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More facts about this Australian band that you might not know about:
The Australian pub rock group INXS first got together in 1977 as The Farriss Brothers. They changed their name to INXS in 1980. Their record company suggested ‘In Excess,’” Tim Farris told Steve Dougherty in People magazine. The group liked the idea, but wanted the name to really stand out on their posters.
The band began to regularly support another Australian band, Midnight Oil and their manager agreed that they needed to change the name of their band. Gary Morris is quoted as saying:
"I saw a commercial for a brand of jam called IXL. Their ad featured a guy who said: ‘I excel in all I do.’ I'd recently seen the English band XTC when they toured Australia, and I loved their name: XTC – Ecstasy. In that moment, I put all those thoughts together. The name needed to be letters, but make a word. I put the IXL jam commercial together with XTC and the concept of a band that was inaccessible and I had it: INXS”
—Gary Morris
So the name INXS was inspired by English band XTC and Australian jam makers IXL, remember that the next time you put jam on your toast!
Here are some more:
In a career spanning 25 years they played over 4,000 live shows to over 25 million people in almost 50 countries!
They sold over 30 millions records worldwide inluding Number Ones in 4 different continents!
23 UK hits
17 US Billboard hits (7 Top Ten)
33 Australian hits
6 Consecutive Top Ten UK and US albums
So, with more than 30 million records sold worldwide, countless awards from their peers and fans, platinum certifications, and a history peppered with outstanding achievements, the band are arguably Australia's most successful rock export.
Fun Fact:
Did you know that before a show the band asked for a table tennis table to be set up as they enjoyed a bit of pre-show ping pong!