Friday, May 5, 2023 8pm ET: Feature LP: INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are (1992)

Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, which was released on August 3, 1992. With grunge and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more “raw” sound to their music. In its four star review of the album, Q called it “… a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory … It rocks,” and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992. It was the first album by an Australian artist to debut on the UK album chart at number one since AC/DC’s Back in Black, released in 1980.

Despite the positive critical reception, along with charting well on most countries’ album charts (including topping the UK chart and reaching number two in Australia), the album marked a commercial decline for the band, especially in the United States, where it only peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The commercial decline was partially due to the lack of promotion by their label and changing musical tastes towards grunge and alternative. Also hurting promotions, the band elected to take a break and not tour in support of the album. The plan was that the band would instead record the follow-up (which went on to become 1993’s Full Moon, Dirty Hearts) and then tour in support of both albums. The downside of this, however, was that Welcome to Wherever You Are faded from press and public attention more quickly, and, as a result, failed to match the success of INXS’s two previous albums, Kick and X.

While the single “Baby Don’t Cry” was a Top 20 hit in the UK, the album’s biggest American hit was “Not Enough Time”, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for five consecutive weeks.

1. “Questions” 2:19
2. “Heaven Sent” 3:18
3. “Communication” 5:29
4. “Taste It” 3:27
5. “Not Enough Time” 4:26
6. “All Around” 3:30
7. “Baby Don’t Cry” 4:57
8. “Beautiful Girl” 3:33
9. “Wishing Well” 3:40
10. “Back on Line” 3:24
11. “Strange Desire” 4:39
12. “Men and Women” 4:38

Michael Hutchence – vocals
Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitars, orchestral arrangements (7, 12)
Tim Farriss – guitars
Kirk Pengilly – guitars, saxophone, vocals
Garry Gary Beers – bass, vocals
Jon Farriss – drums, percussion, vocals
Sunil De Silva – percussion (5)
Australian Concert Orchestra – orchestra (7, 12)
Mick Kenny – orchestral arrangements (7, 12)
Colin Piper – conductor (7, 12)
Phillip Hartl – concertmaster (7, 12)
Deni Hines – backing vocals (5, 11)

Wednesday 2/15/23 6pm ET: Feature LP: INXS – The Swing (1984)

The Swing is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released in April 1984. It peaked at number one on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart for five non-consecutive weeks from early April to mid-May 1984. The lead single “Original Sin” was recorded in New York City with Nile Rodgers and featured Daryl Hall on backing vocals. Overall, the album featured a slightly harder-edged sound than their previous releases.

1. “Original Sin” 5:19
2. “Melting in the Sun” 3:25
3. “I Send a Message” 3:24
4. “Dancing on the Jetty” 4:34
5. “The Swing” 3:52
6. “Johnson’s Aeroplane” 3:53
7. “Love Is (What I Say)” 3:42
8. “Face the Change” 3:34
9. “Burn for You” 4:59
10. “All the Voices” 6:06

Michael Hutchence – vocals
Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitars, string arrangements
Kirk Pengilly – guitars, saxophone, vocals
Tim Farriss – guitars, bass
Garry Gary Beers – basses
Jon Farriss – drums, percussion, vocals
William Motzing – string arrangements
Daryl Hall – backing vocals on “Original Sin”
Sherine Abeyratne – backing vocals
Andrew Duffield – backing vocals
Kim Liat Edwards – backing vocals
Sean Kelly – backing vocals
Norma Lewis – backing vocals
Jenny Morris – backing vocals
Frank Simms – backing vocals
David Spinner – backing vocals

Friday 11/11/22 9:15pm ET: Feature LP: INXS – Original Sin (2010)

Original Sin is the twelfth and final studio album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released on physical media November 16, 2010 by Epic Records, Atco Records and Polydor after having been released digitally on October 28, 2010. Original Sin features covers of their earlier songs, with each song featuring a guest singer. J.D. Fortune, who was the winner of the Rock Star: INXS competition and featured on the band’s previous album Switch, performed lead vocals for the 1990 track “The Stairs”, being the last contribution from Fortune before his departure in 2011.

