How INXS Conquered the World

INXS was growing in the studio, one album at a time. Guitarist Tim Farriss, a cofounding member of the Australian group, can remember vividly what the progression felt like.

He lands on sessions for 1982’s Shabooh Shoobah specifically as a moment where things began to change. “It was a million miles [ahead] in technology, leaps and bounds from where we’d previously recorded,” he says during an interview for the UCR Podcast that you can listen to below. “Previously, we had old tape machines catching fire and engineers falling asleep from having too much whiskey in their coffee. We kind of felt like we were in the big leagues with Mark Opitz [producing the album] and [subsequently] recording and touring on the back of that, through the US and whatnot.”

While they were on tour for 1984’s The Swing, they made a pivotal connection, meeting producer Chris Thomas (Roxy Music, the Beatles), who had first seen the band play a show in Japan. Intrigued by what he saw, he made contact.

READ MORE: How INXS Broke Through With ‘Listen Like Thieves’

“He came and met us all at the Palladium in Los Angeles, and told us everything he loved about the band. He had also seen us opening for the Pretenders in Dallas somewhere,” Farriss recalls. “He’s great mates with Pretenders, obviously, having produced all their records. So he came backstage at the Palladium and said, ‘Look, you guys just are amazing live,’ which is a great compliment coming from him. ‘I really want to try and capture that live feeling that you have.”

Thomas got his wish, overseeing and guiding the work on the songs that would form 1985’s Listen Like Thieves. Fans can get a sense of what the sessions were like thanks to a newly expanded edition of the album. The expansion adds a bonus disc of moments from the studio that offer a fly on the wall perspective of what it was like working with Thomas. The album itself has been freshly remixed by longtime band associate Giles Martin as well, with a previously unreleased live show from the Royal Albert Hall rounding out the bonus material.

As keyboardist Andrew Farriss recalls in an essay by Paul Sexton included in the new set, Thomas was an imposing figure to work with. “It took me a little while to understand,” he remembered. “I even said to Chris not that long ago, ‘I was terrified of you when I was in the studio. You would pull no punches in the studio, man. You would just say, ‘That sucked. You’ve got to get back in there and you can do better than that.'” But as Andrew adds, that’s why they wanted to work with Thomas, because they knew he wasn’t going to “kiss your ass and that’s a really good thing.”

Chris Thomas Made a Huge Impact on INXS

“Chris really understood the band. His whole way of producing was to bring the most out of the individuals in the band,” Tim explains. “So you would hear Kirk [Pengilly]’s character in the music and Jon [Farriss]’s way of playing on the tracks. We started realizing that while we were recording with him. ‘What You Need’ was the final track. Chris was like, ‘We just need one more song.’ We still hadn’t done one of my favorite pieces of music that [Andrew Farriss] had on his demo tape, which was basically the bass line from ‘What You Need.’ I’m like, ‘I reckon this is a song guys’ and Chris Thomas is like, ‘Yeah, I agree.'”

They worked the song up over the weekend that followed and laid it down in a day that Monday and were in the local night club that same night, Benny’s Bar, in Sydney, “a renowned party area,” Farriss details. “The DJ put it on and played it really loud. We were like, yeah, this sounds really good. It was a really fun record to make.”

Watch INXS’ ‘What You Need’ Video

Listen Like Thieves spent two weeks at No. 1 in their homeland of Australia, peaking at No. 11 in the United States. “What You Need” gave the group its first Top 5 single in the States, while songs like “This Time” and the title track also received substantial airplay. Ultimately, it laid important groundwork for the global explosion that happened with their next two albums and Farriss confirms it was an important milestone. “There wouldn’t have been a Kick if it hadn’t been for Listen Like Thieves. It just wouldn’t have happened.”

Listen to Tim Farriss of INXS on the ‘UCR Podcast’