Michael Hutchence

Leading up to the release of 'Listen Like Thieves' in 1985 there was a lot of indecision on the final tracks to make the album.  Manager Chris Murphy was convinced 'This Time' would be the single to take INXS to the next level in USA, whereas legendary producer Chris Thomas was convinced it wasn't a hit.  

Chris Thomas told the band they needed one more song, and the band found a tape of 'What You Need' which was then added at the last minute to the final album!  Luckily the band listened to Chris Thomas as 'This Time' only made it to #81 on the USA charts, whereas 'What You Need' went top 5 which cracked INXS in the States.

Here is an early Test Pressing of Listen Like Thieves given to me by Perry Cooper (Former Vice President Of Atlantic Records).  As you can see the tracklisting is totally different to the final version!  With 2 titles 'DLT' and 'Tell Me' not included on the final album, instead replaced by 'Same Direction' and 'Three Sisters'.  'Kiss The Dirt' is also just titled 'Falling Down The Mountain'.  

To promote 'Dogs in Space' a number of different merchandise items were sold at the cinemas and record stores in 1986/87.  T-shirts were sold, but some of the rarer items included metal badges, beltbuckles, posters and cards.

Long before Banksy stencil style graffiti, 'Dogs in Space' stencils were used to paint 'Dogs in Space' logo's all around Sydney and Melbourne.  I still remember growing up in Melbourne seeing the logos on walls all around Camberwell and Richmond! 

Some punk bands had used this form of advertising in the late 70's / early 80's, or advertising on footpaths as seen in the movie with Dogs in Space painted on the street outside the house.

A crazy publicity stunt at the time was by radio station 2JJJ asking owners of VWs to call the station for a double pass, $20 and a Dogs in Space stencil for their car!  Everyone in Dogs in Space seemed to drive a VW!

Dogs in Space DVD-release t-shirts are still on sale from Umbrella Entertainment, slightly different and the colar not as punk looking as the original 1980's t-shirts but still cool…

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/Product/ViewMerchandise/All/1

The INXS Platinum iTunes-only album featuring 42 tracks performed by Michael Hutchence is no.1 for a 2nd week on the ARIA Digital Album Chart. 

The album also remains at #21 this week on the combined ARIA album chart.