Suicide Blonde

"Suicide Blonde"
Single by INXS
from the album X
B-side "Everybody Wants U Tonight"
Released 25 September 1990 (1990-09-25)
Format 7" single, 12" maxi, CD maxi
Genre Alternative rock, Power pop
Length 3:53
Label Mercury, XPRO
Writer(s) Andrew Farriss
Michael Hutchence
Producer Chris Thomas
Certification Gold (RIAA)
INXS singles chronology
"Mystify"
(1989)		 "Suicide Blonde"
(1990)		 "Disappear"
(1990)

"Suicide Blonde" is the title of the first single from the INXS album X. It reached the top 10 on the US Hot 100 (#9) and Australia in 1990 and reached a peak of #11 in the UK.

Contents

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 in 1989. The 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 while 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's drums show the influence of dance music especially the acid house sounds popular in the UK. Similarly, the blues harp intro on the track, performed by Charlie Musselwhite, was sampled rather than recorded live.

The track became poignant after Hutchence committed suicide on 22 November 1997, and his lover Paula Yates died of an overdose on 17 September 2000, after attempting suicide in 1998. Kym Wilson (with her then boyfriend Andrew Reyment the last people to see Michael alive) also became known as the "Suicide Blonde" in the tabloids.

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 modern rock and mainstream rock charts. A dance remix of the track received wide airplay on US top 40 stations, reaching the top 10 of the dance chart. In the UK, the track reached a peak of #11 while it reached #3 in their homeland of Australia1 and #1 in Canada.

Cover versions

A jazz cover of the song by Urselle was included on the 2006 compilation Jazz and '90s.

Trivia

Ferguson Darling is heard singing the title of this song on the Clarissa Explains It All episode Clarissa News Network.

Track listings

7" single 
Mercury / INXS 14 (UK)
  1. "Suicide Blonde [7" mix]"—3:53
  2. "Everybody Wants U Tonight"—5:09
12" maxi 
Mercury / INXS 1412 (UK)
  1. "Suicide Blonde [devastation mix]"—6:19
  2. "Suicide Blonde [milk mix]"—5:40
  3. "Everybody Wants U Tonight"—5:09
CD single 
Mercury / INXCD 14 (UK)
  1. "Suicide Blonde [demolition mix]"—6.53
  2. "Suicide Blonde [7" NIK mix]"
  3. "Everybody Wants U Tonight"—5:09
CD maxi 
Atlantis
  1. "Suicide Blonde" (7" mix)—3:54
  2. "Suicide Blonde" (earth mix)—5:39
  3. "Suicide Blonde" (devastation mix)—6:19
  4. "Suicide Blonde" (milk mix)—5:40
  5. "Suicide Blonde" (demolition mix)—6:53
  6. "Everybody Wants U Tonight"—5:09

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[1] 2
Austrian Singles Chart[1] 24
Canadian Singles Chart 3
Dutch Top 40[2] 5
French SNEP Singles Chart[1] 23
German Singles Chart[3] 23
Irish Singles Chart[4] 3
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[1] 1
Swedish Singles Chart[1] 16
Swiss Singles Chart[1] 11
UK Singles Chart[5] 11
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 9
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[6] 25
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[6] 1
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[6] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1990) Position
Australian Singles Chart[7] 42
Dutch Top 40[2] 55

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Suicide Blonde", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  2. ^ a b "Single top 100 over 1990" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201990.pdf. Retrieved 12 April 2010. 
  3. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  4. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  5. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  6. ^ a b c d Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved 17 September 2008)
  7. ^ 1990 Australian Singles Chart. aria.com. Retrieved 17 September 2008.

(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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