I Know That Song! The Rough Road Of Australia's Most Famous Front Man

Hi there, we're Stacey & Mike and if you love music like we do, catch I Know That Song! Weekday mornings at 7:10. Some little known facts and tidbits about some of the biggest songs we play on K103.

Today's song was the second single from the album ‘Kick’, which was the one that elevated this group to international stardom. Their previous five albums made them household names in their native Australia, but in the rest of the world they were mainly known for the song "What You Need" from their previous album, ‘Listen Like Thieves’. 

The first single, "Need You Tonight," took off, climbing to #1 in January 1988, four months after the album was released. That song cleared a path for today’s song, which was warmly welcomed on radio and MTV. It rose to a peak #2 position that year, behind "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" by Billy Ocean. 

The video was directed by Joel Schumacher, an A-list director whose films include St. Elmo's Fire and Falling Down. He also did a vampire movie called The Lost Boys that was released in 1987 and featured two songs from this band.

In August 1992, Helena Christensen and this band’s front man were walking late at night on a street in Copenhagen after drinking heavily when he refused to move for a taxi.

The taxi driver then assaulted him, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the roadway. The singer suffered a fractured skull in the altercation and did not immediately seek medical assistance for the injury, instead waiting several days before seeing a doctor. 

As a result, his fractured skull left him with an almost complete loss of the sense of smell and significant loss of taste. This injury led to periods of depression and increased levels of aggression, and according to a bandmate, the singer brandished a knife and threatened to kill him in 1993. He recalled, "Over those six weeks, [he] threatened or physically confronted nearly every member of the band."

Things didn’t improve for this talented but troubled front man: Four years later, on the morning of 22 November 1997, he was found dead in his hotel room in Sydney, Australia. His death was reported by the New South Wales Coroner to be the result of suicide by hanging at age 37. 

RIP Michael Hutchence. It's INXS, Devil Inside. I Know That Song!


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