1. “Drum Opera” 2:56
2. “Mediate” (featuring Tricky) 4:08
3. “Original Sin” (featuring Rob Thomas and DJ Yaleidys) 4:20
4. “Never Tear Us Apart” (featuring Ben Harper & Mylène Farmer) 3:57
5. “Beautiful Girl” (featuring Pat Monahan) 4:08
6. “New Sensation” (featuring Deborah De Corral) 3:42
7. “Just Keep Walking” (featuring Dan Sultan) 2:42
8. “Mystify” (featuring Loane and John Mayer) 5:49
9. “To Look at You” (featuring Kav Temperley) 3:59
10. “Kick” (featuring Nikka Costa) 5:10
11. “Don’t Change” (featuring Andrew Farriss and Kirk Pengilly) 4:15
12. “The Stairs” (featuring J.D. Fortune) 4:31
13. “Love Is (What I Say)” (featuring JD Fortune) 3:50
14. “Never Tear Us Apart” (Orchestral Instrumental) 3:50

Garry Gary Beers – bass
Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitar, vocals on “Don’t Change”
Jon Farriss – drums, percussion, vocals
Tim Farriss – guitar
J.D. Fortune – vocals on “The Stairs”
Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, vocals

Thursday 10/20/22 6pm ET: Feature LP: INXS – X (1990)

X is Australian rock band INXS’s seventh studio album, released on September 25, 1990. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with “Suicide Blonde” and “Disappear” (both Top 10 in the US). Both singles were later used in the soundtrack to the 1991 American teen comedy Mystery Date. Two other singles from X were “Bitter Tears” and “By My Side” but they had less chart success. A fifth single, “The Stairs”, was only issued in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Live Baby Live album.

X was the third consecutive INXS album produced by Chris Thomas. The title, the Roman numeral for “10”, represents the band’s tenth year since their debut album was released in 1980. X features a sample of blues-harp player Charlie Musselwhite on “Suicide Blonde”, and Musselwhite himself playing on “Who Pays the Price” and “On My Way”.

1. “Suicide Blonde” 3:53
2. “Disappear” 4:10
3. “The Stairs” 4:56
4. “Faith in Each Other” 4:09
5. “By My Side” 3:06
6. “Lately” 3:37
7. “Who Pays the Price” 3:37
8. “Know the Difference” 3:18
9. “Bitter Tears” 3:49
10. “On My Way” 2:56
11. “Hear That Sound” 4:05

Michael Hutchence – lead vocals, backing vocals
Andrew Farriss – keyboards, programming, guitars
Jon Farriss – keyboards, programming, drums
Tim Farriss – guitars
Kirk Pengilly – guitars, saxophone, backing vocals
Garry Gary Beers – bass
Charlie Musselwhite – harmonica (7, 10)

Tuesday 7/12/22 11pm ET: Feature LP: INXS – Shabooh Shoobah (1982)

Shabooh Shoobah is Australian rock group INXS’s third studio album and was released on October 16, 1982. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 94 weeks. It was the band’s first album to be released worldwide and appeared on the United States Billboard 200 and on the Hot Pop Albums Chart. The album spawned four singles, “The One Thing”, “Don’t Change”, “To Look at You” and “Black and White”. It was produced by Mark Opitz for WEA Australia with most tracks written by band members Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence.

1. “The One Thing” 3:24
2. “To Look at You” 3:55
3. “Spy of Love” 3:58
4. “Soul Mistake” 2:57
5. “Here Comes” 3:00
6. “Black and White” 3:40
7. “Golden Playpen” 3:03
8. “Jan’s Song” 3:18
9. “Old World New World” 3:38
10. “Don’t Change” 4:24

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

Tuesday 4/5/22 11pm ET: Feature LP: INXS – Kick (1987)

Kick is the sixth studio album by the Australian rock band INXS, released in 1987 by WEA in Australia, Atlantic Records in the United States and Mercury Records in Europe.

As the band’s most successful studio album, Kick has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA and spawned four US top 10 singles (“New Sensation”, “Never Tear Us Apart”, “Devil Inside” and “Need You Tonight”, the last of which reached the top of the US Billboard singles charts). At the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards, the band took home five Moonmen for the “Need You Tonight”/”Mediate” video.

The album was produced by British producer Chris Thomas and recorded by David Nicholas in Sydney, Australia, and in Paris, France. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain at Air Studios in London.

1. “Guns in the Sky” 2:21
2. “New Sensation” 3:39
3. “Devil Inside” 5:14
4. “Need You Tonight” 3:01
5. “Mediate”  2:36
6. “The Loved One” 3:37
7. “Wild Life” 3:10
8. “Never Tear Us Apart” 3:05
9. “Mystify” 3:17
10. “Kick” 3:14
11. “Calling All Nations” 3:02
12. “Tiny Daggers” 3:29

Wednesday 12/22/21 12am ET: Feature LP: INXS – Listen Like Thieves (1985)

Listen Like Thieves is the fifth studio album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released on October 14, 1985. It spent two weeks at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Considered an international breakthrough album for the band, it peaked at No. 11 on the United States Billboard 200, No. 24 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums and top 50 in the United Kingdom.

