Listen Like Fans- For The Love Of INXS
Listen Like Fans is a podcast made by INXS fans, for INXS fans — for the love of INXS.
From deep cuts to defining moments, personal stories to passionate debates, this is where fans from around the world come together to celebrate the music, the legacy, and the magic of one of Australia’s greatest bands. Whether you’ve been there since the early pub gigs or discovered INXS years later, this podcast is about connection, community, and keeping the spirit alive.
No gatekeeping. No egos. Just pure love, memories, and a shared obsession with the sound that still moves us.
Listen Like Fans- For The Love Of INXS
“All The Scars Are Mine: The Weight of Loss & Legacy in INXS” Bee with Chris McKay
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
On this week's episode of Listen Like Fans, Bee is delighted to have Chris MaKay on the show, a longtime INXS fan.
Chris has been fortunate enough to chat with band manager Chris Murphy and, thanks to his job as Chauffeur, talk INXS with Australian TV & Radio presenter Richard Wilkins, Film Director Baz Luhrmann, and a certain Mr Colin Diamond.
Chris talks candidly about a self-imposed gig exile since attending Michael's funeral, and being convinced to see Andrew Farriss perform at one of his recent solo shows. It was here that two worlds would collide when Chris would meet "the blonde woman!" (Bee) for the first time and become fast and firm friends.
He shares an emotional anecdote on meeting Chris Murphy when he shared a simple "thank you", shares his memories on being an eventual convert to seeing the INXS tribute band 'Don't Change", and the healing on hearing the music of INXS performed live has since brought.
The healing process continued when Chris and Bee saw JD Fortune live (complete with a wardrobe malfunction!) and had a conversation with him in which JD was reflective and mature about his time with the band.
Bee and Chris discuss the Rock Hall Nomination and what it means to be an Australian seeing an Australian band get into the Rock Hall, and they discuss plans to travel en masse to the USA to (hopefully!) see the guys get inducted!
We're delighted to have Chris on Listen Like Fans and to share his journey from growing up listening to INXS, missing out on seeing INXS in 1997 and the 25+ year impact that had, to encouraging his children to carry the INXS flame.
Make sure you check us out on Patreon - because there's a special competition running, where one lucky listener will win something very special. https://patreon.com/ListenlikeFans So sit back, turn it up, and Listen Like Fans.
And don't be shy, leave us a comment.
If you want to hear an episode dropped early or see more content, then please support Bee and the show- a BIG THANK YOU to all the Backstage Legends that help with the costs and the runnings.
Become A Backstage Legend and join the INXS Fan Community
https://www.patreon.com/cw/ListenlikeFans_fortheloveofINXSBackstageLegends
Website: https://www.inxsaccessallareas.com/
Okay, grew with it.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Listen Light Fans for the love of in XS. I'm B and each week I'll be joined by a different co-host as we dive into the songs, the stories, and the moments that made us fall in love with this most iconic band on the planet. Let's go. Well, hi everyone, and welcome back to Listen Like Fans for the Love of In Excess. Today's episode is a really fun one for me because I'm joined by someone who became an instant friend the moment we met. I met Chris McKay a few years ago at an Andrew Farris gig on the Gold Coast, and within about five minutes, we realised we had a lot in common. A lifelong love of in Excess and a whole bunch of stories connected to the band and the people around them. Since then, we've shared plenty of laughs, memories, and conversations about the band. So today we thought we'd jump on the mic and share some of those stories with you. Chris has crossed paths with some pretty interesting people along the way from Chris Murphy, Richard Wilkins, and JD Fortune. So we're going to dive into all of that today. And I like to say, welcome to Listen Like Fans, Chris.
SPEAKER_02Hi B. Thanks very much for having me. And Mark Opitz. Don't forget we met Mark.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and Mark, yes, gosh, yes, we have. And the Duchy.
SPEAKER_02And Duchy.
