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INXS
INXS on stage on 2 July 2007, with J. D. Fortune singing.
Background information
Origin	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genre(s)	Rock, New Wave
Years active	1977–present
Label(s)	Deluxe WEA Records Atco Records/Atlantic Records Polygram Records Epic Records Mercury Records
Associated acts	Jimmy Barnes Max Q Noiseworks
Website	Official website
Members
Garry Gary Beers Andrew Farriss Jon Farriss Tim Farriss Kirk Pengilly J.D. Fortune
Former members
Michael Hutchence (d. 1997) Jon Stevens

INXS (pronounced "in excess") is an Australian rock and New Wave band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney.¹² Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax.³ For twenty years they were fronted by Michael Hutchence on lead vocals.¹³ Initially known for their New Wave/ska/pop style, they later developed a harder pub rock style,¹ including funk and dance elements and showcasing Hutchence's "sultry good looks".¹

INXS achieved international success with a series of hit singles and albums through the 1980s and 1990s, including "Original Sin", "Need You Tonight", "Devil Inside" and "New Sensation", and The Swing, Listen Like Thieves, Kick, X and Welcome to Wherever You Are.⁴⁵⁶⁷ Hutchence died in 1997 and INXS did not perform publicly for a year,¹ guest singers have included Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel, Terence Trent D'Arby, and Jon Stevens of Noiseworks, Stevens formally joined in 2002.²

The band was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame on 30 October 2001.⁸⁹¹⁰ INXS has won six other ARIA Awards including three for 'Best Group' in 1987, 1989 and 1992.¹¹

In 2005 members of INXS participated in a reality television series, broadcast worldwide, culminating in the selection of their new lead singer, Canadian J. D. Fortune, and the release of "Pretty Vegas" as a single and its album Switch.⁶⁷¹²

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 1980s 1.3 1990s 1.4 Transitional years 1.5 Rock Star: INXS 1.6 Reworked lineup 2 Influence and recognition 3 Commercials 4 Discography 4.1 Studio albums 4.2 Live albums 4.3 Compilation albums 4.4 EPs 5 Members 6 See also 7 References 8 External links 8.1 Official sites 8.2 Database entries 8.3 Fan sites

History

Early years

The origins of the band began with Andrew Farriss convincing his fellow Davidson High School, New South Wales classmate, Michael Hutchence to join his band, Doctor Doctor.¹³ The band contained two other classmates, Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders and a bass player, Garry Beers from a nearby high school, Forest Hill High School.¹³ In 1977 Tim Farriss Andrew's older brother invited Andrew, Hutchence and Beers to join him and his schoolmate Kirk Pengilly. Andrew and Pengilly had been playing together since 1971 as either an acoustic duo or as a four-piece band called Guiness.¹³ Together with younger brother Jon Farriss they formed the Farriss Brothers consisting of Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar, Michael Hutchence on lead vocals and Kirk Pengilly on guitar and saxophone.¹³¹⁴¹⁵ The band made their debut on 16 August 1977 at Whale Beach,¹⁶ 40 km (25 mi) north of Sydney. Andrew Farriss remembers:

I thought the show went really well, but I think my dad summed it up the next day: 'Great show, but everyone was asleep when we left.' I think everyone might have been stoned.

—Andrew Farriss¹⁶

The parents of the Farriss boys relocated to Perth in 1978 taking Jon to continue his schooling and as soon as Hutchence and Andrew finsihed school, the rest of the band followed.²¹⁶ They briefly performed as The Vegetables, singing "We Are the Vegetables", before returning to Sydney later that year.¹⁶ After ten months based in Perth the band relocated to Sydney, where they recorded a set of demos. At a chance meeting in the car park of the Narabeen Antler, a bub in North Narrabeen Tim was approached by Gary Morris, the manager of Midnight Oil.¹³

I remember him coming up to me and saying 'Who are you working for mate?' and I kind of went, 'Oh, we have this band and we're called The Farriss Brothers'. He offered to give us some work supporting Midnight Oil on the spot.