The album featured the band’s first top 5 single in the U.S., “What You Need”, and it also won the group the Countdown Music and Video Award for ‘Best Video’ with that single, a sign of the critical acclaim that INXS had achieved. Listen Like Thieves also marks the beginning of the group’s off-and-on alliance with producer Chris Thomas.

1. “What You Need” 3:35
2. “Listen Like Thieves” 3:46
3. “Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)” 3:56
4. “Shine Like It Does” 3:05
5. “Good + Bad Times” 2:46
6. “Biting Bullets” 2:49
7. “This Time” 3:11
8. “Three Sisters” 2:27
9. “Same Direction” 4:58
10. “One x One” 3:05
11. “Red Red Sun” 3:32

Michael Hutchence – vocals
Tim Farriss – guitar, synthesizers
Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, vocals
Garry Gary Beers – bass, vocals
Jon Farriss – drums, vocals
Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitar
Ray Cooper – percussion on “Same Direction”

Friday – July 2, 2021

Friday 7/2/21 12pm ET: Artist Countdown: INXS – Top 30 Hits

INXS, an Australian rock band, consists of 12 studio albums, 62 singles, 12 compilation albums, 4 live albums and 5 extended plays. Today we feature the Top 30 Hits.

1	Suicide Blonde	1990
2	Disappear	1990
3	Never Tear Us Apart	1988
4	Need You Tonight	1987
5	New Sensation	1988
6	Devil Inside	1988
7	Bitter Tears	1991
8	Heaven Sent	1992
9	Beautiful Girl	1993
10	What You Need	1985
11	Elegantly Wasted	1997
12	Shining Star	1991
13	Good Times (Jimmy Barnes and INXS)	1987
14	Original Sin	1984
15	Mystify	1989
16	Baby Don’t Cry	1992
17	This Time	1985
18	Not Enough Time	1992
19	The One Thing	1982
20	Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)	1986
21	I Send a Message	1984
22	Listen Like Thieves	1986
23	Don’t Change	1982
24	The Loved One	1981
25	Stay Young	1981
26	Black and White	1983
27	Kick	1988
28	Just Keep Walking	1980
29	Dancing on the Jetty	1984
30	Simple Simon	1980

Tuesday 6/15/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

1980-1989

Tuesday 6/8/21 3pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

Featuring tunes from Duran Duran, Animotion, Pointer Sisters, Ratt, Bob Seger, Billy Joel, and more and more . . .

Tuesday 6/1/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

Featuring tunes from David Lee Roth, Southern Pacific, Ray Parker Junior, Kathy Mattea, Whitney Houston, Queen, Paula Abdul, Carlene Carter, Police, Ramones, Oak Ridge Boys, Honeymoon Suite, Alabama, Genesis and more. . . 2pm – 6pm ET

Tuesday 5/25/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

Featuring tunes from Pointer Sisters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Police, Eddy Grant, Pat Benatar, INXS, Kenny Loggins, Def Leppard, Whispers, Pam Tillis, Dan Hartman, Night Ranger, Go Go’s and more . . .

In Memoriam: Chris Murphy (1954 – 2021) INXS Manager / Entrepreneur

Christopher Mark “CM” Murphy (November 9, 1954 – January 16, 2021) was an Australian music and multimedia entrepreneur. He was the band manager for INXS (late 1979 to June 1995, December 2008 to November 2012) and Models (from late 1984 to mid-1987). He died on 16 January 2021, aged 66.

Murphy continued as a booking agent until late in 1979 when he met with Gary Morris then-manager of Australian rock groups Midnight Oil and INXS. Morris wanted to focus on Midnight Oil and asked Murphy to look after INXS, Murphy recalled: The night Morris offered them to me, I told him I’d take them midway through their third song. I stood there thinking, “This is pretty funky’. This kid up front is pretty weird. This band plays really, really well … What Morris didn’t realise was that I only intended to take them on as their booking agent. I didn’t want to be their manager.

Nevertheless, by 1980 Murphy had “dissolved his rock agency and became manager of the band”. He subsequently hired Gary Grant as the group’s touring manager and by 1982 Grant was his business partner at MMA Management. In July that year Murphy had brokered a deal with Atco Records for INXS after “[he] had made numerous overseas trips setting up contacts”. Grant declared that the “direct signing to a US label was one of the crucial elements in INXS’s success”. In 1983 MMA set up an office in New York and during the next three years either Murphy or Grant spent “10, 11 months of each year there”.

