INXS

Formed in 1977 as the Farriss Brothers in Sydney, Australia, INXS originally comprised the three Farriss brothers Tim (guitar), Jon (drums) and Andrew (keyboards), Michael Hutchence (lead vocals), Kirk Pengilly (guitar, saxophone, vocals), and Garry Beers (bass, vocals).

A year later the band moved to Perth from Sydney where the Farriss Brothers spent ten months writing, rehearsing, and playing local hotels and mining towns, developing their own distinctive rock sound. In 1980 INXS released their first single, 'Simple simon'/'We are the vegetables' on the independent Deluxe label. After a move back to Sydney they followed up with their first album release titled INXS that included the song 'Just keep walking', which became a hit. The song also kick started their first tour down the eastern seaboard of Australia playing pubs and uni campuses, sometimes playing seven nights a week.

In March 1981 INXS released a cover version of ‘The loved ones’ and later that year released their second album, Underneath the colours, to commercial and critical success. The album reached top 15 on the Australian charts and includes the anthemic single, 'Stay Young'.

With the success of the last album and momentum building, the band recorded Shabooh Shoobah their third album, which became their third gold album in Australia.

It was with the 'Original sin' single of early 1985 and its accompanying album, The Swing, that the band finally hit the top of the charts in Australia, the album and single generating interest in the band in the USA, Europe and South America.

In August 1985 INXS released their next album Listen like thieves, which consolidated their worldwide popularity and sales success (except in the U.K.). In the same year INXS won seven Countdown awards.

In March 1986 Listen like thieves certified RIAA gold in US and headed quickly toward platinum.
'What You Need' became the band's first top ten single in America, and continued into the top five. In Australia, where Listen like thieves went triple-platinum, INXS won three more Countdown Awards. The next single 'Falling down the mountain' was released in Australia and INXS kicked off another successful national tour.

The following year, INXS released Kick, which passed the quadruple-platinum mark in U.S. sales. The single 'Need you tonight' became their first number one U.S. hit, and the second single 'Devil inside' went to number five. Whilst touring to sell out shows across the globe they released the third single from Kick, 'New sensation' which also broke into the U.S. top five. The band cleaned up at the MTV awards and also gained a Grammy nomination. They also released the fourth hit single 'Never tear us apart' from Kick.

After a well earned time-out, the band recommenced the follow up album to Kick in December 1989, and in March 1990 release the new album titled X. The first single 'Suicide blonde' broke into the top ten on all major charts around the world. X, the seventh INXS album ,generated double-platinum sales in the U.S. and Australia. The album earned INXS a second Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Performance By A Group" for 'Suicide blonde'.

In July 1991, INXS played to 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium in London. This was filmed for release on video to coincide with a live LP, Live Baby Live – (which was released in November). In 1992 INXS released Welcome to wherever you are and won best Australian music video award with the single 'Baby don’t cry', though the album fell just short of the platinum mark.

Following a brief world "pub" tour designed to honour long time fans with small performances in intimate clubs, INXS emerged with Full moon, dirty hearts which was not a commercial or critical success. The band switched record labels from Atlantic to Polygram and began work on a best of compilation disc. INXS the greatest hits, which featured two new songs, including 'The Strangest Party'.

In April 1997 they released Elegantly wasted which received poor sales and critical acclaim. Hutchence embarked on a highly publicized relationship with Paula Yates. Hutchence was found hanged in his hotel room in Sydney, Australia, on 22 November 1997. Yates died almost three years later, completing the tragic cycle. The remaining members of INXS resumed live work in 2000, recruiting Jon Stevens (ex-Noiseworks) as their temporary lead singer. In 2005, the band picked a new singer Canadian born JD Fortune through the CBS reality television show Rock Star. In 2009 it was revealed that the band had split ways with their newest lead singer.
 

Countdown appearances

• 30th September 1984, episode 436 – INXS co host with Tim and Debbie
• 5th October 1980 episode 260 - the show is hosted in turn by Michael Hutchence from INXS.

Links:
www.inxs.com/