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My INXS Journey

I feel it’s a weird story of how I became an INXS admirer. It’s a story of what should have happened but didn’t for 14 years. I’m not sure what people will make of me after reading it. As usual it’s a longie - 8 pages, so pull up a chair get a vodka.

I must warn you I typed it up on Works and so it's 8 pages long. I could have said a lot more. I swear I could waffle for the world.

And people may hate me once they've read it...or be confused by me...

I'm ignorant to what a lot of my fave bands are like because I don't go looking for info - I just enjoy the music and read some mag articles, but watching Rockstar INXS, reading the book brought out issues that reminds me that I need to be careful of what I go looking for...for instance if I hadn't read Kirk's journal I would never have known about the FHM photoshoot. If I hadn't wanted to see Rockstar in it's entirety I would have never have known about JD's antics and some of the other shit that happened and therefore I wouldn't have had these issues...

Back to the beginning, before INXS

My first and only crush on a celebrity happened when I was 12 - 14 years old. Wham! I was a Whamette. To be exact I loved Andrew Ridgeley. He had everything I wanted in a man - dark brown hair and his name was Andrew. Yep, I had a thing for boys called Andrew. When they split in 1986 I was devastated, so much so that I became ill having the week off school and vowed never to get so attached to a celebrity again that I would be left devastated if something happened.

Whilst I have loved many a celebrity over the years I have never got so attached that I have lost the ability to constructively criticise or that I would fall apart if something were to happen. Of course I’d be upset but it’s not the end of the world. It’s important for me that I maintain my belief structure so that if a celebrity does something that I don’t agree with I am able to criticise and not do what an obsessed nutter does and try and justify what they’ve done so I can continue liking them.

I’m not going to debate the issues of my stance on nudity in the entertainment industry, it would take too long.

I have boycotted 2 I liked and one I didn’t. But my stance on nudity in the entertainment industry is so strong that I would have to boycott virtually every celebrity I like. So I now don’t go looking for info on my fave performers because I don’t want to boycott anymore. Music keeps me sane, when I feel low the headphones are a necessity. And it’s for that reason I know very little about my favourite band Linkin Park. The only person I know is Chester. And it wasn’t until Live Earth that I realised there were kind of 2 lead singers as I have never seen them live. But something happened with INXS which meant I had to go to forums and search for info to find a way to continue on their journey as I had some real issues with JD and other things and I really love their music.

I am a hypocrite, because other celebs have been involved with nudity and I haven’t boycotted them. But I was so shocked by the 2 I did boycott Duran Duran and Cirque du Soleil that I did boycott and still do. I never liked Prodigy so when I saw the video for Smack your Bitch Up I didn’t think twice, it was easy to boycott them. But like I said if I boycotted every celeb that’s been involved in nudity, and that was my initial plan until I realised just how many I would have to boycott that I made the decision not to go looking for info. If I know a movie contains nudity I won’t see it, and have decided if I unwittingly go and see a movie that contains nudity I’ll walk out and attempt to get my money back or a free ticket. And I tend not to watch videos because I don’t want to see any nudity in them.

Ignorance is bliss?!?!?!?

I was 14 and dad let me go to the final Wham concert at Wembley in 1986. It was my first of three trips to see concerts at Wembley. It was during a time when you could take cooler boxes in stuffed with food and drink without having it confiscated because of greedy corporates.

That morning I awoke with a cold and filled a bowl with steaming water draped a towel over my head and sat like that for about 3 hours. I was really ill but that seemed to weigh lay the symptoms long enough for my friend and I to go and see our boys Wham.

I’ll never forget that day, or the atmosphere. It was my first stadium concert and will always have a special place in my heart, my fave concert.

We found my dad easy enough after the concert and he drove us home. But I came down with the flu very badly and had the entire week off school. I remember dad bringing me the paper on Monday morning, the special Wham section in the middle. And it was then that I cried, and cried. I felt lost. I was comforted by my Wham posters and a couple of Madonna, but devastated none the less.