SPEAKER_00Let's start at the beginning of our relationship. Um, and at that um wonderful concert, going to see Andrew Farris. That was quite interesting, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_02That that was uh, you know, all of this and where where we are now uh to where I was and where where yeah where I was before then, all of this is all comes back to my wife Sharka. We've been married 20 years, we've been we've been together 25 years, and she's joined me on my inexcess roller coaster, very emotional uh at times, and haven't really been able to sort of get past you know everything what's happened you know with Michael in 97. One day in October, a couple of years ago, she said Andrew Farris is coming to the Gold Coast, and I had not been to any gig since my last time I saw NXS, which which was April 25, 1993, uh at the playroom on the Gold Coast. That was my last NXS gig. And my next one was meant to be in in uh '97 in Brisbane, but obviously, you know, Michael, Michael passed. And I had a self-exclusion on any concerts from anyone for the past 27 years. So my wife said to me out of the blue, Andrew Ferris is coming to the Gold Coast. So I went, I'm gonna go. So I went to the Andrew Ferris concert. Uh, I went there about an hour early because I wanted to meet Andrew. He did come in and he was whisked straight away into the into the green room, into the back room. And and there I am, sort of standing at the door, waiting for him to walk past for the door to open it. And I was gonna, you know, hi Andrew. Uh about half an hour later, about half an hour before the gig started, these these four ladies walked in, you know, with with with one lady at the front, all full of confidence, and she just walks straight into the into the door, into the green room, and the door's open, and I'm looking, and then she's gone straight up to Andrew and giving Andrew a big hug and a big kiss in there, talking and laughing. And I'm standing back going, what's going on? Who is this woman? Who who are these women that can just walk in like that and just start, you know, talking to Andrew. So about uh about 10 minutes later, you walk out, and I sort of summons that the courage, and you know, you don't remember I walked up to you just with just my eyes wide open. I'm like, you just walk back there and talk to who are you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was it was really, really lovely because it was such a small venue as well. I was expecting it to be a bit bigger, so it's very intimate, but yeah, it was really nice to met you, and and I think you know, you come up with some you just gushed out all your stories all in about 10 minutes, and I was like, Oh my gosh, I gotta get you on the podcast one day, and here we are.
SPEAKER_02I've listened to the podcast many times before, but I didn't really put two or two together until we were about 15 minutes. I think I spoke for the entire 15 minutes, you know, because I was just so excited, you know, to to meet someone else.
SPEAKER_00It's this passionate as you, yes. And then we went to see Andrew in concert, which was awesome. And he played some Nexus tunes, and I think we had a little dance, didn't we?
SPEAKER_02We did in between me crying and dancing. It was a it was a it was a pretty memorable gig, and and uh you know, I'm I'm thankful for two things. One, that my wife got me to go to see Andrew, and then and then two, meeting you, which like over the last 18 months has changed my life and really um changed the the way I can I can talk about it in excess. I couldn't talk about in excess before. The scale was just too raw 30 years later almost, and over the last 18 months, from the love from you and from your your your friends and the in excess family is is has really helped me um uh tremendously being able to talk about in excess and be passionate about in excess to other passionate people.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and so much so I came to your house the next day because you wanted to show me all your memorabilia and meet your wonderful family.
SPEAKER_02That was classic. I came home and I said, How was the game? I'm like, I'm like, Oh, I met this lady, and she's coming over to tomorrow, and she's gonna she's like, Whoa, slow down, slow down, slow down. So so yes, I did invite you to the to the uh to my house to meet my family and my and my boys and and see some of my in excess stuff and and hear some more stories and so forth. And you know, you probably think you who is this fruit loop, you know.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think you probably thought I was a fruit loop because um I came in with a skateboard board, didn't I?
SPEAKER_02You did, you brought in the kick skateboard. Well, actually, you sent the boys out, you know. We were talking about it.
SPEAKER_00That's right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02You said, here you go. Uh, here's here's the keys to the car. One of the boys went out and he's come back and he's like, Dad, this is the kick skateboard. And there's my boys. It was surreal. There's my boys riding the skateboard up and down the hallway. This is like, this is the kick skateboard, and there they are, skatty on the skateboard. And um, and and my wife's going, you know, she's she's like, she's like, Wow, you've met someone pretty cool here. I'm like, Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00But you've got some cool stuff, you've got some amazing posters. Unfortunately, like you said, they are laminated, but still absolutely stunning, and they're massive, they're like a proper post, big poster sizes. How many of those have you got?
