Creativity Quote by Michael Hutchence

Hutchence is drawing a line between influence and imitation, and he does it in a way that quietly flexes his own authority. Name-checking Jagger is risky for any rock frontman: it invites comparison with the most iconic strut in the genre. Hutchence disarms that trap by shifting the terrain from wardrobe and gestures to something harder to counterfeit: attitude. Style is visible, easy to borrow, and therefore easy to cheapen. Attitude is the real currency, the thing that reads as earned rather than purchased.

There’s subtext in the phrasing "and the like" too. It’s not disrespect; it’s demystification. He’s refusing the pantheon’s gravity just enough to keep it from swallowing him. That’s a savvy move for a musician coming up in the long shadow of British rock mythology, especially in the era when MTV made image feel like destiny. Hutchence understands the camera’s hunger for recognizable templates, and he’s telling you he won’t feed it.

Context matters: INXS was often framed through comparisons to bigger, older acts. This quote is a defense against being treated as a tribute band with better cheekbones. He’s also signaling taste. Admiration is conditional: "if I see a good attitude". Jagger’s not automatically revered; he’s evaluated. That little gatekeeping gesture protects Hutchence’s own persona as deliberate, self-edited, and contemporary - a frontman who’s absorbing the lessons of rock history without becoming its reenactment.