INXS Appreciation Thread

Really under appreciated band - they ended too quickly.

I lost much of my respect for St. Bob Geldof after reading about his involvement in Michael's death.

..........

why don’t American crowds do that? Americans are generally more uninhibited than Europeans yet they don’t seem to let go at rock concerts as their continental counterparts do.

Can't leave out. . .

Jon Farris was one of the hottest drummers ever.

Live Baby Live got a 4K restoration. It looks great.

Um - American crowds are generally considered the most vocal and free. Many European crowds are very tame - excruciatingly so.

I don't understand what you're talking about.

But INXS's first 2 albums are masterpieces.

I think it depends on the performer, the set list, the crowd, the general vibe. Sometimes I will see the same concert twice and it can be a completely different show especially due to the crowd.

I recently watched a documentary about Hutchence/INXS called Mystify, it was good.

[quote]I lost much of my respect for St. Bob Geldof after reading about his involvement in Michael's death.

R1 IIRC, Hutchence had an affair with Geldof’s wife, who divorced him to marry Hutchence, who got heavily into booze and cocaine while Geldolf struggled to help his ex-wife stay sober. Yet GELDOLF was responsible for Hutchence’s downward spiral? How so?

^^ Dammit - I misspelled “Geldof” repeatedly. Forgive me, Saint Bob.

Saint Bob NEVER forgives, [R11]. Can I have your stuff?

R10, St. Bob refused to allow his ex-wife, who had custody of their minor child, to leave the country. Facing the prospect of months alone was a huge factor in Michael's depression.

Yeah. That was nowhere near as uninhibited as the crowd I was in at the Pearl Jam / Ramones concert when PJ was on their anti ticket master crusade. No security to speak of and a mosh pit like I hadn’t seen since the eighties. Unbelievable how good the Ramones were.

Saw INXS a couple of times. The best crowd was at an amphitheater. But it really wasn’t OTT. INXS is one of my favorite bands though. I have most of their stuff on vinyl.

INXS was my first concert. I saw them a total of 4 times and one time, my friend and I slept in the parking lot to get tickets as soon as they went on sale. Lots of fun.

There was a great INXS/Hutchence/Geldof thread on here a while back that had a lot of juicy info. Sad story all around, of course.

Had the band ended after Michael's death I think that their legacy (at least in the US) would be stronger. But working with Terence Trent D'Arby and doing the reality show make them look sad and desperate though 80s kids remember the highlights.

Michael was so incredibly hot - even without his sexy long hair. Belinda Carlisle and Michael made quite a beautiful couple.

Thanks for sharing R16

R5 - agree about Jon Farriss

I don’t know, when I see European audiences at big rock concerts they seem to all jump in unison, all waving flags, singing along, all oblivious to each other’s odors or personal space. Ever see a British crowd react to Queen? or a German crowd react to vintage heavy metal? I guess it depends on lots of other factors but it seems American crowds are now kept far away from the action (due to ticket prices and security concerns) and their mark of appreciation of the artist is their fraus shrieking “WOOOOOOO!!!!”

Tim Farriss had the meatiest butt poured into those leather pants!

1000 concerts? You go every week?

R19, I think the fact that they basically put X in the water in Europe is one reason.

R20, I had forgotten about that video - thanks.

You're right about Tim. Even with that awful Toni Home Perm, he's sex on stilts.

I ❤️❤️❤️ INXS.

R20, my favorite line is “At 98 we all rotate”.

Simple, yet truthful & somewhat profound, all at once.

[quote][R10], St. Bob refused to allow his ex-wife, who had custody of their minor child, to leave the country. Facing the prospect of months alone was a huge factor in Michael's depression.

Paula and Michael were heavy drinkers/drug users, and there was an incident where Michael pulled a knife on a bandmate in a fit of rage. Maybe Bob kept his kids in the country out of spite, but he probably was also legitimately concerned for their safety. How Paula got joint custody in the first place is a mystery. Sad story all around.

The many faces of Jon . . .