—Tim Farriss¹³

The band began to regularly support Midnight Oil and other local bands. Morris advised that a member of the Oils crew had come up with a new name and suggested they change it to INXS.¹³ The name INXS was inspired by English band XTC and Australian jam makers IXL.²¹⁶ Pengilly explained that Morris had some other ideas:

Gary [Morris] was a great marketing man, and I think he also had this idea of us being 'inaccessible'. He said we could be on stage in a cage of lights. It was a mystery thing [...] He told us that unless we wanted to change our ways and become the world's biggest Christian band, he could no longer manage us [...] He wanted us to write songs about Christ and to promote a drug-and-alcohol-free and no-sex-before-marriage, proper Christian lifestyle. He was very convincing and for a moment I think we might have done it. Then he got on to strange terrain.

—Kirk Pengilly¹⁶

We thought that would be a bit much - but it was a good name

—Tim Farriss¹³

The band's first performance as INXS was on 1 September 1979 at the Oceanview Hotel in Toukley, New South Wales¹⁷ and by the end of 1979 they hired Chris Murphy as their manager and continued on the pub circuit without the Christian band image.²¹⁶¹⁸ Murphy was an adept business manager and negotiator and by early 1980 had signed the band to a five-album record deal with Sydney independent label, Deluxe Records, run by Michael Browning, a former manager of AC/DC.¹²¹³

1980s

INXS released their first single, "Simple Simon"/"We Are the Vegetables", in Australia and France in May 1980.¹¹⁹ The single had its debut TV performance on Simon Townsend's Wonder World.¹⁶ Their self-titled debut album was recorded at Trafalgar Studios and co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire (ex-Ayers Rock), with all songs attributed to the entire band.¹³ The album was released in October 1980, it featured "Just Keep Walking" which was their first Australian Top 40 single,¹⁴ with the album peaking in the Top 30 of the Kent Music Report for Australian albums.¹³⁴The album eventually went gold (sales in excess of 35,000) but it took a number of years to achieve these sales.¹³ These early records demonstrated their New Wave/ska/pop style, and were followed by near constant touring with almost 300 shows during 1981 as the band developed their status as a live act.¹²

I'm not a great fan of the first album. It's naïve and kinda cute, almost. It's these young guys struggling for a sound. All I can hear is what was going to happen later and it's probably an interesting album becuase of that. "Just Keep Walking" was the first time we thought we'd written a song. And that became an anthem around town. It's funny, I remember kids in pubs saying it and hearing it on the radio the first time. We'd never heard that before.

—Michael Hutchence¹³

In 1981 they signed Gary Grant as their tour manager, who then became the band's co-manager a year later.¹³ Between touring commitments, the band released their third single in May 1981, "The Loved One", which was a cover of a 1960s song by Australian group The Loved Ones. The song was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney¹³ and was produced by Richard Clapton³ and peaked in the Top 20.¹⁴¹⁹ The success of the single led to Clapton and the band returning to the studio between July and August 1981 to create an album. In October 1981, their second album Underneath the Colours was released and became a hit in Australia peaking at #15.⁴²⁰

Most of the songs on Underneath the Colours were written in a relatively short space of time. Most bands shudder at the prospect of having 20 years to write their first album and four days to write their second. For us, though, it was good. It left less room for us to go off on all sorts of tangents

—Michael Hutchence¹³

Soon after the recording sessions had finished the various members of the group started work on outside projects. Beers, Jon and Andrew Farriss playing on Richard Clapton's solo album, The Great Escape, whilst Hutchence recorded a song, written by Don Walker (Cold Chisel) for the soundtrack of a film, Freedom by Scott Hicks. This song, "Speed Kills" was his first solo single and was released by WEA Records in early 1982.¹³. In January, 1982 INXS toured New Zealand as support act for Cold Chisel. Band manager, Murphy, became convienced that the band's future no longer lay with Deluxe Records, who had been unable to secure any interest in the band internationally, and decided to record a new song, "The One Thing" at their own expense, with Mark Opitz at Paradise Studios.¹³ Murphy approached WEA Records Australia with copies of the song, leading to INXS signing a recording deal in July 1982 with WEA Records Australia for releases in Australia, South East Asia, Japan and New Zealand, Atco Records (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records) for North America and Polygram for Europe and the UK.¹²³¹³

INXS got signed not because some A&R guy thought we'd sell a lot of records, but because we sold out so many venues.

