"Searching" is the fourth single from the album '' Elegantly Wasted'' by

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

. It was never officially released although scheduled for the UK market. The song was written by

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...

and

Andrew Farriss Andrew Charles Farriss (born 27 March 1959) is an Australian rock musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist, backing vocalist, and main composer for rock band INXS. Farriss released his debut studio album in 2021. Care ...

and recorded by the band in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

during the summer of 1996. It is also the final single to feature original lead vocalist Michael Hutchence, who died two months after the song was released.

Trivia

The song was previewed several months before the album's release in September 1996 at the Australian

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

. Due to record company red tape, "Searching", the scheduled third single from ''Elegantly Wasted'', was never commercially released. According to a

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

spokesman, a minimal quantity of around 2,000 copies of each disc were pressed for promotional purposes, but upon the single's retraction all available copies were destroyed. Inevitably, a relatively small and unknown quantity of the discs had already been circulated thus making the singles very attractive collector’s items – especially as a complete set. However, most of the actual recordings and remixes have since appeared elsewhere on other promo items.http://www.inxs.com/UK_corres_april2000.asp

B-sides

As well as the new mixes of "Searching", the CD Singles included further live tracks from the

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

show and two Acoustic performances at

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

of "I'm Just a Man" and "

Never Tear Us Apart "Never Tear Us Apart" is a song by Australian rock band INXS, released in August 1988 as the fourth single from their sixth studio album, ''Kick''. Background and composition The music was written by keyboardist Andrew Farriss, who recorded a ...

Video

The video for "Searching" was directed by longtime collaborator

Nick Egan Nick Egan (born 4 July 1957 in London, England) is a visual design artist and director of music videos, commercials and film. He graduated from the Watford College of Art and Design with a DGA in 1976. While attending college, he created cover ...

and was the last the band worked on before Hutchence's death. "Searching" was shot in San Francisco at the end of July 1997 and was unusually set to the 'Leadstation Radio Mix' of the song, not the album version. The narrative of the video is of the band "Searching" the streets for the girl who appears on the front cover of the 'Elegantly Wasted' album, video and single.

Track listings

CD Promo – MECP319 – Mercury/US # Searching (Leadstation Radio Mix) # Searching (LP version) CD Promo – INXCJ30 – Mercury/UK # Searching (Leadstation Radio Mix) # Searching (LP version) CD5 – INXCD30 – Mercury/UK (withdrawn) # Searching (Leadstation Radio Mix) # Searching (LP version) # Searching (Alex Reece Drum and Bass Mix) # Searching (Linslee Campbell R&B Mix) CD5 – INXD30 – Mercury/UK (withdrawn) # Searching (Leadstation Funk Workout) # Searching (Live in Aspen '97) # Elegantly Wasted (Live in Aspen '97) # Need You Tonight (Live in Aspen '97) CD5 – INXDD30 – Mercury/UK (withdrawn) # Searching (Leadstation Main Mix) # Searching (Bosch Mix) # I'm Just a Man (acoustic live – Radio One, 20 May 1997) # Never Tear Us Apart (acoustic live – Radio One, 20 May 1997)

References

1997 singles INXS songs Songs written by Andrew Farriss Songs written by Michael Hutchence Song recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn 1997 songs Mercury Records singles {{1990s-rock-song-stub