SPEAKER_02I think I've got 10 that I collected from um like 85 to 95, being younger and sort of not knowing you know, too much. You know, I got them laminated because I didn't want to put them on the wall and take them off the wall and roll them up. And you know, years later, uh, you know, posters are worth mega bucks, and these are like original in excess, knee you tonight, listen like thieves, kick, you know, posters. Um, and and you know, some great ones just at Michael and they're worth a couple of hundred bucks, but when you laminate them, they're worth about 10 bucks.
SPEAKER_00I don't know, Chris. I think somebody had still pay quite a lot for those. They look stunning because they looked after as well, being under a laminate. I actually stole some things from you as well. Um you've got lots of things from um fan clubs that you were a part of.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, back in the day there was uh an in excess newsletter. Um I don't know how I I I got involved in that. This is back around 85, 86, 87. There was a lady, uh she was in Sydney, wasn't she? And I just, you know, and I wrote to her, can I be in your fan club? This is and it was great because in there was like photocopies of letters that the band sent to her, you know, saying, Thanks for doing this and thanks for doing that, where here or where there. That's my probably my first uh time being involved in like a bit of a fan club and so forth. Yeah, you've got all of them now, don't you?
SPEAKER_00Well, I've got a few of them. Yeah, I keep going, oh, we've got to do some stuff with this. There's just so much stuff. I actually had the Daily Telegraph around in the week, and they said, Can you get all your memorabilia out and and we'll have some photographs? And I was like, I've only got half of it out. And it was like, Oh my goodness, there's a lot. There's a lot.
SPEAKER_02Your room looks awesome, it's just it's fantastic, it's full of stuff.
SPEAKER_00It's yeah, it's great. Yeah, if anyone ever wants to come and stay, they can, but make sure you don't nick anything. So we spoke earlier about a few people that you've met, and one of them is Chris Murphy, who was the uh band's manager. How did that come about?
SPEAKER_02I was at Bourne University on the God class at a at a function. I looked over a couple of tables and instantly recognized Chris Murphy. So, you know, being the being the shy man that I am, I jumped, I jumped straight up and I went straight over to Chris Murphy. And when I meet people, you know, because of the my background of work and so forth, you know, very respectful, you know, towards them uh as an individual, you know, and professionally as well. So I excused myself and I called you Mr. Murphy, you know, like hello, Mr. Murphy. Um and he certainly looked at me and I said, I've just come over here as a fan of Elixir S and I just wanted to say uh thank you. And he looked at me and he said, Pardon me, and I said, I just want to say thank you as a fan for what you have done for Elixir S. Thank you very much. And he looked at me and then he looked at his wife, and his wife starts tearing up, and then he starts tearing up, and I start tearing up, and he and he gets up and said, Let's let's go outside. And we walked outside and he said, You know, you're the first person who's ever come up to me like that and just said thank you. Everybody else wants something. They want something from me, they want something for the band, they want something for the Michael. What do you want? And I said, I just want to give you a hug. Oh and and and and you know, his wife come over, and and there we are, we're all sort of hugging and crying, and and you know, and he said, Yeah, and this is he said, I he said, Oh, I'm thankful, thank you so much. So then he said, Let me do something for you. So uh I think he gave me this PA's email address and he said, email, email her on Monday, and she'll organise some tickets for you. And I think it was the uh the Australian Maid was being re-released, or something was 14 years after it, or something like that. I went to the I went to the the the showing at Pacific Fair, and then we you know we emailed a couple of times to and from, but um that was that was really special, you know, to have to have him as emotional as I am. He was towards me and he was thankful to me.
SPEAKER_00And I'm like, oh I'm thinking so all these things we hear about Chris, you know, it's you like it's roofless and wasn't the most pleasant person to be around when he was on a deal. You got the good side of him that night.
SPEAKER_02I got the way good side of him. Um, but I think uh you know he was genuine and I was genuine, and I didn't want anything from him. I just wanted to, I just wanted to be in his presence because you know, you in reality, there's there's to me in my world, there's nine members of NXS. There's the six NXS members. There's Chris Murphy. All right. Uh there's there's our there's our Richard, uh, and then is it there's yourself. And that to be now in, you know, that I can talk to you in any time. I can I can call Richard at any time and you know, and just have a chat. And I've got people like Dr. Jim now, you know, that I can ring and talk to is uh is fantastic. So I'm I'm I'm loving life.
