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Cover of The Swing by INXS
Cover: The Swing

Song · INXS

“I Send a Message” by INXS

From the album The Swing (1984)

“I Send a Message” by INXS appears on 21 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1984 and 2023. It was first released in 1984 on the album The Swing. Its best result is #9 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #9 alternative song of 1984, #1,714 alternative song of all time and #237 of the '80s.

21countdowns
9stations
#9best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
1984–2023years charted

Watch

INXS - I Send A Message

Video from YouTube (INXS Videos). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"I Send a Message" came off The Swing, INXS's fourth album, in 1984, the second single from it and the sound of an Australian rock band learning to work a dance floor. Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence wrote it, and Nick Launay handled it top to bottom, producing, engineering and mixing, packing the track with a jittery, pumping beat for Hutchence to bark over in clipped bursts. Cash Box heard it the same way at the time, singling out the frantic rhythm and the choppy vocal and hearing a dance record with real muscle.

The video took the band to Tokyo, where Yamamoto San shot it at the city's oldest Buddhist temple, and back home the song was up for Best Australian Single at the 1984 Countdown Music Awards.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1984 34 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984 106
1984 9 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984 91
1984 9 WOXY 97X Cincinnati, OH WOXY Top 10 Songs of 1984 10

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 452 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1988 192 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) 200
1989 254 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 186 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 199 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1996 298 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1998 363 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 977 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 1567 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1567 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1567 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1562 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 698 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1566 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 620 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1566 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1564 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2023 531 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850

Also listed as: I Send A Message.

Charting alongside it in 1984

Best songs of 1984 →
  1. 1Two TribesFrankie Goes to Hollywood
  2. 2Pride (In the Name of Love)U2
  3. 3RelaxFrankie Goes to Hollywood
  4. 4The Wild BoysDuran Duran
  5. 5The Killing MoonEcho and the Bunnymen
  6. 6TendernessGeneral Public

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