—Tim Farriss¹³

Prior to recording their third album Pengilly, Hutchence and Andrew Farriss visited the UK and USA, with a view to selected a suitable producer, only find that no-one they wanted was available and that most people advised them that Opitiz's work on their single was a good as they could wish for.¹³ In mid 1982 they commenced recording at Rhinoceros Studios, with Opitz.³

Mark was the first producer that was able to capture some glimmer of what the band felt it was like live. Prior to us, Mark had done bands like AC/DC, Cold Chisel, The Angels. Big guitar sounds, mighty drum beats.

—Tim Farriss¹³

In October 1982 Shabooh Shoobah was released internationally on Atlantic Records/Atco, peaking at #52 on the US Billboard 200 and #46 on the Hot Pop Albums chart.⁷¹² In Australia it peaked at #5 and remained in the albums charts for 94 weeks.⁴ The single "The One Thing" brought them their first Top 30 hit in United States peaking at #30 on 28 May 1983²¹, it was a Top 20 hit in Canada,⁶ and peaked at #14 in Australia on 23 August 1982.⁴ INXS undertook their first US performance in San Diego in March, 1983, to a crowd of 24 patrons.¹³ They undertook their first tour as support for Adam and the Ants, then playing support for The Kinks¹ followed by The Go-Gos.²² INXS played alongside many of their contemporaries on New Wave Day in May, 1983 at the US Festival in Silicon Valley, California.²³ The band remained on the road in the US for most of the year, including playing supports for Men at Work and by mid 1983 were headlining venues such as The Ritz in New York.¹³

Three tracks from Shabooh Shoobah were featured in the soundtrack for the 1984 film Reckless.²⁴

With the Nick Launay-produced fourth album, The Swing in April 1984,³ the band received more significant attention from around the world, as "Original Sin" (produced by Nile Rodgers) became their first #1 single and a highly popular song worldwide with fans and reviewers.²⁵ During that year the song was #1 in Australia (for two weeks at the start of 1984)⁴ as well as in Argentina and France, #11 in Canada, #23 in Switzerland,²⁶ #31 in the Netherlands and #58 in the U.S.⁶ Yet "Original Sin" was largely ignored in the UK, where INXS was described in New Musical Express as a "depressingly definitive example of excruciating, boring, incredibly unimaginative MTV rock",¹²⁷²⁸ and didn't have any Top 50 chart success until 1986 with the album Listen Like Thieves.²⁹

INXS performed five songs for the 1985 Oz for Africa benefit concert, in conjunction with the Live Aid benefit.³⁰ Two INXS songs ("What You Need" and "Don't Change") were also in the BBC broadcast and are contained on Live Aid's four DVD boxed set released in 2004.³¹

INXS had started out as a New Wave act, gradually moved in a more straight-ahead rock-oriented direction through the first half of the 1980s.³² By 1985's breakthrough album Listen Like Thieves, the band had developed a rock sound influenced by Led Zeppelin and XTC, but true to the band's original roots in Aussie pubs. Listen Like Thieves was produced by Chris Thomas,³ and was approved of by critics.³³ The first US single from the album, "This Time", stalled at #81 in late 1985, but the next, "What You Need", released in early 1986, became a top five Billboard hit,⁶ bringing INXS their first breakout U.S. success. The single was also a top 20 hit in Canada, reached #2 in Australia⁴ but only #51 on the UK charts.²⁹

