INXS

First there's nothing
Takes a long time
Piece by piece
It comes together

He makes drawings
Turns them into real things
Simple paintings
Of caves long ago

Just like a game
Always a winner
But he works hard
Surprise to himself

A lot of people
Bent on the future
Set up the countries
Closing all the doors

Now he thinks big
Thinks he's come a long way
But we all know
Long long way to go

Barbarian, he's lonely
He's the only one

INXS was originally formed in 1977 in Sydney, Australia as the Farriss Brothers. The lineup included the three Farris brothers: Andrew

(songwriter/keyboards); Tim (guitar); and Jon (drums), along with Michael Hutchence (lead vocals/songwriter); Kirk Pengilly (guitar/saxophone) and Garry Gary Beers (bass). They began gaining popularity playing in pubs before moving on to support other local Australian bands, including Midnight Oil.

In 1979, they changed their name to INXS and released their first single “Simple Simon” in 1980. They went on to release their debut self-titled album INXS in 1980, closely followed by their second album, Underneath the Colours, in 1981. Neither album gained much attention outside of Australia, however, in July of 1982 INXS released their single “The One Thing” ahead of their next studio album. The song began to climb the U.S. and international charts, thanks in part to music video’s heavy rotation on MTV.

more tracks from the album

Underneath the Colours

From the album

Underneath the Colours (1981)

INXS popular songs

BarbarianINXS

INXS

Underneath the Colours