Michael Hutchence

Its been 10 years today since Michael passed.

I remember arriving home from work and my Dad met me at the front door with the news. I was floored. I went down to my room and put Kick on the turntable (I was old school back in 1997 kids - even though I had Kick at that time on CD, Mp3 and Vinyl I STILL chose to put the vinyl on). And the needle dropped on New Sensation and I felt good to listen to something that made me happy.

But then I got the shits.

You see Inxs were in Australia to start a club tour the following week. Recent albums had tanked here in Australia. The media (including most mainstream music media) were only focusing on the Hutch / Paula Yates / Bob Geldof saga. So the band were going back to their roots and playing small clubs and theatres as opposed to their previous 1991 tour of Australian arena's. They were playing at Waves nightclub in Towradgi near Wollongong the next Tuesday night - it was the first show of the tour. Sean and I hadnt seen Inxs live before, and we were stoked that we had tickets. We had it all planned how we were going to get to the gig early and hang out at the backstage entrance where we both had met so many of our favourite bands before (Him - Cypress Hill, Me - Anthrax, Mike Muir, Mike Patton, Biohazard, L7, Helmet, Beastie Boys, Offspring). We had our vinyl ready to get autographed. We had cameras ready to go. And - most importantly - we were finally going to see Inxs.

But that didnt happen.

I first got into Inxs like most Aussie kids in the mid 80s who would watch Countdown on a Sunday night. There was lots of cheesy crap back then (yes, I did once buy a Wa Wa Nee tape), but Inxs seemed really cool. The music was good and the singer had a certain swagger about him. The band won some big awards at the 1986 Countdown Awards, I remember watching with my day and I used to call the band Incks (rhyming with drinks), and my dad was all like "no no no, its Inxs as in in excess". Why im telling you all that I dont know.

Anyway I was watching Video Hits one day in late 87 / early 88. It was the first time id heard or seen Devil Inside. I hadnt heard Kick at that time, so it was all new to me. But the intro man, the intro. I can still remember thinking just how cool that guitar riff was. The clip was mad and the chicks were cute. I saw the album cover a few days later and it just looked amazing - the black and red writing of the bands logo and the fold out cover of the LP with the half photos of the band. Damn impressive. A friend made a copy of the album for me on a tape that would eventually be beyond worn out. I played it over and over and over. The whole album is just a killer - even now when i listen to it I dont get bored of it.

Kick was the soundtrack to 1988. While I was way more into Bon Jovi and their Slippery When Wet LP, I was in a minority. Everyone was listening to Kick. The cute girls at school, the older kids in the neighborhood, it was all over the radio. I didnt get to own my own copy of it until March 1989 when I got it for a present from a friend for my 13th birthday. Even though I had that taped copy it still felt like the first time id ever heard it when the needle hit the vinyl and the tunes came out of the speakers. Memories.








I really got into Michael's Max Q project in late 89. The lead single from the project Way Of The World has this amazing chorus:

Whether it's God or the bomb
It's just the same
It's only fear under another name

Im not sure exactly what makes those three lines stand out, but they just do.

I got into the X album (Disappear being my favourite track). Welcome To Wherever You Are came out in 92 when I was heavy into Guns, so I didnt pay it a lot of attention. Though I did enjoy Beautiful Girl and Heaven Sent. The clip for Taste It made certain parts of me extremely happy whenever Mtv played it late on a Friday or Saturday night (back when Mtv played video clips). I guess I just didnt get into the samples and loops and stuff they were into back then. But now?? Much different story. This is one of my favourite Inxs albums. The bass loop from Taste It was my ringtone for a while. So damn cool. Full Moon Dirty Hearts was so so, the standout track for me is Please (you got that), featuring Ray Charles on guest vocal. I was truly over Inxs when Elegantly Wasted was released in early 1997, though didnt mind "Dont Lose Your Head" - now I listen to bits occasionally, with the title track being a stand out from that album.

FYI, Beautiful Girl is the ringtone when Yvee calls me. The intro is perfect. I smile when I hear it. Havent heard it for a while now.

Like the majority of my favourite bands I didnt get to see Inxs live in their prime. That show mentioned above a few days after Michael died was to be the first time. I managed to be one of the lucky Sydneysiders who scored a ticket to see Inxs with Jon Stevens from Noiseworks at the Metro in 2000. It was a great performance, if I recall correctly they opened with Jon Farris doing a solo drum intro thing then went into New Sensation. I should check - I recorded the show on mini disc and havent listened to it since the day after the gig. Jon Stevens was a great fit for the band - it was a shame it didnt work out.



The Terrence Trent D'Arby incident was a farce. I dont ever want to see that footage again.

There was rumours that Suze DeMarchi was going to join the band. That would have been way cool. Great fit in my opinion. I heard there was a few rehearsals. I hope that some of that audio/video is out there in bootleg land.

Im in two minds over the whole RockStar thing. The fan in me says its a mistake. The TV nerd in me says it made for great viewing. Perth car importer Johnny Drama and his wife are good friends with the family of Mig Ayesa, so they followed the series closely. Johnny's wife once had an encounter with Hutch in a Perth hotel bar when she was a teenager growing up in Perth. Nothing too saucy I think. She keeps starting to tell me the story, but then she keeps drinking cheap liquor out of a pineapple in a 5 star resport in Maui, and I just never get to hear the end of the story. One day im sure she will tell me the whole story.

I think JD Fortune is a great frontman, and comparing him to Hutch is unfair. But I do feel that the band are currently riding the success of the Hutchence era a bit too much. Theres rumours of the band changing their name to the Farris Brothers. It would still be the same to me.

I had a cool Inxs moment in New York City on October 11 2005. I was at the Garden watching U2, and Bono had just dedicated Sometimes You Cant Make It On Your Own to Michael. I was on the front row barrier and was about 5 people away from a girl from Melbourne. At the end of the song I started the infamous "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Oy Oy" chant. Georgia and I hi-fived after the chant, and we had the strangest looks from the hardcore New Yorkers standing around us. I guess you had to be there.

One day ill post the tracklist to my Inxs mix CD. Ive had some favourable comments from friends who ive made copies for. Feel free to post your track list to compare.

So thats my Inxs story.

Over at Inxs.com the band have put together a nice tribute to Michael.