SPEAKER_00That's right, because I've brought you into the family, haven't I? Really? Because uh I think I I brought you along. So I said you've got to come onto one of my coach trips, Chris, and you've got to see this tribute band. And he's like, I don't know about a tribute band, but how did you feel? It must have been a bit weird. I mean, it was quite different, wasn't it? Because it was the three-piece, it was the acoustics session.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes. Well, uh, you know, again for 25 years, I I I I self-exiled from seeing anybody, you know, and I I did I didn't go and see you know, in excess with John Stevens, I didn't go and see in excess with JD Fortune, and I was buggered if I was gonna go and see a tribute band. Like, are you kidding me? You know, I was invited to come on the on the the the on the bus tour May of last year, leading into that in my mind, and I'm like, okay, I'll I'll enjoy the day with other in excess people, I'll enjoy the after party where we're gonna have a party at at at this this venue that you'd organized, and just before you know this trippy burn trippy pen starts, I'm gonna leave. Okay, so in the bus, I'm talking and I'm meeting all these people, these wonderful people, uh the two Karen's.
SPEAKER_00So Karen Karen Meekins and Karen Peters.
SPEAKER_02Karen Peters. So I'm sitting in the back with Karen Peters, and it was it was fantastic in the back of the bus, and and we and I'm meeting all these people, uh, you know, Glenn and Paul and Linda and Rachel and the two Karen's, Craig, who I'd I'd actually met at Michael's funeral that didn't even know, you know, uh Lisa Mack, Duchy, and you know, who wasn't there, but um uh Dr. Jim. So talking to Karen, you know, Karen's like, oh, when was the last time you saw you know don't change? I'm like, Who's don't change? And she's horrified. She's horrified. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00You know, she's just hit 150 shows. She's an us.
SPEAKER_02I saw that she's she's shocked that that this person with all this love for in excess and you know all the knowledge around Michael in an excess and stuff like that, doesn't know who don't change it. So she spent the next three hours going through pretty much every concert. So I said to her, I said, I said, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I I don't know. I yeah, I don't think so. You know, I'm enjoying this, I'll I'll go and have a few drinks. And obviously, I didn't even I didn't know Kirk was gonna be there at this stage, you know. This is it to come. So, but I said to her, I said, no, there's no way, and she's like, she's like, when we get there, I am just gonna hold on to your hand and you're not going anywhere.
SPEAKER_03No.
SPEAKER_02So I said to her, I said, I said, yeah, Karen. I said, uh tribute them, really. I said, it's not as if they're gonna start with Johnson's aeroplane or anything. All right, and so we go into the venue, there's Kirk, you know, so we all get to meet Kirk, and then to to fast forward that they they came on and there's Blair and Karen's got my hand, and I'm trying to back off and trying to get out of there, and then they start and bugger me if they didn't start with Johnson's aeroplane. Oh fantastic. So I think that was a bit of a sign that I'd you know that I'd better give these guys a go and I and I'll I'll hang around. So I was there onto the onto the right of the stage, and they started Johnson's airplane, and they started a few other, and then my emotions came, and then for the next two hours I just cried. And I'm not sort of upset or not angry, it's just that I'm crying that Michael's not there, and this should be in excess, and and and that's what I get upset about, yeah. You know, and it was fantastic. And Block Blair looked at me several times you know during the gig and you know, came over and gave me a bit of an arm around me. It's like it's all right, fella. And I thought, all right, you know, so that that was my first experience with Don't Change. I've had a couple more um with them. You and I went and saw them on the Gold Coast.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yes, we did, yes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So this concert, and again, there was a few other Karen was there again, and I was front row center, so I went there to enjoy the night, to enjoy the music, to enjoy, you know, spending some time with you, and and uh and we were front row center, and I loved it. It was it was it was really fantastic, but at times I was complex because I would turn around and I would see people going nuts, yeah, just the way just the way that I used to go nuts within excess, and it's people going nuts to these guys, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I'm like and it's and it's not just a couple of rows behind you, it's like everyone's really into it, aren't they?
