INXS is the debut studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 13 October 1980, by Deluxe Records. The album showcases a new wave and ska style the band soon abandoned in favor of post-punk, and later, pop rock. INXS recorded the album in midnight to dawn sessions during 1979 to 1980 after performing, on average, two gigs a day at local pubs around Sydney. All tracks are credited to band members, who co-produced the album with Duncan McGuire (ex-Ayers Rock).

The album was exclusive to Australia and New Zealand for four years, with an international release not coming until 1984. INXS peaked at No. 27 on the Kent Music Report albums chart, and spawned the single, "Just Keep Walking" (September 1980), which became their first top 40 hit in the country.

Background

The Farriss Brothers, an Australian progressive rock band, formed in 1977 with a line-up of Garry Gary Beers (bass guitar and double bass); brothers Andrew (keyboards and guitar), Jon (drums, keyboards) and Tim Farriss (lead guitar); Michael Hutchence (lead vocals); and Kirk Pengilly (guitar, saxophone and backing vocals). at the request of Gary Morris, manager of pub rock band Midnight Oil, and transitioned to a ska and punk influenced sound. The band performed its first song with the name on 1 September 1979 at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Umina, then signed a five-album record deal with a Sydney independent label, Deluxe Records, run by Michael Browning, a former manager of AC/DC.

INXS released their first single, "Simple Simon"/"We Are the Vegetables", in Australia and France in May 1980. The single had its debut TV performance on Simon Townsend's Wonder World.

Recording

The self-titled debut album was recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Annandale, Sydney. It was co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire (ex-Ayers Rock), with all songs attributed to the entire band, at the insistence of Murphy. Deluxe gave them a budget of $10,000 to record the album, so to keep within the budget they had to record from midnight to dawn, usually after doing one or more performances earlier that night.

Musical style

thumb|[[XTC, an English rock band compared to INXS]]

INXS is primarily a new wave, ska, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the album as a "variation on droning new wave synth pop," with only traces of R&B and dance that defined the band's later work.

The band's second studio album, Underneath the Colors (1981), while also influenced by post-punk, ska and new wave, is the beginning of their transition to rock music, with a sound that leaned more toward punk-funk, and is seen as setting the band up for mainstream success. but was unsuccessful in the latter, a theme for the band in the early 1980s.

These early records demonstrated their new wave/ska/pop style, and were followed by near constant touring with almost 300 shows during 1981 as the band developed their status as a live act. In 1981, they signed Gary Grant as their tour manager, who then became co-manager a year later. Between touring commitments, the band released their third single in May 1981, "The Loved One", which was a cover of a 1966 song by Australian group The Loved Ones. The song was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney; and peaked in the Top 20.

After the success of the band's third and fourth albums, Shabooh Shoobah (1982) and The Swing (1984) respectively, their self-titled debut album and Underneath the Colors were released outside Australia and New Zealand in 1984, by Atco Records. The four albums had local chart success, but also appeared on international charts, with INXS peaking at No. 164 on the Billboard 200. This allowed the band to find worldwide success on their fifth album, Listen Like Thieves (1985), peaking at No. 48 in the United Kingdom. While its reviews were mixed, this was a first for INXS, who had been ignored in the country.

| rev3 = The Daily Vault

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INXS

  • Michael Hutchence – vocals
  • Tim Farriss – guitar
  • Kirk Pengilly – saxophone, vocals, guitar
  • Garry Gary Beers – bass, vocals
  • Jon Farriss – drums, vocals
  • Andrew Farriss – keyboards

Production details

  • Producer – Duncan McGuire, INXS
  • Engineer – Duncan McGuire
  • Studios – Trafalgar Studios, Annandale, New South Wales
  • Mixing studio – A.T.A. Studios

Artwork

  • Cover art – Gecko Graphics, Noël Coward

Charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+Chart performance for INXS

!scope="col"|Chart (1980–1981)

!scope="col"|Peak<br />position

|-

!scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

|align="center"|27

|-

!scope="col"|Chart (1984)

!scope="col"|Peak<br />position

|-

|}

References

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