INXS 1985 (fltr: Tim Farriss, Jon Farriss, Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly, Garry Beers, Andrew Farriss)
Introduction
Late 1985 I bought the INXS album Listen Like Thieves, because of Australia’s representation at Live Aid and the band’s performance during Veronica’s Rock Night For Greenpeace. A look back at a key period in time for the band.
INXS
On August 16, 1977, the Australian band The Farriss Brothers made their live debut. The band, that would evolve into INXS, consisted of 3 brothers named Farriss, guitarist Kirk Pengilly, bassist Garry Beers and singer and main attraction Michael Hutchence.
Following a stint as The Vegetables, the band started recording demos and was approached by the Midnight Oil manager. He suggested the name INXS (an amalgamation of XTC, the English band, and IXL, an Australian jam brand), and for the band to choose a Christian foundation; the latter part was politely refused.
On September 1, 1979, INXS made their debut, and with a new manager at the helm, the band signed a deal with Deluxe Records, a local Sydney record company run by a former AC/DC manager, in 1980.
INXS – First 4 albums
In May 1980 INXS’s debut single (Simple Simon/We Are The Vegetables was released in Australia and France. In October the debut album INXS was next. It made the Australian charts, but wasn’t really successful. The band toured endlessly (300 shows in 1981!). Following a modest success single (The Loved One) the second album was released in October 1981: Underneath The Colours, a modest hit in Australia.
The band left Deluxe Records in order to have a chance of making it internationally as well. In October 1982 the album Shabooh Shoobah was released and their strategy already paid off. The album was noticed in the US and the UK. The single The One Thing was receiving airplay at the recently founded tv music channel MTV in the US.
Chic’s Nile Rodgers and INXS recorded the song Original Sin in New York, which was later placed on the The Swing album, released in April 1984. Original Sin was the band’s first hit and garnered a lot of attention for the album. The band’s sound was getting heavier, which appealed to a lot of new fans. In 1984, the album was certified platinum twice over in Australia, an unparallelled success.
In March 1985 INXS entered the studio with famous international producer Chris Thomas. After the recordings were completed the band performed at the Oz For Africa show held on July 13, 1985. Parts of that show were shown in the Live Aid worldwide broadcast, which introduced me to the band in a live setting.
INXS – Listen Like Thieves
Listen Like Thieves
On October 14, 1985, the fifth INXS album, Listen Like Thieves, was released. The recording sessions for the album took up 3 months and were done mid-June, when producer Thomas said he missed a “hit”. Within two days demo Funk Song no 13 was converted and expanded into What You Need, the first single off the album and the band’s first global hit.
The album was well received by the press and provided the band with their first global success. The combination of rock, funk and optimism was loved all over and the band’s future seemed golden. Andrew Farriss: “For us, Listen Like Thieves was a major shift in how we did everything. By the time we had come to the end of recording the album, we felt we had a record we could be really proud of and take out to the world. It was one of the defining moments of our career.”
INXS – Listen Like Thieves – Ad
Review
I bought the album on the strength of the live images I had seen. I liked the band, singer Michael Hutchence had charisma and a Jim Morrison like vibe that was charming an convincing. He was able to pull off the bravado, because he actually delivered on its implied promise. His voice was fine and fit the music perfectly.
I clearly remember the day I had bought Listen Like Thieves and saying to my friend Irma, whom I commuted with from and to Amsterdam for my studies, that INXS was a name to remember. I was convinced they would be massive one day. Within two years INXS was all over the charts, when the contagious Kick was the hit of the day. I didn’t like that album as much as I enjoyed Listen Like Thieves, so how good is Listen Like Thieves, really?
To be frank, it’s good, but far from exceptional. The first 4 songs are downright fantastic. The album gets volatile from then out. Biting Bullets and This Time are nice pop songs, but out of the last 4 songs, only One x One is okay. A 7 out of 11 score translates into a percentage of just over 60%.
INXS – Listen Like Thieves – Singles
Singles
Four singles were culled from the album.
- What You Need
(released in August 1985) - This Time
(released in November 1985) - Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
(released in March 1986) - Listen Like Thieves
(released in June 1986)
INXS – Listen Like Thieves – Back cover
Songs
All songs written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, unless stated otherwise.
- What You Need
- Listen Like Thieves (Garry Beers, Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly, Tim Farriss, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss)
- Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
- Shine Like It Does
- Good + Bad Times (Kirk Pengilly, Michael Hutchence)
- Biting Bullets (Kirk Pengilly, Michael Hutchence)
- This Time (Andrew Farriss)
- Three Sisters (Tim Farriss)
- Same Direction
- One x One
- Red Red Sun (Jon Farriss, Andrew Farriss)
INXS 1985 (Kiss The Dirt video)
Musicians
- Michael Hutchence – vocals
- Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitar
- Tim Farriss – guitar, synthesizer
- Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, vocals
- Garry Beers – bass, vocals
- Jon Farriss – drums, vocals
With help from:
- Ray Cooper – percussion on Same Direction
INXS – Rock Night For Greenpeace
After Listen Like Thieves
The band went on another elaborate tour, bringing INXS to The Netherlands on October 26, 1985, as part of the Rock Night For Greenpeace, which was broadcast live on Dutch television. I recorded the show and the cassette was in constant rotation on my Walkman, I loved it. In 1986 INXS was voted “the best live band in the world” by American music magazine Musician.
The next album was going to be the major release. The band entered the studio, again with producer Chris Thomas and recorded the album Kick. The record company didn’t believe in the album and offered the band a lot of money to record an entirely different album. The band refused and in October 1987 Kick was released. It was a global phenomenon, in part due to the great singles Need You Tonight, Devil Inside, New Sensation and Never Tear Us Apart.
INXS – Kick & X
In October 1990 the album X followed, which contained some more huge hits with singles like Suicide Blonde and Disappear. In November 1991 the live album Live Baby Live was released. In August 1992 album Wherever You Are was released, but was less successful than expected. In November 1993 Full Moon, Dirty Hearts followed, emphasizing the downward spiral. The band took a break and returned in April 1997 with the album Elegantly Wasted, which was fairly successful.
Completely out of the blue, singer Michael Hutchence was found dead in his hotel room in Sydney on November 22, 1997; his death has since been ruled a suicide. After Hutchence’s death the band used a number of singers for their live performances. In 2004 INXS entered the reality-tv show Rock Star: INXS, with the band going in search of a new singer. J.D Fortune won the competition and on October 4, 2005, the single Pretty Vegas was released, which met with some success. Late November 2005 the album Switch was released, which was followed by a tour. In November 2010 the album Original Sin was released, a tribute to Michael Hutchence. In September 2011 it was announced that singer Fortune had left the band. A year later the band announced they would stop touring altogether.
In closing
What do you think of INXS and Listen Like Thieves? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: INXS starts practicing with success on Listen Like Thieves. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