SPEAKER_02Yep, absolutely, absolutely. So then, so then if we go forward to uh Hutch 26, you know, the the story's about about don't change now, we've morphed into that. So we did that bus tour and so forth. And during that bus tour, I said to myself, I'm not gonna do what I did with the Gold Coast with you up front, really, you know, the experience. I wanted to stand back in the in the corner, right? You know, off to the side. I'm not in the mosh pit, and I just wanted to watch the gig. Yeah, I wanted to watch people react. Yeah, I wanted to watch the show, and again, and that's part of my healing process on who are these guys and why are they singing in excess songs, and how dare they pretend to be in excess. So I've I've learned just through watching and experiencing that these guys love in excess as much as I do. There you go, and and they're singing in excess songs because we want to hear that. That's right. Okay, so so that's that's been a real real interesting thing for me. And I'm like, shit, I've missed 25 years of this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, that's it, yeah. But then again, you know, Blair was a bit younger then, so he wouldn't have been ready. But yeah, it's great for to hear you really animate this and and make people feel like they were there as well with you, because there's plenty of people that say, I'm not going to I'm not going to a tribute act. And I must admit, I was the one as well. I did go to a few that were local and they weren't that good. And then when I met Karen Peters at one, she says, You're in for it, an absolute treat. And she says, You've got to get to the front. And I was like, Oh no, I'm a bit embarrassed going right to the front, you know, nobody else is going to the front. And then I'm so glad I did, but yeah, like you did, you know, you try it from different angles as well, and it's just an amazing experience. So we haven't just been to see Don't Change, we actually went to see JD together as well, didn't we? Now that was more of an experience.
SPEAKER_02That was we we were lucky enough, and again, for you, I like hanging around with you. Um, you know, you you were able to uh range time to to meet and interview JD before the concert, and there was yourself, uh myself and Dachy that sat down with JD for about an hour in the pool bar in the pool bar of the hotel. Again, I'm thinking it's not Michael, it's not in excess, but but at this stage now where we're sort of 12 months into my healing process, and I didn't cry at all, did I?
SPEAKER_00I was you held it together. You did wow.
SPEAKER_02I was I was excited. So that sort of a lot of those raw scars you know have healed uh over over the last sort of year, year and a half. So so meeting JD was fantastic. You know, I was nervous to meet him, he was unbelievably down to earth. Yeah, but I I think uh some of the stories that that he was telling us, which really for our years only for our yes, yeah, he he sounded really mature and experienced.
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, because I was spiritual, quite spiritual too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but uh you know, he for me on what he had done in that time, he brought in access to the next generation of fans at that time. And again, I I didn't experience that personally. Obviously, I bought Switch and I've listened to it a million times, and that's that's all that's all fine. Um, but but for me to like be sitting there, I was like, I was looking around and oh my god, I'm like, look where I am, I'm sitting here talking to JD Fortune. How awesome! But uh yeah, he was he he was great to listen to some of the stories that he had to say.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, great. So and and the concert, yeah. I mean, I never got to see JD either. I was a little bit, no, can't replace Michael, can't do that. Um, and I never went, and I was too busy, you know, bringing up children at the time, anyway, little babies, and uh had a serious back operation at the same time. So going to see him at the concert, I think I went to see him two or three times actually. I was like, oh, what's the audience going to be like? Do these people really know who he is? Because Michael's in excess, not JD. But when I went in, I got it. I absolutely got he's such a a star when he's on stage. He's got so much charisma and sexiness as well. Yeah, he got a lot of that. And the crowd just went off, didn't they? It was a fantastic gig.
SPEAKER_02Oh, they were, yeah, and the reaction that he got, not just out of the the classics, but he he played some sort of, you know, what does Hayden call them? Deep Deep Dives. Deep dives, you know, he played some deep dives. And and everybody knew them, everybody was singing along. And even when he played some of his own, you know, because he does a country rock, you know, kind of thing, and he threw a couple of those songs in. And obviously, we didn't know the words to them, but when they would get when they would get to the chorus. And that you'd sing the same line three or four times. People were getting into it, and they were singing with him at a song that they'd just listened to for the first time. It was that kind of concert. He had that ability, you know, which was Michael was famous for, to really get the crowd energized and in the moment. And I think JD did that really well.
