INXS: Access All Areas

----more---- Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (November 1993) was the fastest album release (only 15 months since Welcome…) since the band’s second album Underneath the Colours in 1981. Too much product too soon was the record label’s thoughts, and as such, this poorly-promoted release suffered commercially after 1992’s critically-acclaimed Welcome to Wherever You Are . That aside, Full Moon, Dirty Hearts...

From the outset, big thanks to all of the well-wishers who made episode 100 such a beautiful experience for Bee, the team, and me. Today, we are fortunate to delve deeper with the inimitable Darren Jones, whose access, anecdotes, and involvement with INXS have few peers.    We get to hear about Garry Gary Beers’ fantastic Mangrove Studios which was state-of-the-art for its time and gave back to th...

Bee and I proudly celebrate episode 100 of INXS: Access All Areas with an episode jam-packed with familiar voices expressing their heartfelt thanks and thoughts amidst a cavalcade of anecdotes. We especially deep dive with one of INXS’ true heroes, Darren Jones, who was a true pioneer in the website space in the late 1990s, collating and distributing news and content at a global level.   Destined...

Episode 99: O Canada INXS Love   Much like Australia, Canada is a country of true beauty and vast landscapes. Similar to INXS’ homeland, Canada was and still is a marketplace where rabid support and loyalty to the INXS catalogue remains to this day.    In episode 99, INXS: Access All Areas pays tribute to both band and Canadian fans for their mutual love for one another as myself and Bee, dive dee...

    It’s with a heavy heart that the world mourns the loss of Australia’s answer to Michael Jordan or Babe Ruth. Cricketer Shane Keith Warne (passed away on Friday, March 4th from a sudden heart attack at the age of only 52 in Thailand where he was holidaying at the time).    With 708 wickets in the difficult art of leg-spin bowling, Shane managed to make the long-forgotten art of leg-spin bowling...

With the final INXS track in Song Week upon us, we culminate with Never Tear Us Apart, a track that has grown from a beautiful ballad to truly iconic status. Ensuring a fourth consecutive top 10 from album KICK, Never Tear Us Apart is an alternative sounding Fats Domino-inspired waltz transformed into a beautiful, lush orchestral masterpiece.   Soaring the charts globally, this ballad never wastes...

Episode 96: INXS Song Deep Dive: Need You Tonight   The crowning Billboard chart performance of INXS’ career stateside, Need You Tonight in January 1988 soared to the top of the charts. The lead single off the album KICK, with this song the pressure and eyes of the world were waiting to see what INXS would come up with.   INXS was not to be outdone and not to disappoint. Need you Tonight captivate...

Well, folks, we are up and running in “Song Week” as we deep dive into the third groundbreaking and pivotal song that proved to be a shapeshifter for INXS. Today it’s 1985’s “What you Need” from the album Listen like Thieves.   A song that nearly never came to fruition if not for both Chris Thomas’ insistent ask for “one more song” with the hit-making scope and the band’s preparedness to polish up...

Episode 94: INXS Song Deep Dive: The One Thing Second up in our celebration of INXS song week is 1982’s The One Thing, a track that might be argued was the most significant musical leap and audience reaching of their careers. With shrewd management by Chris Murphy, INXS had Mark Opitz now at the helm who had the ability to bring out that “big INXS sound” for the first time.   With their first top...

  Bee and I are about to undertake our most ambitious recording workload with 5 episodes in 5 days!!! Why? Well, it’s time to go back and celebrate 5 “turning point and pivotal songs” in the INXS catalogue that remain fan staples and permeate the sound waves globally on a daily basis.    First up, we discuss the legendary Australian charts number 3 hit “Burn for You” in all its glory, with sounds...

      We return to Part 2 interview with Richard Clapton that takes things up a notch. Australia’s preeminent singer-songwriter continues to share fascinating tales of his days with INXS that include a life-changing night when he slept in the bed normally occupied by Michael and Kylie, the re-recording of INXS’ The Loved One in Paris, and his long-standing relationship with Chris Murphy.    Foreve...

BREAKING NEWS: “Rock n Roll Hall of Fame snub leads to fan revolt”!                 In an episode not to be missed, INXS: Access all Areas brings to you this “special edition, not to be missed” episode attacking the criminal omission of INXS off the latest 17 artist ballot that was released last weekend.   With such “non-rock n roll” artists like Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton and Lionel Richie maki...

