"Simple Simon" Single by INXS B-side "We Are the Vegetables" Released May 1980 Recorded 1980 Genre Rock new wave Length 2:32 Label Deluxe Songwriter(s) Garry Gary Beers, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Tim Farriss, Michael Hutchence So the band's first single that we kind of already looked at a little was this quirky little track called Simple Simon. It is a fairly quick tempo track that has the guys trying out the idea of writing and recording, and I think it is significant that they didn't put it on their debut album. One of the things we will notice about the band, is how quickly they will develop in the writing and recording side of things. They is a certain kind of naive charm to this song, that somewhat borders on the pop/novelty type of thing. I think this song actually is a reasonable example of who the band were, and some of their influences. So not an earth shattering debut single, but a solid opening that got them a little exposure and works pretty well.
We Are The Vegetables This is the b-side to Simple Simon is really very interesting, as we read earlier, the band had written this a lot earlier in the piece, and I assume when they were looking to release a single that this track was a fairly logical inclusion, as they had had it around for a while and would have been pretty comfortable with it. This track has a fairly close link to the recent punk movement to my ears. It is full of energy and guitar, and it comes in at a very short under two minutes. You can hear that the live gigging had given the band a nice tight sound. Interesting to me that this track has some really nice guitar interplay, that takes the form of layered guitars in a lead break. I reckon for a debut b-side this is pretty good.
'Simple Simon' This is incredibly 1980, isn't it! Soooo "new wave" (in its truest sense — it's energetic and choppy in an Elvis Costello way). It's not up there with the classic debut singles, but is quite fun in its own way. There's very little here to predict what was to come. 'We Are The Vegetables' Definite echoes of punk with this one. I've never heard it before. Not much to it, really — but I would've loved to have heard it live.
Ok then, it seems like everyone has had a bit of a chance to relate where they are with Inxs, and it seems we have some folks with some good knowledge, so I am very much looking forward to this. So without further ado, lets roll INXS Studio album by INXS Released 13 October 1980 Recorded 1979–80 at Trafalgar Studios, Annandale, New South Wales Genre New wave, rock, post-punk Length 37:13 Label Deluxe, Mercury, Atco Producer Duncan McGuire, INXS INXS is Australian rock band INXS's first album. It was released on Deluxe Records in Australia on 13 October 1980. The band 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 were credited to band members, 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). The album was co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire (ex-Ayers Rock). It spawned the single, "Just Keep Walking" (September 1980), which became their first Australian Top 40 hit. INXS peaked in the Top 30 of the related Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The album did not appear internationally until 1984. Michael Hutchence – lead vocals Tim Farriss – lead guitar Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals Garry Gary Beers – bass guitar, double bass, backing vocals Jon Farriss – drums, backing vocals Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitar 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 1. "On a Bus" 3:49 2. "Doctor" 2:37 3. "Just Keep Walking" 2:43 4. "Learn to Smile" 4:55 5. "Jumping" 3:21 6. "In Vain" 4:26 7. "Roller Skating" 2:47 8. "Body Language" 2:05 9. "Newsreel Babies" 2:41 10. "Wishy Washy" 3:51 11. "Unloved One" 3:58 Total length: 37:13 ---------------------------------------- So after a single to test the water, and a lot of gigging to try and get some songs road tested, the band record and release their debut album. This album is a solid debut, and I think holds up pretty well for such a young band at the time. I think it pays to remember that these are the days when a band would get signed up fairly young and given a chance to develop, and one of the things that we'll notice about the band is that they develop very well and very quickly. This is a fairly new album to me, as I surprisingly never really went back to explore the bands debut album for some reason. so having given this a few listens now, I am hardly an expert on it, but it has a pretty good sound and there are more good songs on it than I had expected really. I think we hear some influences on the band in here. I think we get a healthy dose of the band's variation on the English Two Tone movement, from bands like Madness, the Specials, and The Beat etc, but that isn't all they have going on here. I think we get some influence from Xtc's quirky variation on pop music and funnily enough I also hear a little bit of Echo and the Bunnymen here also..... even though the bands really started at about the same time, so I don't know if they ha dheard each other at this stage. The thing is though, although I hear those as possible influences, the band had put these influences into a blender, and added their own tilt on the flavours we hear here. I think touring in the predominantly Aussie rock pubs, somewhat effected their sound also, and I think it is important remember that back in 1980 the music world was undergoing a sort of mini revolution, that was very polarising in terms of how folks from each generation were experiencing and accepting it. Even today we have folks