INXS Publications - INXS: Story to Story: The Official Autobiography

ATRIA BOOKS
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New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2005 by INXS Publications Pty Limited

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information address Atria Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8403-5

ISBN-10: 0-7432-8403-8

ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8404-2 (Pbk.)

ISBN-10: 0-7432-8404-6 (Pbk.)
eISBN-13: 978-0-7432-9002-9

First Atria Books trade paperback edition November 2006

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Design by Joel Avirom and Jason Snyder

Manufactured in the United States of America

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This book is dedicated to the memory of Bill Beers, Jill Farriss, Jack Pengilly, Kell Hutchence, and Michael Hutchence. They are all deeply missed.

If Three Were Six:
How the Brothers
Farriss Doubled
Their Numbers

We Come from
Garageland

How the West Wasnt
Won: To Live and
Strive in Perth

Weird Scenes
Inside the
Ore Mines

The Miles, the
Managers, and
the Start of
the Crusade

Recording
Can Be Fun

Over the
Valleys, Could
Take a While

Have Accent,
Will Travel:
The New Wave Breaks
on U.S. Shores

Dont Miss the
Opening Act

THE HISTORY OF
LESTER HISTERMINE

All That and
Then Some

Do As the Romans
Do: Postcards
from the Success
Tsunami

When the
Love Around
Begins to
Suffer

This Aint
the Good
Life

The Tallest
Poppy Must
Be Shorn

I Thought I Was Doing
No Wrong

THE HISTORY OF
GAETANO PERONI

When Nothing
Stays the Same

Not Enough
Time for All
That I Want
for You

THE HISTORY OF
MR. CHARDONNAY

A Detailed Review of a Life Well Lived, Thankfully with Notes

THERES A HELL OF A LOT I CANT REMEMBER, but luckily I have diligently kept a daily diary since 1979. So much has happened during our career that the diaries became my memory or backup data and safeguarded me from losing the minutiae of my lifes most precious memories. I enjoyed writing down the events of our lives as they unfolded, and from the first time I did so, it was my intention that one day there would be a book about the band. It is spooky when I think about how I knew even back then that we would achieve enough to warrant a book that chronicled our history. I had a strong premonition from the first time this band jammed together that one day we were going to make it big. And we did. I cant put my finger on how I knew it would happen, but that premonition was strengthened even further when we changed the name of the band from the Farriss Brothers to INXS and were taken on by our first real manager, Gary Morris. It was our destiny.

That was mid-1979 and up until then, Tim and I were the bands official manager and treasurer, respectively, for the bands first three years. We came together, six schoolmates from the northern suburbs of Sydneyand the fact that we stayed together and remain close after so long is a feat in itself. Also the fact that we came from a place as far away from the rest of the world as you can get and have sold over 30 million records is something I still marvel at. We had no idea where it was going back then, but we knew it was going somewhere, because we knew one thing for surewe had a sound that was different and a very special chemistry.

But we soon learned that talent and drive were not the only ingredients we needed. Behind every successful band there is sharp management, a committed record company, a clever producer, savvy agents, dedicated publicists, a relentless road crew, and a Herculean amount of hard workand thats not all. You also need great songs, true belief in yourself, impeccable timing, and a giant chunk of luck. To get a bunch of Top 10 albums around the world, everyone and everything has to be on the same page, working together at exactly the right time.

Take it from me, when it does happen, it happens at the speed of light. All of a sudden, everyone wants a piece of you and everyone tells you how fantastic you are. Wed been together for over ten years by then and had earned our success in increments. We grew popular in steps, winning over listeners territory by territory, country by country, until we had a worldwide web of fans and peers. Then the demands on us skyrocketed higher than wed ever dreamed ofand nothing could have prepared us for that. It was a head trip that I cant fully explain, and I dont think anyone else who has lived through it could either. We did our best to remain sane with our feet on the ground, and for the most part we did. We were aided by our down-to-earth Aussie upbringing, but there were times when we just looked at each other and said This is insane!!!

From the outside, hitting the big time looks pretty glamorous, and let me tell you, there were many moments of glamour, but they were truly earned and didnt happen overnightit took us ten years, six albums, and over a million miles by road and air to get there. We were reared on travel from the start, from the days we piled ourselves into beat-up cars to traverse enormous distances in Australia, and often all six of us squeezed into the one car. Looking back, were lucky we made it at allour cars were old and worn out, and if wed been stranded long enough on some of our countrys desert highways, the heat and desolation would have killed us as it had so many Australian explorers on those paths a century or two before. When we hit the peak of our stride, we never forgot where wed come fromthe Aussie pub circuit where wed learned to play.

The Australian pub scene in the first half of the eighties was a unique culture that will never be equaledit was a phenomenal, organic meeting of talent, timing, and community. In Melbourne, Sydney, and all across the land we would perform every night, sometimes two or three times in different venues the same night. It was a renaissance of youth, a generational spirit and the birth of a native musical identity. There were venues galorea band could play nearly every night for a month in Melbourne or Sydney and never play in the same place twice. There were no regulations, so the music went loud and late every night in smoky, sweaty, beer-soaked rooms that got so packed and hot, the condensation dripped from the ceiling like rain. In a scene like that, you very quickly worked out what an audience wanted to hear. If you couldnt cut it live, you soon knew it. Fire codes and occupancy limits did not exist in those dayspeople were admitted until the place could hold no more. Naturally, those conditions bred many a fight, even though there was little room to move, let alone throw a punch. It was rough and tough and crazy and loads of fun. How well you packed a pub meant more to a record company interested in signing you than what was on your demo tape.