Never ... Tear Us Apart

This week's edition of Retro Friday features the band INXS, and the song Never Tear Us Apart.

Ahhh ... INXS. Such a huge part of my High School years, and my college years, and my post-college years for that matter! I love this band!!

The band INXS is an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band was comprised of Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax. For twenty years their lead vocalist was Michael Hutchence, whose "sultry good looks" and magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. They originally became popular for their New Wave and style, but they later developed a harder pub rock style.

They achieved international success in the late 1980s and 1990s with a series of hit recordings including the albums Listen Like Thieves, Kick, and X; and the singles: What You Need, Need You Tonight, Devil Inside, New Sensation, Suicide Blonde, and Never Tear Us Apart.

I think my favorite INXS album is Kick. Kick was released in October 1987 and with it the band achieved worldwide popularity. Kick peaked at #1 in Australia, #3 on the US Billboard 200, #9 in UK, and #15 in Austria. It was an upbeat, confident album that yielded four Top 10 singles in the United States: New Sensation, Never Tear Us Apart, Devil Inside and the #1 hit: Need You Tonight.

I have two great INXS memories. The first of which is from High School. I had two very good girl friends in High School who were football nuts just like me. (Yes, my love of football started early!) At the beginning of our Senior year of High School, we decided to road trip to all of the away games. Why not ... this was our last year of High School, and who cared that the team wasn't all that great ... we enjoyed it, so what the heck!

We were road tripping to one of the farther High Schools, in Camarillo I believe , and it was a super foggy night. I have no idea who one the game that night, but I can vividly picture the three of us, in my friend L's mustang, rocking out to Never Tear US Apart. Good. Times.

Now flash forward to after college. My husband and I ran a dance club in St. Louis for 4 years, and one of the perks was getting to go to a lot of concerts. One of the concerts that we got to attend was INXS (summer of 1997), and they were awesome seats. We were in the third row and Michael Hutchence jumped off the stage and came into the audience, RIGHT where we were, and sang. Ahhhh ... heaven!

Not too long after that he tragically took his own life, but I feel truly blessed to have seen him live in concert! What an amazing performer he was!

Okay ... there's this Friday's walk down memory lane ... and here is a little INXS for your listening pleasure! Never Tear Us Apart:

Cheers!