that just never moved from the seventies and into the eighties and swear that music died. I don't really subscribe to this theory, and I guess that is because in 1980 I just started my journey as a music consumer and so I already loved the fifties, sixties and seventies music, because I grew up with it surrounding me, but when the new music started coming out I was on board with it as well. It took me a couple of years to accept the synthesizer, because I was all about rock music and loud guitars, but I was won over by some of the early synth bands, and the music world was wide open to me. The album cover is, I believe, a painting by English playwright Noel Coward (1899 - 1973), and I think it is an eye catching cover that has a very Australian looking beach scene, which really does represent a large proportion of Australia. We are a very beach oriented people, and so it seems a very fitting cover for the band's debut album.... If I am incorrect about the cover painting here, please correct me. Anyway To me This is a solid debut, and I am looking forward to going through this properly with you all. Please give us your opinion on the debut album. Did you hear it at the time? When did you first hear it? What were, and are your thoughts about it, prior to us having a look at it? Please just share what your thoughts are, and we'll hit the first track on Monday. Cheers Mark
Ok As it is the first week and we have tomorrow off I have put up the debut single, b-side and a rough layout of the album, so that you guys have something to talk about for the next two days. We'll start to pick up a natural rhythm next week. Cheers!
Looking forward to following this thread! I doubt I will have much input pre'92 as that's where I came onboard with the band. I recall Heaven Sent and Taste It getting heavy airplay on MTV and that was me hooked. I am in the minority however in that I only really listen to the final three albums by the band (and a handful of the earlier singles).
Please give us your opinion on the debut album. Did you hear it at the time? When did you first hear it? What were, and are your thoughts about it, prior to us having a look at it? Please just share what your thoughts are, and we'll hit the first track on Monday. -- I ignored this album for more than 30 years, until finally downloading it via a strange music service that had it. I was pleasantly surprised. I had Underneath the Colours years before, but the sound was a bit dated, so I didn't know what to expect. This album is fresh, fun, yet not original in many senses. The playing is tight. They really enjoyed playing with each other. It shows. Newsreel Babies shows the direction they would head into for the next few years. Again, it reminds me of ska mixed with XTC, which isn't a bad thing at all. Remember one year walking around my area after a snowstorm. This album fit right in with the walk -- strange that.
Even if you only know, or even like the later albums, your input on the early stuff is still valid. If you have the time and interest, please feel free to give passing thoughts on any of the stuff you aren't familiar with.
Trying to think what my first exposure to INXS was but it was almost certainly via Countdown which was THE music show for teens in the 70's and 80's. Pretty sure it was The Loved One which was a top 20 hit. On the album cover- agree it's very evocative of Australian life on the coastline which is pretty much most of us. Album might be so so but the cover is a winner
I often see a lot of unfair hate for their early work like they suddenly never had anything that gelled at all and were garbage until Kick came out. The funny thing is no one ever usually discusses the albums in detail just outright dismisses them. I find those later albums good but too commercial and not raw like this earlier material especially the first 3. I expect to read a bunch of dismissal for the early stuff like I always hear. Actually there's a video of Hutchence and Andrew from around 1988 on a dock outside holding this first album and saying how he doesn't even like it now. The only thing I'm not a fan of so much here is the ska influenced stuff like Doctor, Body Language, Jumping..those can get kind of irritating to me and just feel out of place with some of the other songs. Learn to Smile is a beautiful touching kind of track. On a Bus is a great opener and Newsreel Babies might be my favorite track on it. If you look up their early set lists it contains a bunch of covers if that gives any clue what they were listening to: Alley Cat Wine Bar, North Sydney, NSW, Australia June 10, 1979 01 Lucky Key Ring 02 Jet Airliner 03 Slipped My Disco 04 Tuxedo 05 Funky Junk 06 Spanish Moon 07 Long Train Running 08 Breakaway (Set Break) 09 Miss Shapiro > You Really Got Me 10 Love Is The Drug 11 Falling 12 Watching The Detectives 13 Pretzel Logic 14 Telephone 15 Hey Lord (Don't Ask Me Questions) 16 We Are The Vegetables (Encore) 17 Slipped My Disco (repeat) The Pickled Parrot, Gladesville, NSW, Australia March 15, 1980 01 Four Boys 02 Pretzel Logic 03 Hey Lord 04 Feeling 05 Take It 06 Learning How To Smile 07 Shame Shame Shame 08 Wake Up 09 Telephone 10 Falling 11 Watching The Detectives (Set Break) 12 In Vain 13 On A Bus 14 Miss Shapiro > You Really Got Me 15 Silent Night 16 Jealous 17 Gangsters 18 Jumping 19 Doctor 20 Simple Simon 21 Wishy Washy (Encore) 22 We Are The Vegetables
They play it 2nd to last here along with a track (Far Away) that as far as I know only exists here without a studio recording. If there is a studio recording it's unreleased unlike Silent Night, Telephone, Breakaway. It's a shame because I like it.
