In my latest fit of cleaning and shifting furniture (go figure, it actually made my lower back feel better to push furniture around!), I came across a tape in my cassette player...since I have it on CD, I popped the CD in for a listen. It took me back to a time when my life seemed much more simple and so much more fun.

I remember the first time I heard INXS. MTV showed their video (yes, kids, Once Upon a Time, MTV actually showed music videos!) for "The One Thing" in the early 1980's and I immediately went to Tower Records to get my own copy of Shabooh Shoobah. With a steady foundation of rock and roll, the album was infused with glam, reggae, blues...and sex. Lots of sex. But very subtly done...not in your face like so many of those god-awful "hair" bands of the 80's.

Michael Hutchence quite possibly was the sexiest man ever to roam our planet. His sexiness seemed effortless...he just was sex. It was in the way he looked, the way he sang, the way he spoke, the way he moved.

He was the one guy that I could have fun lusting over with my girl friends and my gay male friends. Even my hetero male friends could acknowledge Michael's sexiness without compromising their own sexuality.

But I don't want to take away from the rest of the band, who are all incredibly talented musicians and song writers, and who have had to try to put the pieces back together after Michael's very tragic death in late 1997 (my stars, has it really been almost seven years?).

It looks like they're ready to start the next chapter in their history, by having their search for a new singer be a reality TV show (presumably shown in their native Australia, but not sure if it'll be shown in the States).

Obviously, there's no replacing Michael Hutchence. But, then, this band was not all about Michael Hutchence, either. These guys deserve a fresh start and I look forward to hearing new music from them soon. But, in the meantime, I'm quite enjoying visiting "old friends" like Listen Like Thieves, Kick and Shabooh Shoobah.