"The Stairs" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by INXS | ||||
from the album Live Baby Live | ||||
Released | 1 November 1991 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1989–90 (album version) 1991 (live) | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 4:56 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Michael Hutchence, Andrew Farriss | |||
Producer(s) | Chris Thomas | |||
INXS singles chronology | ||||
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"The Stairs" is a song by Australian rock band INXS that was released on its 1990 studio album X . A live performance of "The Stairs" from the band's July 13, 1991 concert at Wembley Stadium [2] was released in the Netherlands as a limited edition single in November 1991. [3] [2] Its release coincided with the release of the Live Baby Live album.[ citation needed ] The song was written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence. [2]
Hutchence asserted that "The Stairs" was the most ambitious song he had ever written. [2] Farris spoke about the track in an interview with Spin in 1990, explaining that the song "deals with people in highly urbanized environments not communicating. We should have town squares like they used to have where people go to these little socially instituted environments where it's fashionable. Personally, I don't think fashion and trends are really going to solve the world's problems." [4]
The song was used by CBS-TV over the closing credits at the end of their broadcast coverage of the 1994 Winter Olympics. [4] A re-recorded version of the song was released on the 2010 INXS album Original Sin with J.D. Fortune as lead singer. [5]
The B-sides to the single are the studio version of "The Stairs" from the X album [3] and "The One Thing (Live)" from the Live Baby Live album.[ citation needed ]
Tracks:
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the co-founder, lead singer, and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 million records worldwide and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.
INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For 20 years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.
Kick is the sixth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 19 October 1987 through WEA in Australia, Mercury Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The album was produced by British producer Chris Thomas, recorded by David Nicholas in Sydney and Paris and mixed by Bob Clearmountain at Air Studios in London.
Garry William Beers, known as Garry Gary Beers, is an Australian musician and was the bass guitarist for the rock group INXS.
Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, which was released on 3 August 1992. With grunge and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more "raw" sound to their music. In its four star review of the album, Q called it "... a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory ... It rocks," and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992. It was the first album by an Australian artist to debut on the UK album chart at number one since AC/DC's Back in Black, released in 1980.
Elegantly Wasted is the tenth studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 15 April 1997, and is the final album recorded with lead singer Michael Hutchence before his death in November that same year.
X is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 25 September 1990 through WEA in Australia, Mercury Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear". Both singles were later used in the soundtrack to the 1991 American teen comedy Mystery Date. Two other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success. A fifth single, "The Stairs", was only issued in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Live Baby Live album.
Live Baby Live is the first live album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 11 November 1991 and features tracks recorded during their Summer XS Tour in Paris, New York, Chicago, London, Dublin, Glasgow, Rio de Janeiro, Montreal, Spain, Switzerland, Melbourne, Sydney, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas. The album peaked in the top 10 on both the Australian and United Kingdom albums charts. It has sold over one million copies in the United States, earning a platinum certification by the RIAA. A single, "Shining Star", was released from and ahead of the album on 21 October. It became the group's ninth Top 40 single on the UK Singles Chart, but failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, despite reaching the top 20 of the rock charts.
Shabooh Shoobah is the third studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 13 October 1982. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 94 weeks. It was the band's first album to be released worldwide and appeared on the United States Billboard 200 and on the Hot Pop Albums Chart. The album spawned four singles, "The One Thing", "Don't Change", "To Look at You" and "Black and White". It was produced by Mark Opitz for WEA Australia with most tracks written by band members Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence.
Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979–1997) is a greatest hits compilation released by Australian rock band INXS on 5 June 2001. It features most of their singles, some remixes, and rare tracks heard for the first time on CD. To date, the album has sold 35,000 copies in the US.
Stay Young 1979–1982 or Stay Young 1979–1982: The Complete 'Deluxe Years' is a two disc compilation by Australian rock group INXS's earlier works, when they were signed to the Deluxe label. It features their first two studio albums, INXS and Underneath the Colours, along with associated b-sides "We Are the Vegetables", "Scratch", "The Unloved One", "Lacavocal" and "Prehistoria".
The Years 1979–1997 is a greatest hits compilation released by Australian rock band INXS on 10 December 2002. It is roughly the Australian equivalent of the American double-disc retrospective, Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979–1997), although it substitutes out several tracks that appeared on the American compilation in favor of later tracks like "By My Side" and "Baby Don't Cry" and full-length versions of many songs that only appeared in their single versions on the American release. This album also includes two previously unreleased tracks, which were not featured on Shine Like It Does.
Jason Dean Bennison, better known by his stage name J.D. Fortune, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was the frontman of the Australian rock band INXS for six years after winning the first season of the CBS reality television series Rock Star: INXS; in 2005, replacing its late lead singer Michael Hutchence. After the show, Fortune fronted INXS through an extended 2+1⁄2-year world tour supporting the release of the album Switch, INXS's first studio album with Fortune, and the only album with new INXS material after Hutchence's death.
"Suicide Blonde" is the lead single from Australian rock band INXS's seventh studio album, X (1990). It was released on 22 August 1990 in the United States and on 3 September 1990 in the United Kingdom. The song reached number two in Australia, number nine in the United States, and number 11 in the United Kingdom. In Canada and New Zealand, the single peaked at number one for two and three weeks, respectively. At the APRA Music Awards of 1991, "Suicide Blonde" won the award Most Performed Australian Work Overseas.
Jonathan James Farriss is an Australian drummer and founding member of rock band INXS.
"Mediate" is a song by INXS from their 1987 album, Kick. On the album, the song segues from their big hit single, "Need You Tonight." The song has the distinction of having almost every line rhyme with the word "ate".
"Shining Star" is a song by Australian rock band INXS, released as the only single issued from the band's first live album, Live Baby Live (1991), on 21 October 1991. It is the one new studio track recorded for the album. Upon the song's release, it peaked at No. 21 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, No. 27 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's ninth top-40 single in the latter country. In the United States, it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 14 on the Album Rock Tracks chart.
"The One Thing" is a song by Australian rock group INXS, released in July 1982 as the first single ahead of their third studio album, Shabooh Shoobah, which appeared in October that year.
"Bitter Tears" is a song by Australian rock band INXS, released as the third Australian and fourth UK single from their seventh studio album, X (1990). The song was written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence as part of the sessions for the X album. It peaked at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart and number 36 in Australia. The single was released to coincide with the band headlining the SummerXS concert at Wembley Stadium in July 1991, as documented in the Live Baby Live DVD.
Original Sin is the twelfth and final studio album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released on physical media on 16 November 2010 by Epic Records, Atco Records and Polydor after having been released digitally on 28 October 2010. Original Sin features covers of their earlier songs, with each song featuring a guest singer. J.D. Fortune, who was the winner of the Rock Star: INXS competition and featured on the band's previous album Switch, performed lead vocals for the 1990 track "The Stairs", being the last contribution from Fortune before his departure in 2011.