Paula was a big ol’ mess. Bob had every right to keep his kids in the UK for the holidays. She could have accepted that and just spent that time with Michael and their kid. It happens all the time in divorced families. I’m sure she ate his ear off moaning about how much she missed her kids to him. And what a great mother she was, eventually ODing in front of her toddler.

[Quote] 1000 concerts? You go every week?

There are times I go to 4 to 5 gigs in a week.

Those saying US crowds are more lively compared to Europeans crowds?

YOU ARE WRONG!

Well of course not. But they are on their best manners until the fooball game starts.

I'll just leave this here.

Hallucinate, elucidate, communicate, evacuate

If you are pitting St. Bob Geldof against Michael Hutchence, I will take Michael.

What does "at 98 we all rotate" mean? I have no idea, but the doc mentioned upthread is really good, I think it was co-produced by Michael's sister and I believe it was based on the book she wrote about him. Did anyone read it? Can we have excerpts? Where is our resident autobiography troll when we need him?

It means that you must turn to your left and then up and back.

Beautiful Girl.

R32, just back down and then back up.

Love is no pain.

St. Bob is selling wienrs on the streets of London?

I was lucky enough to see them in 1988, my senior year of high school, at the Louisville Gardens. Great show, general admission. This has always been one of my favorite songs.

The lie about Michael's death was horrible and Bob Geldof is to blame for it. Beautiful man gone too soon. The ass beating he took from the cab driver seems to be the source of his spiral. P.S. it appears that Kylie Minogue was really in love with him. They surprised me as a couple.

Paloma's remake. Fab!

In addition to Hutchence and Tim Farriss, can we also talk about bassist Garry Gary Beers, seen below in 2016 still looking good.

What happened to JD Fortune? He was sexy as fuck when he was singing with them

If someone would post a picture of St. Bob here, the kids will be alright.

INXS died with Hutchence. Get a life.

bump

Never saw that Paloma Faith before. (Better than the original!)

R20, I had forgotten about Tim Farriss' meaty butt, but he also looked like Rosie O'Donnell with that '80's permed mullet.

I had forgotten the song "Suicide Blonde" until this thread popped up in my feed.

Except for the pronouns, it could apply to any pretty-boy blond gay too.

[quote] What happened to JD Fortune? He was sexy as fuck when he was singing with them

The one that wipes his ass with baby wipes?

Meh. Midnight Oil was/is a much better band.

I prefer Vivian Vance, lead singer of SUFFICIENT.

Icehouse!

INXS - I'm Only Looking (Deeper & Deeper) (David Morales Bad Yard Club Mix)

No normal man knows what a baby wipe is.

I still blame Geldorph for killing Micahel.

Love sensation. Suicide Blonde.

Errr, r55:

In an interview where he brought up the ass kicking by the cab driver R40 mentioned, Hutchence said that the worst part of the incident was that it prevented him from smelling or tasting anything. Apparently, when he got knocked out, the back of his head landed on concrete — he lost some of his senses.

He said, and I paraphrase, “The worst part is that I can’t smell or taste pussy anymore.”

Also, JD Fortune wasn’t very good, but he was also put in the impossible position of replacing Michael Hutchence. He was always a poor man’s Dave Gahan.

I'm not American, OP, so I don't understand American neologisms.

So what do you mean by the "crowd lose their shit"?

I always though Michael Hutchence was repulsive. He fell asleep during one of his heroin binges and a cigarette burned his fingers to the bone without him noticing. Bob Geldof probably was an asshole, but I totally understand he fought to keep the kids away from Hutchence and Yates. Hutchence was bogan trash!

Love INXS !!!

New Sensation & Disappear are my 2 faves from years of INXS hits.

The drummer was the hottest band member imo 😍

Did anyone see the new documentary about him, Mystify? It did a pretty good job of depicting the shy person that he was underneath the cocky rockstar exterior. It was made by his friend, Richard Lowenstein, who said that he was motivated when he said that he could not recognize the person depicted in all of the other docs, series etc

He did have big problems with fidelity, though and probably had cad tendencies...