In 1986, INXS played for Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales at a concert in Australia, it was filmed and later released on home video entitled Living INXS, with an edited version of the concert was played on MTV in the US in 1986 on their Saturday night concert series. They also recorded two songs with Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel: The Easybeats cover "Good Times" and "Laying Down the Law" which Barnes co-wrote with Beers, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Hutchence and Pengilly.³⁴ "Good Times" was used as the theme song for the Australia Made series of concerts in the summer of 1986–1987.¹⁶ It peaked at #2 on the Australian charts,⁴ and several months later was featured in the Joel Schumacher film The Lost Boys and its soundtrack,³⁵ allowing it to peak at #47 in the US on 1 August 1987.⁶²¹

After the success of "What You Need" and Listen Like Thieves, the band knew their new material would have to be even better, according to Pengilly, "We wanted an album where all the songs were possible singles."¹⁶ They recorded Kick in Sydney and Paris, it was produced by Thomas again,³ but Atlantic Records were not happy with the result, as manager Chris Murphy remembers:

They hated it, absolutely hated it. They said there was no way they could get this music on rock radio. They said it was suited for black radio, but they didn't want to promote it that way. The president of the label told me that he'd give us $1 million to go back to Australia and make another album.

—Chris Murphy¹⁶

Despite Atlantic's protests Kick was released in October 1987 and provided the band with worldwide popularity, it peaked at #1 in Australia,⁴ #3 on the US Billboard 200,¹² #9 in UK,²⁹ and #15 in Austria.³⁶ It was an upbeat, confident album that yielded four Top 10 US singles, "New Sensation", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Devil Inside" and #1 "Need You Tonight".⁶ "Need You Tonight" peaked #2 on the UK charts,²⁹ #3 in Australia,⁴ and #10 in France.³⁷ They toured heavily behind the album throughout 1987 and 1988. The video for the 1987 INXS track "Mediate" (which played after the video for "Need You Tonight") replicated the format of Bob Dylan's video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues," even in its use of apparently deliberate errors. In September 1988 the band swept the MTV Video Music Awards with the video for "Need You Tonight/Mediate" winning in 5 categories.³⁸

During 1989, Hutchence collaborated with Ian 'Ollie' Olsen on a side project, Max Q,¹ the two had previously worked together on Richard Lowenstein's 1987 film Dogs in Space.¹ The rest of the band also took a break to work on side projects, but soon returned to the studio to record their follow-up album to Kick.

1990s

In October 1990, INXS released X which was produced by Thomas again and it peaked at #3 in Australia,⁵ #5 in the US,¹² #2 in the UK,²⁹ #5 in Switzerland and #10 in Sweden.⁷³⁹ It followed in the same vein as Kick, and added harmonica to some songs. X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" (both Top 10 in the US),⁶ "Suicide Blonde" peaked at #2 in Australia, #11 in the UK²⁹ and in Switzerland.⁴⁰ Other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success.¹

Hutchence's romance with Australian pop singer, Kylie Minogue brought the group a new audience of fans.¹⁴¹ INXS performed at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1991, during their "Summer XS" tour stop in London to a sold out audience of 74,000 fans.¹ This performance was recorded and filmed to become the their live album Live Baby Live (a video version was also released under the same title), which was released in November 1991 and peaked in the Top 30 in both Australia and UK album charts,⁵²⁹ but had less success on The Billboard 200.¹²

Welcome to Wherever You Are, produced by Mark Opitz and released in August 1992,³ was an experimental album using sitars and a 60-piece orchestra while adding a much more "raw" sound to their music. It received good critical reviews and went #1 in the UK²⁹ and in Sweden;⁴² #2 in Australia and Switzerland,⁴² and #3 in Norway,⁴² but had less chart success in the US peaking at #16.¹² Singles from the album included, "Taste It" and "Baby Don't Cry" which had Top 20 success in UK but less success in US or Australian markets.⁶⁵²⁹

1993's Full Moon, Dirty Hearts' title track featured The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde and included a track called "Please (You Got That)" which featured Ray Charles. The band made a full video album for the record using unknown Australian students to direct with help by Richard Lowenstein. Full Moon, Dirty Hearts received mixed reviews and was the last record under INXS' contract with Atlantic.

The band took time off to rest and be with their families, while Michael Hutchence remained in the public eye through modeling and film acting.

