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Cover of Kick by INXS
Cover: Kick

Song · INXS

“New Sensation” by INXS

From the album Kick (1987)

“New Sensation” by INXS appears on 43 radio countdowns from 17 stations between 1987 and 2025. It was first released in 1987 on the album Kick. Its best result is #6 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #70 alternative song of 1988, #506 alternative song of all time and #151 of the '80s.

43countdowns
17stations
#6best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1987–2025years charted

Watch

INXS - New Sensation (Official Music Video)

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

"New Sensation" came off Kick, INXS's sixth studio album, from 1987, and it's the record's party anthem: Andrew Farriss wrote the music, Michael Hutchence wrote words about the good life lived loudly, and the whole band sounds like it's already halfway out the door to the club. Britain got it as a single on 29 December 1987, and the rest of the world the next year.

Chris Thomas produced it, David Nicholas engineered it and Bob Clearmountain mixed it, and the sound is pure muscle and gloss: a stuttering, funk-tight guitar riff, drums that punch straight through the speakers, and Kirk Pengilly's saxophone solo tearing through the middle like a guest who won't leave. Hutchence plays it cocky and loose, and he's got every reason to.

It went to number 1 in Canada and number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and its opening words later gave the band's 1991 live album, Live Baby Live, its name. Richard Lowenstein filmed the video on the roof of Prague's Municipal House.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1987 26 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987 99
1988 80 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1988 100
1988 6 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988 30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 81 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1989 292 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 271 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 287 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1992 244 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 480 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 305 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 235 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 334 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1999 170 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 201 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 205 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 679 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 393 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 1090 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 122 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 1092 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1099 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 184 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2002 1098 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 901 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1083 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 1316 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1083 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 228 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 1083 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 612 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 594 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 612 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 631 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 651 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 678 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 695 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2016 287 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2018 44 Triple M Triple M Ozzest 100 (2018) 100
2021 389 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 811 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2022 310 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2023 403 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2025 290 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800

Charting alongside it in 1988

Best songs of 1988 →
  1. 1SuedeheadMorrissey
  2. 2DesireU2
  3. 3Beds are BurningMidnight Oil
  4. 4Route 66Depeche Mode
  5. 5Peek-A-BooSiouxsie and the Banshees
  6. 6Chains of LoveErasure

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