INXS

INXS (pronounced "In Excess") is an Australian/Canadian rock group. The band was formed in 1977 and comprised of the late Michael Hutchence (lead vocals), Andrew Farriss (guitar and keyboards), Tim Farriss (b. more...

August 16, 1957, in Perth, Western Australia, Australia) (lead guitar), Jon Farriss (drums), Garry Gary Beers (bass), and Kirk Pengilly (b. July 4, 1958, in Kew, Victoria, Australia) (saxophone and guitar). On September 20, 2005, Canadian singer J.D. Fortune became the band's new lead vocalist after a twelve-week competition on the CBS reality show Rock Star: INXS.

History

Michael Hutchence era

INXS began under the name The Farriss Brothers but the band changed it in 1979, just prior to the release of their self-titled debut album in 1980, INXS, which featured "Just Keep Walking".

Its follow-up, 1981's Underneath the Colours (produced by Richard Clapton), became a hit-album in their native country.

In 1983, their third album, titled Shabooh Shoobah, was released successfully worldwide. The single "The One Thing" brought them their first top 30 hit in America, while "Don't Change" became a staple in the set list of college rock bands who played the frat circuit. The album itself entered the U.S. top 50.

With the Nick Launay-produced fourth album, The Swing in 1984, the band received more significant attention all around the world, as "Original Sin" became their first #1 single and an international hit. Indeed, during all this year, the song was, for example, #1 in their native Australia as well as in Argentina and in France, #23 in Switzerland, #31 in the Netherlands and #58 in the U.S., where the single's explicitly political and anti-racism message may have contributed to low airplay. Yet, "Original Sin" was largely ignored in the UK, where INXS didn't have any success in the charts until 1986 with the album Listen Like Thieves. In the same way, the band's charismatic singer Michael Hutchence gained attention for his MTV-ready looks. INXS, which had started out as a new wave act featuring more synthesizers than guitar, gradually moved in a more straight-ahead rock-oriented direction through the first half of the 1980s. By 1985's breakthrough album Listen Like Thieves the band had perfected a matured sound influenced by the Rolling Stones and Chic but true to the band's original roots in the Aussie pubs. Listen Like Thieves was loved by the critics, except for the song, "Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)", which INXS publicly apologized for releasing on MTV in December 1985. In the US, the first single, "This Time" stalled at #81 in late 1985, but the band roared out of nowhere with the second, "What You Need", which in early 1986 became a top-five Billboard hit, bringing INXS their first breakout U.S. success.

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