Having been a music fan for over 30 years, I’m fascinated as to why certain songs get cemented as our favorites and how lifelong bonds are formed with many that weren’t even huge hits.

Somehow, someway, Models’ “Out Of Mind Out Of Sight” resonated with me in the summer of 1986. The Melbourne group’s debut U.S. single featured a brassy rock sound similar to another band from the land down under, INXS, who’d celebrated their first stateside smash that April with “What You Need.” “Out Of Sight Out Of Mind” and most of Models’ album of the same name was produced by Mark Opitz, who was behind the board for an early INXS album, 1982’s Shabooh Shoobah, and the Dekadance remix collection. (One track on Out Of Mind Out Of Sight, “Big On Love,” was produced by Reggie Lucas, who famously clashed with Madonna while recording her eponymous debut).

Twenty-seven years ago today, on June 21, 1986, “Out Of Mind Out Of Sight” peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, Models’ one and only entry on the chart. They did somewhat better on Chicago radio, airplay that spurred me to seek out the single. Consulting my Z-95/WYTZ-FM surveys from that time period (I’m missing a couple), “Out Of Mind Out Of Sight” reached at least #25. That’s pretty tight.

“Out Of Mind Out Of Sight” was written by Models’ lead singer and bassist, James Freud. Sadly, Freud committed suicide on November 24, 2010, after years of battling alcoholism (he’d chronicled his addiction and recovery attempts in two memoirs). Just a week earlier, Models had been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, a ceremony Freud was unable to attend because he couldn’t be around alcohol.

Purchase Models – “Out Of Mind Out Of Sight” via Amazon (no digital download currently available).