This is kind of a sore spot for most INXS fans. We like to think the band ended when Michael died a lot of us.
Reference guide The band's origins May 1980 Simple Simon / We Are The Vegetables Aug 1980 Live Paris Theatre, Sydney Oct 1980 Inxs (debut album)
Whoever put that Paris Theatre show up mislabeled the date. If you notice at the end Michael says "Merry INXS-mas" It's from December 20, 1980.
They actually look like a "boy band" in this photo. This a-side and b-side are available on the Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979-1997) for those interested.
INXS I’m in for at least a “follow thread” on this one. I haven’t been able to keep up much with the SH forums since the long-lasting Rush thread wound down a while back, but INXS is one of my longtime favorites - first catching my ear back in high school ‘81-‘85. Even though Chicago suburbs didn’t yet have cable or MTV I frequently saw “The One Thing” video - and what an intriguing combo of sound and music it was. But the one that really inspired me was the warehouse video for “Don’t Change”. That song still gives me goosebumps and tingles my scalp to this day. We had a pretty hip library in my suburban town and it had the Shabooh Shoobah LP, so I checked it out and in many ways it is still my favorite from this band. Their sound evolved over the years, but Shabooh is a perfect distillation of their craft at that point in time, before they tried to conquer the world, but yet after they had perfected their own unique style. All that touring really helped them learn to play as a tight unit with a sound all their own. (Side note: I really miss the saxophone as a rock instrument. Lots of great 80’s tracks with the sax!) In college, INXS was one of the very few bands at the time that were able to successfully maintain their credibility with all the cool kids who decried “sellout” on other bands, while still being able to expand their audience. Throughout my time at Univ. Of Illinois in Champaign you’d frequently hear cuts from Shabooh, The Swing, Listen Like Thieves and Kick at just about EVERY party, bar, frat, or alcohol-drinking venue imaginable. EVERYBODY in college liked INXS. “Don’t Change” and “What You Need” were the not-so-secret weapon of the DJ - put ‘em on and watch the dance floor and energy level kick up a notch. Great times.
Yeah, man...I agree. Thieves is still my favorite. Spent many days riding around Cocoa Beach listening to this on my Walkman. But the song that got me hooked was Don't Change off Shabooh Shoobah. It was a song featured on a surf video and my ears perked up instantly. I only saw the band once...on the Thieves tour and Public Image Limited opened, which was a huge deal to me!
It's interesting the boy band thing, the eighties fashion and such is really probably part of the building block for that concept. Those two songs are also on the Inxsive compile, which we will cover soon enough, but I believe it is fairly hard to come by these days. There was a cd pressed in 1988, and currently goes from about 40 bucks on discogs. The records were pressed in 82, and never repressed from about 15 bucks on discogs
They just look like normal late 70s/early 80s teenagers to me there. Pretty sure it's just their regular clothes and they weren't trying to evoke any sort of image. By the time of The Swing their clothes and hairstyles get pretty frightening.