SPEAKER_00And he felt to me, I was looking at a young man on the stage as well, still, even though he's in his 40s now, he was like dancing like a man possessed and you know, waving the flag around. And it was great. It was so such a good visual to watch him.
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, but you're talking about you know dancing around and and and visual, because we were front row center, we we we had a really close view, you know, of JD's uh we'll say crutch area, crutch area, and at times it seemed that the the zipper was falling down. Now I think you might need to remind me. I think there was someone standing next to me, blonde hair and an English accent, and very excited that attempted to raise the zipper on JD mid song.
SPEAKER_00That was me being a mom thinking, oh my goodness, is is little things gonna fall out. Not a big thing, even.
SPEAKER_01He got a bit of a shock, I'll say.
SPEAKER_00He did, I did, definitely. Yeah. I was like he wasn't listening. I've had to try and pull it up for him. Anyway, moving on. We have there is a video of me and JD somewhere on YouTube talking about that, and um he got even naughty with my microphone. It actually broke my microphone, just got it fixed. So thank you for that, JD. Talking about JD, he's coming back to Australia in October. Um, we've got to try and work it out that we can see him, and then hopefully, we are all going to America to see Inex get inducted, because this is going out before we even know about the results, really. At the moment, they'd been nominated. How exciting was that night when we were all talking our chat um in our chat group?
SPEAKER_02Oh my oh my gosh, I saw the vision that you put together, and there was a there was a collage of about 12 of us or 15 of us, and we're all absolutely nuts, and that I I couldn't hear anybody, everybody's like, woo, woo, woo. So that was yeah, that was pretty exciting when we first found out that was that was great.
SPEAKER_00Does it mean much to you as an Australian them getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is like feels so far away?
SPEAKER_02Um I think I'm just more generally excited and happy for NXS.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, NXS has been a very personal thing for me for such a long period of time, but this is not personal to me. Uh this is personal to them, and that's why I'm really excited and getting behind and voting every day, and and everybody's you know on our socials is you know sending out posts and and vote here and vote there, and that's just for NXS. And I think it's time that they get their just desserts because certainly their body of work in comparison, you know, to some of others that that are being nominated. And obviously, we're extremely but yeah, I I I think that that this is time. It's been 20 odd years since they're being eligible to be nominated, and and gee, I don't know. What are the odds of getting in nomination first time? How often do people get nominated and get in first time?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there's quite a few. I think um Duran Duran got nominated and got straight in, and they're like an 80s, 90s band. So I think it there's a big possibility. Most people said if they get nominated, they'll be in. But like I have said numerous times, if they're not in this year, they'll definitely get in next year because it's the 50th anniversary, so they'll be even highlighted even more. So you and I are going to be flying from Brisbane into wherever it's going to be held, which we don't know at this point if it's going to be LA or Cleveland. Just hope we don't get shot out of the sky at the moment with the here that's going on in the world, but here we it's all about in excess, it's not about Trump.
SPEAKER_02Do you know what else is happening in America at that time? It's the soccer world cup. No. Yes, it's the soccer world cup starts, I think, the second or the third of October until middle of November.
SPEAKER_00So the flights are gonna be expensive.
SPEAKER_02If in Excess get in next month, first thing we need to do is put flights in accommodation, otherwise, it's gonna triple.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they're gonna triple, aren't they? Yeah, we need to get that sorted. Or we need to get a plane.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I'm sure, I'm sure the NXS management will put together the NXS plane, you know, back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you imagine that would be quite fun, wouldn't it? All of us on board. I don't know if I want to go in a little plane across the Atlantic. That is a bit scary. So, yeah, so that's going to be a amazing experience being with all our friends from around the world that are going to all get together. It's just gonna be such a party atmosphere, and then the highlight obviously is seeing our band on stage celebrating them and then hopefully seeing them play.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, in excess in 2025, 2026 are irrelevant again. You know, triple J, Triple J, greatest song ever in the history of Triple J. Yeah, never tears a pat.