Episode 90: Richard Clapton: INXS on the Avenue, Part 1   The 1970s were a seminal time worldwide for singer-songwriters with the names James Taylor, Billy Joel, Carol King, and Neil Sedaka permeating the cultural landscape. In Australia, Richard Clapton spearheaded the “down under” contribution to the field of songwriting success.    However, it was 1981 when a chance meeting with six young music...

Episode 89: Happy Straya Day, INXS and Fans   January 26th is Australia Day, and it’s with patriotic pride we take listeners back in time when this freshman band of brothers blasted out of the blocks with a gunslinging swagger to take on the Australian music scene. Full of passion and pride, INXS were proud of their Aussie heritage but never made it a cringey marketing ploy unlike their contempora...

Episode 88: Happy 62nd Birthday Michael Hutchence   C’mon INXS fans! Let’s take heed from Andrew Farriss, who recently on our podcast urged all fans to celebrate Michael’s birthday rather than commiserate his passing. So, with January 22nd upon us, that’s what we are going to do. Michael Kelland Hutchence, born in 1960 Sydney to Patricia Glassop and Kell Hutchence, grew up to be one of the most ch...

Episode 87: Your INXS Dream Concert Event (Pt. 2)             The Dream INXS Concert continues... with encore after encore amounting to a spectacular, surprising yet wonderful ending. A concert with our heroes at the forefront where they should be, ready to be honored by their fans, family, friends, and peers! This epic concert was created by the fans for the fans. It was so sad that we never got...

Your INXS Dream Concert Event (Pt. 1)   Happy new year everybody, and we are pumped to back on the audio waves with what may be our most enjoyable, fantastical, and tongue-in-cheek episode. As true INXS fans, we all deep down harbour that one wishes to see the most spectacular concert experience with the dearly departed Michael and co. upfront and personal delivering their craft.   So, in the firs...

Episode 85 "And that's a Xmas Wrap"     As we say every week “that’s a wrap….. a Xmas Wrap” for 2021 and we dedicate our final episode of the year to our patrons and listener community. Bee and I reflect on the episodes that made 2021 a true joy and have a few INXS band members drop by and wish a festive cheer to us all. Looking forward to 2022, we share with you the topics and guests we are pumpe...

        After 18 months of deep-dive album reviews, from the self-titled debut to 1992’s Welcome to Wherever You Are, Bee and I took on the exciting task of compiling a Spotify playlist of “great deep cut” tracks that were never singles around the world. These songs in many ardent INXS fans’ opinions have been cited as favourites and as such, we wanted to highlight their “awesomeness”.     More th...

Episode 83 Richard Lowenstein: An Original Story       It’s often opined that Chris Murphy was the 7th member of INXS and, from a business point of view such sentiment, seemed more than legitimate. However, it’s without a doubt that artistically Richard Lowenstein was that 7th member. Joining the INXS family in Northern Queensland as that pasty, vitamin D-deprived emerging auteur in early 1984, he...

Episode 82: Jon Farriss; A Special Relationship.       In this modern world where times have been tougher than ever “true friendships” are golden. So today we celebrate the enduring relationship between Jon Farriss and Britain’s Simon Yeo whose lives cross paths in the early 1990s and has stood the test of time and distance! Simon Yeo was a Merchandising Manager with Polydor Music and got acquaint...

Episode 81: Michael Hutchence, My Friend       Episode 81: Michael Hutchence, My Friend   In the week we remember and reminisce about the life of Michael Kelland Hutchence, it only seems appropriate that we hear from the man who arguably was closest to him from an artistic point of view, Andrew Farriss. We thank Andrew for his preparedness to be vulnerable and share intimate and revealing memories...

  Episode 80:Thanksgiving 2021: INXS, An American Love Affair           Thanksgiving 2021: INXS, An American Love Affair   Outside their humble Australian origins, the USA was the first country to embrace the new wave dance/rock sensibilities of INXS. 1983 was a seminal year for the band as they toiled long and hard from coast to coast, imparting their immense live playing abilities for all to see...

 It’s that time of year again where November 22nd hits our calendars. Originally synonymous with the date that JFK was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. It’s now synonymous with the INXS and wider music industry as the day we lost Michael Hutchence. As mentioned by Andrew Farriss in our recent deep dive interview, let’s try and use this day, not just in solemnity but also as an acknowledgment of the...

With an early drop, part 3 of our Andrew and Mark deep dive won’t let you down. With a detailed exploration of side 2, we get further valuable insights into the production and musical excellence of Welcome to Wherever you Are’s quieter and more experimental moments. As always, the conversation veers into interesting anecdotes such as touring, other artists influenced by INXS’ legacy, and the endur...