That's why — This is what you need
I'll give you what you need.
INXS (pronounced "In-X-S," a play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band that existed from 1977 to 2012. Among their best known hits are "What You Need", "Need You Tonight", "Devil Inside", and "Never Tear Us Apart." Formed in 1977 in Sydney, they spent many years on the Aussie pub rock circuit and supporting other bigger bands before breaking through with their 1985 album Listen Like Thieves and following up with the smash album Kick, coinciding with the golden age of MTV, where their videos became highly popular. The band rode the resulting wave of popularity for the next ten years, releasing four more well-received albums before tragedy hit the band. The charismatic lead singer Michael Hutchence was found dead via suicidenote in a Sydney hotel room on November 22, 1997, dealing the band a body blow from which they never really recovered.
This, obviously, completely derailed the band for several years, and despite a two year stint with ex Noiseworks singer Jon Stevens, the band didn't do much of note until they decided to recruit a new singer (J.D. Fortune) via the Reality Television show Rock Star: INXS. This led to tours and two new albums in 2005 and 2010 before offscreen drama between Fortune and the rest of the band started to form. The band soldiered on for a couple of years with Fortune's status as a permanent member, guest vocalist or hired gun fluctuating on a regular basis before finally calling it quits in 2012.
Principal Members (founding members in bold):
- Garry Gary Beers — bass, double bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1977-2012)
- Andrew Farriss — keyboards, piano, rhythm guitar, harmonica, percussion, backing vocals (1977-2012)
- John Farriss — drums, percussion, keyboard, backing vocalss (1977-2012)
- Tim Farriss — lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1977-2012)
- J.D. Fortune — lead vocals (2005-2011)
- Ciaran Gribbin — lead vocals (2011-2012)
- Michael Hutchence — lead vocals (1977-1997; his death)
- Kirk Pengilly — lead and rhythm guitar, saxophone, backing vocals (1977-2012)
- Jon Stevens — lead vocals (2000-2003)
Discography:
- INXS (1980)
- Underneath the Colours (1981)
- Shabooh Shoobah (1982)
- The Swing (1984)
- Listen Like Thieves (1985)
- Kick (1987)
- X (1990)
- Welcome to Wherever You Are (1992)
- Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (1993)
- Elegantly Wasted (1997)
- Switch (2005)
- Original Sin (2010)
"Full Moon, Dirty Tropes":
- The Band Minus the Face: What they became after Hutchence's death.
- Band of Relatives: Originally named the Farris Brothers, as there were three (keyboardist/guitarist Andrew, drummer Jon and lead guitarist Tim)
- The Cameo:
- Daryl Hall sang the chorus for "Original Sin" with Hutchence.
- Jimmy Barnes duetted with Hutchence on the single “Good Times”.
- Ray Charles, on "Please (You Got That...)" and Chrissie Hynde on "Full Moon, Dirty Hearts".
- And the show's winner, J.D. Fortune, became "sixth ranger" and lead singer at the same time.
- Cover Version: "The Loved One" (originally by The Loved Ones) and "Good Times" (originally by The Easybeats).
- Instrumentals: "Three Sisters"
- Pronouncing My Name for You: According to the booklet for The Greatest Hits, the first "Live" in the title of Live Baby Live is pronounced like the word give, and the second one is pronounced like five.
- Land Down Under: They were natives of Sydney, Australia and remain one of the most successful rock bands to come out of the country.
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Licensed Game: Make My Video: INXS on Sega CD, which drew all its songs and its cover art from Welcome to Wherever You Are. - Live Album: Live Baby Live
- Long Runner Lineup: The original lineup lasted from 1977 to the death of Michael Hutchence in 1997 and therefore counts as Type I.
- Mr. Fanservice: Michael Hutchence. He's still regarded as one of the sexiest and most charismatic frontmen in rock history decades after his death.
- New Sound Album: The album The Swing has more of a harder-edged, rigid sound to it than their previous three albums, moving further away from their early New Wave sound. Michael Hutchence also sings in a more soulful manner than earlier in the band's career. The album also helped the band develop their signature sound; it was also their first album to feature guest musicians as well as audio sequencing and effects that were then state-of-the-art.
- Welcome to Wherever You Are has also been seen as one, being more experimental than the straight-ahead rock of Kick and X.
- Non-Appearing Title: "Viking Juice"
- Parental Love Song: Both "Beautiful Girl" and "Baby Don't Cry" were written by Andrew Farriss about his daughter.
- Precision F-Strike: "Guns in the Sky""Well I'm sick of it
It's a load of shit" - Rearrange the Song: In 2010, they rerecorded "Original Sin," which first appeared on 1984's The Swing, as a dance single with Rob Thomas and Cuban female rapper DJ Yalediys. It appeared on the 2010 tribute album Original Sin.
- Self-Titled Album: INXS
- Shout-Out: The video for "Mediate", to the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" sequence in Bob Dylan's Rockumentary Don't Look Back.
- Silly Love Songs: "The One Thing", "Need You Tonight," "Never Tear Us Apart," "Beautiful Girl," "Disappear," etc. etc.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Done frequently with non-album B-sides, as all the other band members have at least one such song.
- Talking with Signs: Most of the video to "Mediate" is this.
- "X" Makes Anything Cool: Part of the band name. The band were specifically inspired to pick their name by seeing a flyer for an XTC concert and wanting to use a similar "abbreviation including X" formula.