In 1997, the group released a comeback album titled Elegantly Wasted, which garnered mixed reviews. It fared respectably in Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain (where INXS had ironically more success in the 90s than in the 80s), Sweden and Switzerland.

On 22 November 1997, Hutchence was found dead in a Sydney hotel room. The coroner who performed his autopsy ruled his death a suicide. Despite the official coroner report, many still consider his death accidental. ^{43 44}

Transitional years

After Hutchences's death, the band made some one-off performances with different guest singers. On November 28, 1998, INXS played at the Mushroom 25 Concert with Jimmy Barnes fronting for two songs: "The Loved One" and "Good Times". ¹⁷ On June 12, 1990, INXS headline the opening of Stadium Australia, in Sydney. With Terence Trent D'Arby as guest vocalist, the band play four songs, "New Sensation", "Kick", "Never Tear Us Apart" and "What You Need".¹⁷

Former lead singer of Australian band Noiseworks, Jon Stevens began singing with INXS in 2000. INXS played as one of the headline acts at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Stevens was officially named a member of the band in 2002, however, he left INXS in 2003 to pursue a solo career, only recording a contractual obligation song called "I Get Up", released as a single (which charted in the top-100 on the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart) in the same year. The song was also used in the Rugby Union World Cup 2003 and the EA Sports Rugby 2004 video game.

Rock Star: INXS

INXS returned to the news in 2004 when it was announced that a new reality television program titled Rock Star: INXS would feature a contest to find a new lead vocalist for the band. The show, which had its debut on the CBS network 11 July 2005, (on Global in Canada, VH1 in the UK and FOX8 in Australia), featured 15 contestants vying for the position of lead singer. The show was executive produced by Survivor's Mark Burnett and hosted by Brooke Burke and former Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro.

On 20 September 2005, J.D. Fortune (born Jason Dean Bennison, but uses his mother's maiden name of Fortune) of Saltsprings, Nova Scotia, Canada won the eleven-week competition, which culminated in his singing the Rolling Stones's "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and INXS' "What You Need" in the finale of the show to become the new lead singer of INXS. He has recorded the new album with producer Guy Chambers and went on a world tour with INXS in 2006. Runner-up Marty Casey was the opening act during leg one of the world tour, along with his band, The Lovehammers.⁴⁵

During the Rock Star: INXS competition, the contestants were challenged to write the lyrics and melody to music written by Andrew Farriss. Originally this challenge was divided up into two teams. When Fortune did not see eye-to-eye with his team (that included Casey), he decided to venture out on his own and write his own lyrics. At first Fortune's move seemed to have doomed his chances to win the competition (because it was perceived he couldn't work in a team), but it was this move that resulted in his creation of the lyrics to "Pretty Vegas". This song became a favourite of both fans and INXS and played a major role in Fortune being able to win the competition^{citation needed}. This single was released 4 October 2005 and reached #5 on the iTunes Store ranking of top downloaded songs on its first day, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #37, and became a huge radio airplay hit in Fortune's native Canada.

Reworked lineup

On 29 November 2005, the band's first album with Fortune as lead singer, entitled Switch, was released in the United States via Epic Records. Shortly after, in September 2006, the band and Epic parted ways.⁴⁶

The new lineup of the band toured in support of Switch and in 2006 was reported to be working on material for a new album, as yet unreleased.⁴⁷

INXS toured Australia and New Zealand in March 2007, with Simple Minds and support band Arrested Development.⁴⁸

After the cancellation of an August 31, 2007 show in Cleveland, Ohio, INXS placed a statement on their website stating "Due to ongoing medical issues with Garry Beers' hand, the band's doctor has urged the band to not play more than three shows in a row or risk permanent damage to Garry's hand."⁴⁹

Influence and recognition

Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, INXS was a major force in Australian popular music, leading the way into worldwide popularity for several Australian bands. The band worked closely with several other Australian artists, such as The Models and ex-patriate New Zealander Jenny Morris, helping to establish their careers. By the mid-nineties, however, their popularity had waned, especially in the US, where their Greatest Hits compilation failed to reach the Top-100. At the 1996 BRIT Awards, Michael Hutchence presented Oasis with an award, after which their characteristically arrogant lead singer Liam Gallagher remarked "Has-beens shouldn't be presenting awards to gonna-bes".⁵⁰

In 2001, INXS was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall Of Fame. The band has also received three Grammy nominations over their 30-year career. In 2007, the Farriss Brothers were inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Awards Hall of Fame.