Roll on 5 years - 12 July 1991

I was out with my friend in London and we wanted to see a concert on Saturday 13th July 1991. I think we were in Oxford Circus and we saw a ticketing shop so we went and asked if any bands were playing Wembley the next day.

We were told INXS were. I’d heard of Suicide Blonde, but couldn’t pronounce their name. For me it looked like it was pronounced INX’s or if you’re spelling it phonetically “inkses”.

So I went round telling people we were going to see inkses. We got turnstile C. And we got there at 11am.

These were the days were SLR’s were common place and I took really good pictures with mine. I detached the zoom lens from the body of the camera. I sell taped the zoom lens to my arm (remembering how a few months back my camera had been taken off me for NKOTB when I wrapped it around a jumper in my bag - the pedantic little neo-Nazi steward marched my camera off to the special locker area) and the body was placed in the arch of my back down my jeans.

I did get some ok shots of the guest acts but by the time INKSES came on I was too far back and they were like pin pricks when I got the photos developed.

But this is the tragedy the sound system was awful. I couldn’t tell you what the bands were singing, I couldn’t distinguish when one song finished and another started. All I could hear coming from the stage was noise. I knew some of Debbie Harry’s songs but I can’t tell you what she sang because it was one long duh.

I know in their book they get defensive about the criticism, but unfortunately I wasn’t impressed. These journos may have used their own money or that of their agency to come.

You see, many fans will switch off. They’ll imagine something that didn’t happen. I remember watching Ronan Keating and Emma Bunton do a duet for a cancer charity concert I think it was and it was awful, they were out of tune, out of key, it was hideous but everybody loved it.

There is nothing wrong with my hearing.

I felt like I was at a heavy metal concert. The drums, drums are my favourite instrument were being abused in the harshest way.

By the time INKSES came on I had a migraine. I felt ill. My friend had been sick.

And it’s a blur what happened next, but I think we left before INKSES finished. I remember we were told if we left we wouldn’t be allowed back in.

What I want to say is whilst that first experience was a bad one, and I know the 75000+ crowd plus everybody connected with INXS will say there was something wrong with my hearing.

What I want to say is that the moment INXS hit that stage there was an aura, a presence, an atmosphere that filled that entire stadium that I haven’t felt at a concert before then or after then.

I knew INXS were special that day, and even though musically I was done in - the five warm up acts just finished me off or the sound system - it remains one of my favourite concerts. I can’t explain it. I can’t articulate it properly and people are probably scratching their heads in bewilderment or screaming at me thinking what the fuck was wrong with you?

I love Madonna, but her concert was shit because the stage was so high that she gave me neck ache.

Musically Wham and Genesis were my fave concerts, but INXS despite what happened was not that far behind and was above Madonna’s.

So for 14 years until 2005 INXS were never on my radar. Even though I knew they were special I never went searching for tour information and so never saw them. My only memory of INXS is one which gave me a headache. And I bitterly regret not going to see them again. I think money played a part.

So I was wary for a long time because I didn’t want to say JD was better with INXS than Michael was. Now I realise I don’t have to compare so that is no longer an issue. I worked that one out. Tick.

Rockstar INXS 2005

I arrived home from travelling for 5 months at the end of August 2005.

I for a few years now watch mainly the music channels. Not much tv interests me. As I’ve said music is my lifeline. Although I think the music channels are a bit woeful.

But anyway one night I was channel hopping and low and behold I came across Rockstar INXS. It was the night Jordis was eliminated. And I came in after the episode had started.

I gathered pretty quickly that INXS were looking for a lead singer, and it’s because of this show that I can’t watch X Factor because I like Rockstar format.

By the end of the night. I was in shock. Reeling. Although it wasn’t Michael singing I loved the songs.

Why hadn’t they sounded like that 14 years ago? Why?

If INXS had sounded like that, if I had only been able to hear what they were singing they were the type of songs that I would have loved and would have made me a fan back in 1991.

I didn’t see all the episodes as I didn’t know when it was on as VH1 wasn’t listed in our tv guide.

But I will tell you this another thing that annoyed me about INXS were that Rockstar wasn’t shown live in the UK and therefore we couldn’t vote on the performance on that week. They were an international band yet only a few countries could vote.

