Rave: Ten songs about love (part 2)

• Eppu Normaali, Joka Päivä ja Joka Ikinen Yö--Because my hat is off to anyone who will drink poison for an unrequited love, and sound cheerful about it. I'm not sure it's healthy, but at least the guy recognises his shyness is his own fault.
• INXS, Afterglow--Because this song manages to be sad and triumphant all at the same time, and thinking the love was worth the loss is pretty damn special.
• Foo Fighters, Everlong--Dark, adolescent, and creepy, and the way everyone should feel this way at least once.
  

Retrospective rave: And the winner is... me: A note to INXS

People get engaged in all kinds of situations; many of them go away somewhere, some have a nice dinner, some get their engagement ring with another gift (famously, my uncle was too shy to actually ask my aunt, so he gave her a tiger soft toy with a ring on his tail).

Not me. I got engaged at a rock concert, which though it might sound a little unusual, was absolutely perfect. INXS were the background music to my proposal (with Afterglow), and they will be the background music to the signing of the register (which is of course, the legal part of getting married).

My fiance is my partner in crime, the person who makes me laugh the most, my best friend, the stability in my life and (as you can see below) my cat's favourite person in the world. He knows me so well he chose the time I had mentally picked out to propose to me, and we have been together through illness, surgery, financial difficulty, buying a house and an international move, and nonetheless we want each other more than anything else in the world (except maybe the cat). I am truly a winner, and without the history of INXS in our relationship, that winning would not be quite so sweet.

Rave: I love Melbourne

As some of you might know (hah, like anyone is reading this anyway) I recently moved to Melbourne. Now, I was kind of worried, because everyone I talked to (apart from Martin, who is living here and can't have the kind of life he can have at home) told me I was going to love Melbourne, and always exactly like that, with the emphasis on the word love. Normally when something is talked up up to me like that, I find whatever it is a disappointment.

Well, today I realised how much I really, truly love this adopted city of mine. I walked out the door, and it was foggy, and I thought "oh hey, it's foggy. Cool!". Those of you who lived with me before, or indeed know anything about my previous home city will know that it is notorious for fog. Anyone who lived there with me will know that my reaction to the fog was anything but "Cool!". It's true. I love Melbourne so much, I even love the fog.

Loving Melbourne as much as I do has made me realise that I never really settled in to my previous home. I loved the people there, and I was in many ways loath to leave, but I was always disenchanted with the city itself. It was muddy in the winter, and humid in the summer. The winter fog often did not lift. The terminal rain in winter really slayed me. I lived in that town for ten years, and it was never really home -- there was no loyalty, and no love lost.

I've been in Melbourne six months. It really shouldn't be that different to where I was before. In some ways, relying on public transport, and living in rented accommodation, and having fewer friends, I should find it more difficult here. There are no mountains here. And yet... I love Melbourne, even on foggy days. Here there are concerts, and art galleries showing things that interest me, and local artist markets and loads of good cafes within walking distance of where I work and live and there is public transport, and it doesn't rain for days on end. Here I saw a band that I thought were cool back when I first heard their song while I was living at home, and who I never thought I would see (Eskimo Joe), and they were awesome. Here I saw a band I fell in love with on TV (INXS), again, and they were awesome, again, and I will never forget the concert (but that is a whole other story). Here I saw the guy from Black Books -- and if it weren't for my workmate I wouldn't even have known he was coming. Here, if I had a radio, I would hear Placebo played (and with a station like Triple J, we must do something about a radio). I will always associate Livin' by the Day by Dilana with getting used to here, and it is one of my favourite songs.

None of that would make a difference, though when my many of my friends and none of my family are here, if it weren't for one thing: Melbourne was a choice -- and a good one at that.

Rave: And the winner is...JD Fotune

INXS rocked. JD was awesome. You know, when they said he won I was sure they had made a mistake. Not anymore. The guy is a consummate showman who can hold a crowd of 3000 people in small town New Zealand rapt for hours on end. And let's face it, with the older generation coming out in droves, and being very skeptical of this person who won a reality TV show, New Plymouth was a tough crowd.

JD, I apologise, I was wrong about you.

Rave: Pretty Vegas

As much as I would have liked to see Mig win Rockstar:INXS, and as much as I thought Marty would have been a better choice in some ways, I can see why INXS chose JD. I don't think he should have been able to claim it as an original song during the competition, but whatever, I wasn't the boss, and he was able to present to INXS the one, compelling, inalienable reason why they should choose him.

That reason is Pretty Vegas. It is half written by INXS, so it sounds like their music, but it is a thousand times more exciting than that revolting bit of drivel called Easy they had JD sing as their first song as a whole band (a whole new band? perhaps). I also like it more than Us, which JD butchered during the series because he couldn't be bothered learning it before he went into the studio -- like the Pretty Vegas gamble, that paid off for him.