According to the RIAA, INXS have sold 15 million units in the United States alone, becoming the 3rd highest selling Australian Music Act in the United States, behind AC/DC and The Bee Gees. ⁵¹

Commercials

In America, 2002, McDonald's and Mazda used "New Sensation" for a promo campaign, and in 2008 Toyota used "What You Need" in their ad campaign.

Whilst in Australia "By My Side" has been used by NRMA Insurance on and off for 8 years.

Discography

For a complete discography, see INXS discography.¹⁴⁵

Studio albums

1. 1980 - INXS
2. 1981 - Underneath the Colours
3. 1982 - Shabooh Shoobah
4. 1984 - The Swing
5. 1985 - Listen Like Thieves
6. 1987 - Kick
7. 1990 - X
8. 1992 - Welcome to Wherever You Are
9. 1993 - Full Moon, Dirty Hearts
10. 1997 - Elegantly Wasted
11. 2005 - Switch

Live albums

1. 1991 - Live Baby Live
2. 1997 - INXS: Live in Aspen - February 1997
3. 2004 - INXS: Live at Barker Hangar

Compilation albums

1. 1982 - INXSIVE
2. 1994 - The Greatest Hits
3. 2001 - Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979-1997)
4. 2002 - Definitive INXS/The Best of INXS
5. 2002 - The Years 1979-1997
6. 2002 - Stay Young 1979-1982
7. 2004 - INXS²: The Remixes
8. 2004 - Original Sin - The Collection
9. 2006 - Taste It : The Collection

EPs

1. 1983 - Dekadance
2. 2004 - Bang the Drum

Members

Listed chronologically:¹²³

• Garry Gary Beers — bass guitar, double bass (1977–present)
• Andrew Farriss — keyboards, guitar (1977–present)
• Jon Farriss — drums, keyboards (1977–present)
• Tim Farriss — lead guitar (1977–present)
• Michael Hutchence — lead vocals (1977–1997 d.)
• Kirk Pengilly — guitar, saxophone, backing vocals (1977–present)
• Jon Stevens — lead vocals (2002–2003, guest vocals 2000–2002)
• J.D. Fortune — lead vocals (2005–current)

On tour/special performances:

• Jimmy Barnes — guest vocals (1998)
• Terence Trent D'Arby — guest vocals (1999)

See also

• List of best-selling music artists

References

External links

Official sites

• Official site
• Michael Hutchence Official Site
• Official forum for Spanish speaking Fans
• Official INXS Photo site: inxs.buzznet.com
• Epic Records' INXS page
• Official INXS MySpace site

Database entries

• INXS discography at MusicBrainz
• Tim Farriss at the Internet Movie Database
• Kirk Pengilly at the Internet Movie Database
• INXS at the Internet Movie Database
• INXS at Discogs

Fan sites

• HARDSTAR-INXS
• An Excess of INXS
• INXS.PL - Polish INXS website
• INXS French page
• ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: INXS Lounge
• Michael Hutchence Fan Forum
• fortune448.com
• Michael Hutchence & INXS International Fans Forum
• Dutch INXS web
• INXS Worldwide! Forum (Fan Site)

v • d • e INXS Garry Gary Beers · Andrew Farriss · Jon Farriss · Tim Farriss · J. D. Fortune · Kirk Pengilly Michael Hutchence  · Jon Stevens Studio albums INXS · Underneath the Colours · Shabooh Shoobah · The Swing · Listen Like Thieves · Kick · X · Welcome to Wherever You Are · Full Moon, Dirty Hearts · Elegantly Wasted ·