The few episodes I saw I really liked JD, I thought he was sexy, gorgeous, and his Human Being tattoo intrigued me, it made me think he was special. That he understood the bigger picture that we were all the same, that it doesn’t matter what religion, nationality, colour, gender etc we’re all the same human beings. That it’s putting these differences first is what divides and segregates us and makes extremists. See I see myself as an Earthling first then a human being. My nationality is important to me but we’re all humans, we’re all the same.

But I was disappointed he didn’t learn Andrew’s tune for their song writing session. I felt Marty was arrogant, what with the “First I’d do x y and z.” If it’s not broken don’t fix it. I hated Mig’s rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody - considering he sung Queen songs I didn’t feel he did it justice.

Then Rockstar ended and I had become intrigued, I was upset and felt the same way I do about the fact I never saw Freddie Mercury perform with Queen. I kind of felt robbed.

The Repeats

I looked out for Rockstar INXS to be repeated, and early last year it was. Whilst I saw a lot more of it, I still missed large chunks. I saw about 25% of it.

Perhaps I don’t have the right to the opinions I have, or the right to feel so strongly.

I’m not sure if this will make fans hate me, but when I saw INXS in 1991 the only thing I knew of them was that Michael dated Kylie Minogue. I didn’t know what the other members looked like or what their names were.

It helped to have their names up. But I thought Dave Navarro was part of INXS…

And I was trying to learn who they were, I saw Tim Farriss name come up and then I saw Andrew Farriss. I was like, eh I thought his name was Tim. Then I looked and I could see a connection. I wondered if they were cousins. Then Jon Farriss name appeared. Hmmm. I could see the family resemblence. I thought Andrew was the oldest. I soon learnt the other names. But still I thought Dave was another band member.

INXS - Live Baby Live

I bought the DVD. And I genuinely believe that INXS and their guest performers played superbly, but that it for some reason what was played on stage didn’t reach me that way. I don’t know why? But I believe them when they said they only touched up 2 small bits of Kirk’s saxophoning.

I loved the commentary although I wanted more. I always want more where this band is concerned. Perhaps it’s the name INXS, or perhaps it’s because I was kept in the wilderness for so long that I’m trying to make up for it.

Butt Cake

Woah, JD’s bottom is gorgeous. Next to only Brad Pitt’s. when I saw it and I hope there’s no children I can’t tell you what I wanted to do to him. I have never wanted to do this to any other man.

Rockstar INXS - The DVD

I searched Ebay and found this DVD, which has never been released in the UK. I nearly didn’t get it because the UK Phonetics Industry has banned people buying music etc from abroad because it damages UK shop sales. What the fuck? If the bloody DVD isn’t being sold here how can it affect UK shop sales.

I have issues with that DVD. Most importantly I was upset that they didn’t respect Jessica’s right to privacy when she showed her piercing. And they told the rockers they couldn’t lock the bathroom doors or close the bedroom doors. What a bunch of sick fuckers. I didn’t think Rockstar INXS was about exploitation or filming naked females to pull in the punters. Dave Navarro even said it wasn’t’ that kind of show.

I felt they chose the wrong 17 songs. And were they snubbing Mig when they only showcased 2 of his songs, the same number as Ty who came 6th, and less than Suzie and Jordis who came 4th and 5th?

I wanted more behind the scenes. Basically they should have let me do this DVD, it would have been a very large boxset.

I didn’t like how they didn’t look out for health and safety. People get worms by not washing their hands after going to the toilet and Australians in some parts taking worming tablets. Yet they thought it was funny to allow Suzie to eat a piece of that cake that JD had sat in. They wouldn’t have done it. I just felt it was sick.

And to this day I still don’t understand why Suzie in an Abba outfit with the rockers having a party smoking fags and drinking alcohol was too hot to handle for tv? Please could somebody enlighten me.

But still it wasn’t enough

So I went to the search for interests sections on LJ and found some INXS communities, so I joined and posted if anybody had a copy of the entire series and could I pretty please have a copy. Petal, you’re a life safer. Thank-you.