In late 1984 Melbourne-based alternative rock group, Models, were considering breaking up, their label Mushroom Records tempted them with an offer of recording with US producer Reggie Lucas. INXS encouraged Murphy to sign the group to MMA: under his influence Models pursued a more commercial sound to a radio-friendly format. Models relocated to Sydney and long-term member, Andrew Duffield, was forced out of the group by Murphy under “controversial circumstances”.

According to The Canberra Times’ Tony Sarno “in the industry [Grant] and his partner [Murphy] are seen as good operators”. By April 1986 INXS were “selling records overseas. Lots of them. [Grant] delights in telling how INXS, no, MMA Management as well have calculated success in America. He talks quickly, with an authority bordering on aggression”.

Jenny Morris (ex-The Crocodiles, QED) told Stuart Coupe of The Canberra Times that back in 1985 Murphy “rang up and said, ‘Why don’t you come on the road with INXS for a couple of weeks and fill in a bit of time’ … I thought I might as well, and that turned into a two years thing that meant I did two world tours with the band”. Morris had supplied backing vocals on their April 1984 album, The Swing, she performed a duet with INXS’ lead singer, Michael Hutchence on their cover version of “Jackson” (also in April on Dekadance), and toured with them from 1985.

Under the management of Murphy and Grant, INXS went from a Sydney pub band to playing international venues including headlining a show at Wembley Stadium in July 1991 with 74,000 in attendance. INXS sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Murphy also assisted in the commercial success of Models, which achieved two hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in 1985, “Barbados” (March, No. 2) and “Out of Mind, Out of Sight” (July, No. 1).

During October 1986 Murphy and Grant teamed with fellow managers Jeremy Fabinyi (Mental as Anything), Mark Pope (Jimmy Barnes, Divinyls), and Ken West (I’m Talking) to stage the Australian Made series of concerts. The tour performance order was Mental as Anything, I’m Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, Barnes and INXS. It began in Hobart in December and visited all state capitals ending in Sydney in late January the following year. Although the tour had been announced with claims of Australian mateship and cooperation, arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film. Some bands felt they had been coerced into unfavourable tour contracts. The tour ended in a fracas when Murphy and Fabinyi argued backstage in Sydney and came to blows.

In the 1980s Murphy invested in digital broadcasting and music sales but also organic farming. He created a large-scale free range/organic chicken operation and ran a business for daily delivery of organic lamb to restaurants around the world. In 1987 Murphy was rated by BRW magazine as Australian Entrepreneur of the Year In 1988 he established an independent record label, rooART, initially distributed by PolyGram.

Murphy signed Australian acts to rooArt including Crash Politics, The Hummingbirds, Ratcat and You Am I. In June 1991 Ratcat had simultaneous number-one single, “Don’t Go Now”, and album, Blind Love, on the ARIA charts. In 1992 Murphy signed a deal with Time Warner Inc. for international distribution. In February 1995 You Am I had a number-one album with Hi Fi Way.Later rooArt acts included Wendy Matthews (ex-Models) and The Screaming Jets which also helped the label become more commercially popular in Australia. In the 1990s, he sold his publishing company, MMA Music, to PolyGram Music Publishing.

“It is with great sadness that Caroline Murphy and family confirm that Christopher (CM) Mark Murphy, Chairman of Murphy Petrol Group, has today passed away peacefully at his beloved Ballina property ‘Sugar Beach Ranch’ surrounded by his family,” Murphy Petrol Group wrote in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

While no cause of death was provided, the statement noted that Murphy battled Mantle Cell lymphoma.

Tuesday 3pm ET: Feature Artist – INXS

INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band’s founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For 20 years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock and alternative rock style that included funk and dance elements.

In 1984, INXS had their first number-one hit in Australia with “Original Sin”. The band would later achieve international success in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s with the hit albums Listen Like Thieves, Kick, and X, as well as the singles “What You Need”, “Need You Tonight” (the band’s only number-one single in the United States), “Devil Inside”, “Never Tear Us Apart”, “Suicide Blonde” and “New Sensation”.

Following Hutchence’s death in November 1997, INXS made appearances with several guest singers and toured and recorded with Jon Stevens as lead singer beginning in 2002. In 2005, members of INXS participated in Rock Star: INXS, a reality television series that culminated in the selection of Canadian J.D. Fortune as their new lead singer. Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Gribbin replaced Fortune as lead singer in 2011. During a concert on November 11, 2012, INXS stated that the performance would be their last, although they did not announce the band’s permanent retirement.

INXS won six Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, including three for “Best Group” in 1987, 1989 and 1992; the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001. INXS has sold an estimated 60 million records worldwide making them one of Australia’s highest selling acts.