In 1984 a funny thing happened to INXS when they were performing in LA – and it led to their greatest success.
By that time the Australian band had started to make an impression in the US. The single Original Sin, produced by Nile Rodgers, was a minor hit, as was the parent album The Swing.
But the big breakthrough would come with the following album, Listen Like Thieves. And the producer of that album introduced himself to the band in a most surprising way.
Former INXS keyboard player and main songwriter Andrew Farriss recalls to MusicRadar: “In 1984 we played at the Palladium in Los Angeles. It was a good gig. There were 4000 people there. And right in the middle of the gig I see this bloke walking around on the stage as we’re playing.
“I’m looking around at our crew guys, like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ And all the while this bloke is walking around all over the stage, behind our gear, looking at the amps, everything.”
Eventually, Farriss says, the man disappeared from the stage and the gig finished without further incident.
Then, backstage after the performance, the man introduced himself to the band. This was Chris Thomas, the English record producer famed for working on a host of high profile albums by Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, the Sex Pistols, the Pretenders, Wings, Pete Townshend and Elton John.
Farriss recalls: “When Chris introduced himself to us I said, ‘Why were you walking around on stage?’ He said, ‘I don’t think anyone’s actually ever recorded your band properly.’
“Now we were on our fourth album by then. I told him, ‘We’re not exactly on a tricycle here, mate! You know, we’ve done a bit of recording.’
“But Chris said, ‘When I come and see your band live I’m overwhelmed by what you sound like. You sound just great live. But when I listen to your records there’s something missing. It’s not your songs – it’s the way they’re recorded.’
“So Chris told me what he’d done that night. He walked around on stage while we were playing live and he was listening to what we were all doing and looking at what gear we were using, even the monitor speakers.
“I thought that was a pretty weird thing to do, but that’s part of what makes Chris Thomas so clever. He said to himself, ‘I’m gonna find out what these guys actually sound like.’”
Thomas was promptly hired to produce the Listen Like Thieves album.
The location was Rhinoceros Studios in Sydney. But when the sessions began in August 1985, there was a problem.
Farriss explains: “When we got in the studio, Chris goes, ‘Where’s the gear that you were using in Los Angeles?’ We said, ‘Well, it’s in Los Angeles.’ And he goes, ‘I want to get that gear here.’
“So in the end we just tried to replicate exactly the kind of gear that we would have used in one of those concerts.”
Thomas found another way to replace the live sound he’d heard in LA.
“Most recording studios try to isolate all the musicians from each other,” Farriss says. “But instead of that he got us all to play together, exactly like we play live.
“So in a really weird way, Listen Like Thieves is one of the greatest live albums that wasn’t played live. We just set up our gear with the wedges, like we were playing live, and we recorded everything live as much as possible.”
Chris Thomas was proven right when Listen Like Thieves became a major hit around the world, establishing INXS as a truly international act. The album peaked at No 11 on the US Billboard 200 and also reached the top 50 in the UK.
“That record for INXS was really milestone for the band,” Farriss says.
Four singles were lifted from the album: What You Need, This Time, Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain) and the title track. What You Need was the big hit, rising to No 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The album also had a huge impact on one famous fan.
As Farriss proudly states: “Giles Martin, George Martin’s son, said that Listen Like Thieves is his favourite album of all time.”