^ 'Mystify' had long interviews with Michael's twin sister who demonstrated that Michael was pretty when young but would be a chipmunk-faced wrinkly man now at age 60.

r64, That wasn't his twin, she was his half sister....

When I finally got a passport over 15 years ago, my first trip abroad was to Prague, Czech Republican. Everyone wondered why I chose Prague, and it was seriously because I love the music video for INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart."

I saw them at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit for their The Swing tour (83-84).

Was grateful to have had the chance to seer them before they broke.

The two-part bio movie was much better than you'd think.

I am watching Mystify right now. he was so so so beautiful in an extremely masculine way. I also see Bono and Gavin Rossdale having copied him visually quite a bit.

One of the few 80's bands whose music really holds up still today. Michael Hutchence was gorgeous, so sexy and his death was so sad. Hard to believe it will be 23 years this November.

That head of hair was astonishing. if he had babies with his girlfriend Michelle the baby would have come out with a full Tawny Kitaen head of hair.

I wonder if his last girlfriend, Paula Yates, was as crazy as the tabs made her out to be.... His mom and sister spoke ill of her in their book, but they didn't have many good things to say about any of his girlfriends..

Shy and sensitive straight boys usually go for strong, bossy women who can lure them out of their shells with kinky sex, drugs and in some cases rock'n roll.

R59 Brain injuries are insidious and there was likely more going on other than the symptoms he described.

A few of those guys have meaty asses. I know Tim does, but I think his brother and one of the other ones does too.

Paula Yates was what a lot of men want, a mother and a whore.

I liked Dogs in Space.

I went to a restaurant in Antibes, late 90’s, there were pictures on the walls of Michael Hutchence and the Danish model (can’t remember her name) dining in the same place

Helena Christensen

In the first place, the supposedly adult Michael was "alone" with his brothers, his other bandmates, his birth family and a million Aussie friends. His hotel room on the night he died was a passing parade of visitors and phone calls.

In the second place, why is it Geldof's fault Michael's utterly useless partner couldn't be with him? If he needed her that much, she could have left Tiger with Bob for a week a month and visited Michael on the regular. Michael's money could have easily paid for a live-in nanny for those weeks if she wanted Tiger to have mothering. Geldof didn't have custody of Paula.

Whereas from Geldof's point of view, he was doubtless trying to prevent what did, in fact, happen - tiny child finds mother dead with a needle in her arm.

Mystify does strongly suggest Hutchence had persistent brain damage following the assault in Scandinavia, but Paula didn't have a brain in the first place.

For the DL readers, Paula wrote a very fun book, Village People, while living in a small village with Bob and the kids, describing village life. It's too bad that drugs took her down, she was a talented writer with a big heart. The whole situation when you include Peaches is just really sad.

I doubt MH had a brain to begin with, whatever was left of it was pickled in a constant cocktail of booze, drugs, sex and irresponsible thrill seeking. Not sure he ever had any interst beyond being the wild boy who burned the life candle both ends as fast as possible. No way I would have left my children with such a train wreck.

So did Michael die due to autoerotic aphixiation at a hotel in Sydney?

Michael used that rope to gain a bat-squeak orgasm.

Jussie used a longer rope to gain ignominy.

[quote]He did have big problems with fidelity, though and probably had cad tendencies...

Oh, R63, I think I can fall in love with you. Cad? It makes you sound so sweet to me for some strange reason!

Why thank you r84... (Full disclosure though: I'm a frau...)

Damn, R85. Why are all the good ones women?

Perhaps you have a gay brother?

We should be friends. You have an appreciation of the wonderful words of the English language.

And I wonder why all of the good ones are gay.....lol...Are you a writer R86? Litterateur?

I was lucky enough to have seen INXS on the Listen Like Thieves and Kick tours (as a teen). Saw at least 7 shows in the NYC area. LOVED them, have pics outside the venues with Jon & Tim and caught Michael’s tank top one night too. So sad when Michael had his head injury. I always thought it was a cycling accident but I’m reading here it was a street fight. He should have stayed with Helena, Paula was a messy one.