| "What You Need" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover art for US and UK editions, also used for the worldwide 12-inch vinyl Extended Mix maxi-single | ||||
| Single byINXS | ||||
| from the albumListen Like Thieves | ||||
| B-side | "Sweet as Sin" | |||
| Released | 26 August 1985 (AUS)[1] 1986 (US) | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:35 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Chris Thomas | |||
| INXS singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"What You Need" is a song recorded by the Australian bandINXS, from their 1985 albumListen Like Thieves. "What You Need" was the lead single off the album in Australia and New Zealand, while in the US and Europe it was the second single after "This Time". "What You Need" was the band's first American Top Ten hit, peaking at number 5 on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart.
After the albumListen Like Thieves was recorded and ready to be given to the record label for inspection, producerChris Thomas was worried that the album didn't have a "hit". As Andrew Farriss recalled in a 2005 interview; "'What You Need' is another example of a huge hit that essentially took no time at all. We'd already finished theListen Like Thieves album but Chris Thomas (the producer) told us there was still no 'hit'. We left the studio that night knowing we had one day left and we had to deliver 'a hit'. Talk about pressure. The band's performance on that track is amazing. We absolutely nailed it."[4]
A remixed version of "What You Need" was featured in the soundtrack of sports video gameFIFA Football 2005.[5]
The music video for the song was created using an animation technique known asrotoscope. At theCountdown Music and Video Awards for 1985, the award for Best Video for "What You Need" by INXS was shared byRichard Lowenstein andLynn-Maree Milburn.[6][7]
UK 7-inch INXS 12
UK 12-inch single INXS 512
Weekly charts[edit]
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The funk-rock of 'What You Need' helped the band get noticed in the US, so that sound informed the most part of the following 1987 album.
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