Good Times (From "The Lost Boys")

Good Times: INXS, Jimmy Barnes, and The Lost Boys Soundtrack

INXS & Jimmy Barnes released "Good Times" in June 1987 as part of the soundtrack to the Joel Schumacher vampire film The Lost Boys. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 20, 1987, entering at number 95, and spent 13 weeks on the chart, reaching a peak of number 47 on August 1, 1987. The Atlantic Records release brought together two of Australia's biggest rock acts in a collaboration that had genuine commercial logic behind it and produced one of the more energetic recordings either act would release during the decade.

INXS was at the peak of their commercial power in 1987. Their album Kick, released in October of that year, would become one of the best-selling records of the late 1980s globally, and the band was already established as a major international act on the strength of albums like Listen Like Thieves (1985) and The Swing (1984). Lead vocalist Michael Hutchence had developed into one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock, and the band's combination of dance-rock energy with sophisticated songwriting had placed them at the center of the 1980s mainstream rock conversation.

Jimmy Barnes was the lead vocalist of Cold Chisel, one of the defining bands of Australian rock music, and had established a solo career that was enormously successful within Australia. His rough, raw vocal style was a direct contrast to Hutchence's smoother, more polished approach, and the combination of the two voices on "Good Times" created a sonic tension that gave the record much of its energy. Barnes brought a pub-rock intensity that grounded the track's more commercially polished elements.

The song "Good Times" was originally recorded by Easybeats, the Australian band that had achieved international success in the mid-1960s with "Friday on My Mind." Written by Harry Vanda and George Young (members of the Easybeats and later prolific producers), the song had been part of the Australian rock canon for two decades when INXS and Barnes recorded it. The choice of material connected the 1987 recording to a specifically Australian lineage, even as it was packaged for international distribution through a Hollywood soundtrack.

Harry Vanda and George Young were also the producers of the 1987 recording, which gave the project an unusual degree of historical continuity. Vanda and Young had gone on from their Easybeats days to produce AC/DC's early recordings and to work extensively with John Paul Young and other Australian acts through their Albert Productions operation in Sydney. Their involvement as producers ensured that the new recording honored the spirit of the original while updating it for the 1980s rock context.

The soundtrack to The Lost Boys was a commercially successful compilation that included recordings from several prominent acts, including Echo & the Bunnymen and Lou Gramm. The film itself was a significant box-office success, and the soundtrack benefited from the promotional exposure generated by the film's marketing campaign. Atlantic Records positioned "Good Times" as the lead single from the album, giving it the promotional priority that corresponded to its placement on the chart.

The 13-week chart run demonstrated that the record had found genuine radio traction beyond the initial burst of film-related promotion. AOR stations were receptive to the track's rock energy, and its accessible melodic structure made it suitable for pop Top 40 formats as well. That dual-format appeal was characteristic of INXS's commercial strategy during this period and contributed to the band's ability to sustain chart positions over extended periods.

The collaboration between INXS and Jimmy Barnes was also a cultural statement about Australian rock's coming of age as a globally competitive enterprise. By 1987, Australian acts were operating at the highest levels of the international music business, and a collaboration that brought together the country's two most prominent rock acts was a way of marking that achievement.