However, this and a few other things is what lead me to the forums. Just when I was enjoying being a new found fan even though I should have been an old timer of 14 years I watched the entire series of Rockstar INXS in the summer of 2006.

JD showed he was arrogant. Yeah ok some of it could be down to editing. But you can’t edit somebody saying they’re going to kill with kindness. Telling Tara to her face that Paranoid was what she needed to do, but behind her back say it wasn’t. And loads of other shit he pulled. Playing the victim.

To be fair it was a competition and all the competitors were naïve to think that they could get unbiased advice from other competitors. And JD was not the only one to backstab and play a little dirty. Mig did too. He’s been in shows he knows what the media is like, so to slip up like that wasn’t an accident. That being said it’s a democracy and if he wants to be truthful about who he didn’t get on with that’s his right, just don’t try and back peddle. And Marty was arrogant and backstabbed Mig in the final show when Mig was asking for his opinion on singing Bohemian Rhapsody. There’s loads of other stuff, and probably shit loads more that wasn’t shown on tv.

The biggest issue I had was when JD fiddled with Suzie in the shower. I didn’t like that. And I didn’t like how it was trivialised and joked about. I’m sure that Kirk, Garry and Andrew wouldn’t think it acceptable to happen to their daughters and then have it paraded around the world on tv. I know people won’t understand, but I didn’t like it. To be fair, Suzie didn’t seem affected by it. Maybe I am being overly sensitive because I was sexually assaulted and I don‘t like men behaving that way. Don’t get me wrong I think JD has a very beautiful side to him, but there’s a dark side lurking.

Disappointed

Hearing Jon’s comments to Suzie about not looking cheap in the Peacocking Clinic and reading what Tim said about girls in the UK using nudity to become famous in our sleazy tabloids, I was disappointed that they posed for FHM a porno mag. Those comments made me think they understood and weren't into that kind of thing - naive?

We the viewer didn’t see the models’ breasts so there was no need for INXS to. Other models in that mag don’t go topless so why did she have to? The mag made it sound like it was INXS who wanted her nipples taut. And JD was made to sound sleazy because he kept on about wanting to copulate with her. It was a very sleazy and dirty article. There was no need for it. And yeah, perhaps INXS were badly edited but that’s why they should have had edit control for a magazine like that.

Forums

So I started to use the forums about a couple of weeks ago more seriously to try and get to grips with some of the issues listed above and some others I haven’t listed, and to see if others had issues with JD.

I think they are decent people, although perhaps they should sort out their management. And think a little more about the type of publicity they agree to.

I’ve never had an issue with INXS getting a new singer. Genesis got a replacement when Peter Gabriel left in the form of their drummer Phil Collins. And I only became an admirer in 2005, so I don’t have the attachment to Michael, nor the right to criticise them for getting a new lead singer.

I do take issue with the fact that the media and some fans call him a replacement. Phil Collins was a replacement because Peter Gabriel resigned. If a band member is sacked then the newbie is also a replacement.

But you cannot replace a dead person. If my mum got remarried her second husband would not replace my dad, nor would I see him as my step-dad. JD is the seventh member of INXS, I do believe his name should come after Michael’s though, and it should come last because although JD is the lead singer he is also the newest member.

I don’t like JD’s hair and beard. But it was just about doable in Holland.

I do think if JD had a natural disposition to curly hair then it could be argued he is trying to copy Michael. Remember it’s only because his hair is naturally straight that it makes it easy for some people to say no he’s not. But it’s his choice.

I never knew Michael went round hugging band mates until I saw pictures of him last week, which is what JD does now. Coincidence?

I’ve always thought he sounded like a cross between JD-Michael-Elvis. And sometimes it does come out.

I love his voice on the CD and in Holland.

I don’t like his arrogance on stage, it’s not necessary.

I couldn’t give a rats arse if he swears or drinks alcohol.

I have finally accepted JD as the seventh member of INXS, and I love INXS. There are still issues, but for now everything is on an even keel.

I want to spank them for doing that FHM photoshoot. And please no more nudity.

I could say an awful lot more and maybe this hasn’t been very well written