Being as Pretty Vegas is a joint effort, written for the magic of television (yeah, I know, I am piushing it to call realtiy TV magic), it would have become legally problematic had INXS not chosen JD as their new lead singer. There is a certain element of voicework, too -- I think his voice is better suited than Marty's to INXS's work (though I am not sure I could say the same thing with regarrd to Mig's voice); and JD is more likely than either of them to draw one of the bigger groups of music consumers -- teenage girls. JD also seemed more likely to be willing to bend to the will of INXS than the other two. In the end, though, Pretty Vegas was a deal clinhcer.

And why not? Pretty Vegas is a cool song. It bounces along apace, but has enough of a darker side to it to differentiate it from the "happy rock" that mainstream radio stations here seem so enamoured of. The well rehearsed INXS riff contrasts quite appealingly with JD's fresh vcoice and lyrics. And the megaphone and the attitude just add that little extra something to thwe whole thing. If I was already a millionaire, I'd sell my future for a song like Pretty Vegas too.

Rave: Rockstar:INXS

I feel the need to write something (anything) in support of Rockstar:INXS. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the very hot Dave Navarro (and my other little obsession, Brian Molko, thinks he's hot too), but I am totally, utterly hooked on the show.


Now, I will admit to being a bit of a reality TV junkie; I am a fan of The Apprentice and The Amazing Race, but normally anything to do with music makes me want to deafen myself with the nearest skewer. NZ Idol, in particular, is the lowest kind of dross that approves of barely disguised hiphop and painful sounding vocal gymnastics while reviling a good rock performance whereever it may be found.

I hadn't planned on watching Rockstar. I had actively planned on not watching it, in fact. But, some friend of mine had their second baby the day it started showing here. I was babysitting their first, and waiting for the Dad to get home from the hospital. There was a TV guide on the table, and I foolishly read the article about the show, decided Dave Navarro was compelling (but not hot at that stage), and foolishly didn't change channel when the show came on. Now I am completely and irrevocably hooked. Even though the show is three nights a week, even though NZ for some reason is getting the show two weeks behind the civilised world and therefore can't vote, even though some of the so-called rockers irritate the snot out of me. I live for the nights it is on, and spend the other four nights a week wishing it was on. I've never felt this way about a TV show before.

Why do I like it? I love the music, and I love the fact that it is not butchered (generally speaking) by the rockers -- they are true professionals, not Joe-Schmo off the street. Dave Navarro is hot. The little guy from INXS who plays the bass is too cute for words. The show does not focus on the backbiting jealousies of the individual rockers (in fact, as far as I can tell apart from JD pissing nearly everyone off, there aren't any), but rather on their development as stars. And there are some genuinely likeable people on it (Mig Ayesa, if you're reading this, I am talking about you).


None of that, however, makes my absolute love of the show defensible from any sane person's standpoint. I've thought a lot about the show and why I don't feel like it is a sellout for INXS, and why I find it in any way bearable. I think it is a great thing for INXS to do. It has been eight years since Michael Hutchence died, and in that time INXS has sung with a number of people and not found a new lead singer.

This is not a show they have done right off the bat -- it has been in consideration for three years leading up to production. INXS wanted to find the very best person for the job, and they wanted to hear who the public thought was that person too. I don't see how they can do that without a TV show. And yet, INXS have maintained the ultimate creative control -- they make the decisions, not the public. The rockers are also very much in training to be rock stars, each week they do something that will be useful for them in any future rock career, and for the person who is the most right for INXS mean that INXS doesn't have to teach them all that stuff. They are not looking for an idol-type singer, they're looking for someone who can play an instrument and write songs, who can really contribute. And I think they are looking for someone to help move them forward; they responded well to a rocker who decided to take things in their own direction, and then explained that they could not and would not subvert their own personality to INXS.

INXS is not going to be the same animal it was when Michael Hutchence was the lead singer, that much is certain. But what is also rapidly becoming clear, is that INXS accept that, and just want the best new person for the job -- and it is also certain that they will be getting someone very talented indeed. In fact, unless there are weird contractual obligations, I have no doubt we will be hearing from most of the final six or seven regardless of who wins.

In the end, this is the only way INXS could attract talented people and get public input. They are genuinely seeking a new lead singer with a personality. They have maintained creative control over the final choice -- and have exercised it in getting rid of two people in a single show when they felt neither was good enough. And let's face it -- this isn't reality TV; there will be no sequel, and the prize is not a million dollars and go back to your normal life -- the prize is a job, and respect that the person who gets the job will have to earn. Reality TV always makes things way too easy. This is real TV. And I love it.