the group’s final album for Elektra, 1987’s Door to Door, remastered by the label’s own Joe Reagoso, will be available May 10, the same day as the band’s brand-new studio album, Move Like This.
• In honor of the impending royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, INXS have released a digital album of their 1985 concert performed in honor of a visit to Australia by William’s parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Rocking the Royals: Live 1985, recorded on the eve of the band’s Listen Like Thieves tour, has been released through iTunes in Australia, New Zealand and Mexico; further releases worldwide are forthcoming. (Thanks to Slicing Up Eyeballs for the tip!)
• Those who are digging the new Howard Jones remaster box have some more bits here and there to be excited about. Jones has released another vintage remix – the U.K. 12″ version of “Look Mama” – as a free download on his Facebook page, and is spearheading ReWork, a new remix project for his catalogue. Fans can click the link in the preceding sentence and get access to the multitrack stems of “Automaton,” from the Dream Into Action LP. Jones will be listening to the remixes of fans for potential inclusion on a future compilation. If you’re handy with a remix, this might be your chance!

The track lists for The Cars’ Door to Door and the INXS live set are after the jump.

Back Tracks: INXS

As promised, today’s Back Tracks takes a look at the music and reissues of INXS in honor of its fallen frontman, Michael Hutchence, who died 13 years ago yesterday. Don’t change after the jump.

Reissue Theory: Max Q

This is an unusual segue for today’s Reissue Theory, so please bear with me: Miss Disc recently lost a family member – one who knew well of my own passion for keeping catalogue music discussion alive. In an odd way, moments like these help put things in perspective; we all slump our shoulders in defeat when a catalogue title is delayed or mishandled, because it sucks. But at the end of the day, all of this – from the labels conceiving and releasing product to sites like The Second Disc or MusicTAP or Slicing Up Eyeballs discussing it – is about the love of music. These songs bind us, strengthen us and heal us in times of trouble. So we dedicate this post – which involves a musician also gone too soon – to anyone who needs strength through whatever life throws our way. May you find what you need – ideally, through a song or two.

Today’s Reissue Theory revisits one of the more interesting side projects in the long history of INXS. Following the success of the worldwide smash Kick (1987), the band took a short break to stretch their legs outside of the confines of the band. Michael Hutchence, the charismatic frontman, made one of the most high-profile but unusual steps in the business: the band known as Max Q. Hutchence could have collaborated with anyone, given his star status, but he made the more interesting decision to collaborate with friends in the Australian music scene. He primarily turned to Ollie Olsen, a prominent Australian musician best known for his work in Aussie alternative and post-punk bands like Whirlywirld, Orchestra of Skin and Bone and NO. Both were supporters of the “little band” scene in Melbourne (a wave of post-punk music that also, in a roundabout way, spun off bands like Dead Can Dance and Hunters & Collectors) and had collaborated on the soundtrack to the film Dogs in Space (1986), a fictional tribute to the scene.

The Max Q project – featuring Hutchence and Olsen backed by local post-punk rockers (including members of Orchestra of Skin and Bone and NO) – was a very different animal from INXS. It was rougher-edged, with surprisingly political lyrics and a bit of a dance-punk sound. (It was pretty well-mixed in its own right by up-and-coming house remixer Todd Terry.) The success of Kick ensured its release on a major label, but despite a positive response from critics, it was not a critical success. (Blame the mixed-up promotion for the record, hampered by a lack of live dates by the band.) While Hutchence and Olsen never collaborated on record after Max Q, fans have determined small sonic nods to the band in subsequent INXS records.

We have discussed the less-than-perfect state of INXS’ catalogue on The Second Disc in the past, but the Max Q LP has actually never been reissued past its original release. It would certainly be a heck of a neat thing for a smaller label to license, and such a release could include all the non-LP remixes commissioned for the two or three singles from the set. Take a look at what could be after the jump.