SPEAKER_03It's great.
SPEAKER_02You know, you've got Chris Hemsworth doing Super Bowl ads that are worth $10 million with Devil Inside in the background. You know, you've got Toy Story 5, like Toy Stories, global phenomenon Disney franchise, never tears a pat.
SPEAKER_00I know about all the songs in the whole world, and it's this the one that everyone keeps going. And that's because in XS music is just so timeless and emotional.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep. I'm sure at some stage during this conversation, you're gonna ask me questions about favorite songs and favorite albums and things like that. It's really hard to rate them.
SPEAKER_00Let me ask you now then.
SPEAKER_02Oh okay, go on then.
SPEAKER_00What is your favorite song first? I suppose.
SPEAKER_02Like, well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Favourite song. Jesus, that's like asking who's my favorite child, you know.
SPEAKER_00Okay, name name me five songs that like you have on rotation.
SPEAKER_02I'll give you, I'll give you three. And and they they they change because you know, my job I sit in the car a lot, the office a lot, and I'm so I'm listening to in excess. No, no, oh, so so my three at the moment is melting in the sun.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, obviously never tear us apart. That'll always probably stay in the in the top three, and we are thrown together.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's great too. Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh walk this lane.
SPEAKER_00And it means so much now, that song to me. It feels like we've been thrown all back together again. You know, we've all when Michael passed away, we all had broken hearts and we didn't know who to turn to, and we we were lost, and now we're found.
SPEAKER_02And then we're lost, we're found, absolutely. You know, and it only takes a second for the world to change. Yeah, you know. So, you know, that's Michael's, that's the punch. That that changed everything, you know, that one second. So uh, yeah, so that's that's that's my they're they're my three songs, you know. And I I I go to Wishing Well, men and women, just to learn again. I have that currently on repeat each because like Michael's voice, this is like 1980. Put that on, guys. When you when you finish this, put on just to learn again and listen to Michael's voice. Gorgeous, yeah. My freight great songs, yeah. And unbelievable, he's 20 years of age, yeah. Uh no music training, no professional, you know, tutor. At that point, yeah. It's it was just Michael, and that's that's you know, I haven't got that on that top three, but that's that that's well that's the that's the thing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00When you pull out the albums and you haven't heard them for a while, I love pulling out my my vinyls and putting them onto my my debit, and then you know, you get into the songs and you're like, Oh wow, forgot about this one. At the moment, I'm into Soul Mistake, I just love listening to that. Yeah, Shibusaba, and so what's your favorite album?
SPEAKER_02So, my my my albums, albums, albums, uh, and not in any particular order is uh the swing. Yeah kick because it'll never be out of the top three because it just it's got too many classics, and I I love how elegantly wasted there you go, they're with friends. The music, like like Andrew's music, how he he has uh sounds and puts them together and sounds you've never heard of, almost like Shibu Shibara back in the day. Um, and then Michael's lyrics are so powerful, and his voice is just the strongest that it's ever been. And fast songs, slow songs, you know. I I just think lyrically and musically, I love listening to that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's just so I think it's just a masterpiece. I really do, and I think it was really put together well. I know it got a lot of slate in by a few people because they weren't abandoned in in the sense of in the studio, they were all scattered everywhere. But to me, it doesn't sound like that, it does feel like it's been really thought about. Um, and and we've we've said numerous times, you know, this is like a Michael's diary of what he was going through, you know. Don't lose your head, and I'm just a man, and like you're saying, we're sung together, and wow, it's just such powerful, powerful songs in there. Girl on Fire, love that one. I'll take that one myself. Oh shit.
SPEAKER_02That's funny. I've got uh like I do a bit of flying with my with my work, and and men and women is my takeoff song, and and girl on fire is my landing song. This is the flight lands, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just landed.
SPEAKER_00Of course, yeah, love it. Love it.
SPEAKER_02I send that to my family, you know. And I I just landed, my son Andy will go, you know, reply, great song, dad.
SPEAKER_00Well, that brings me on to your job at the present time. You are like a chauffeur to the rich and famous, and you get them from airport, and you just mentioned there to what their destinations or hotels. And um, I know you've um picked up a few people. Don't know if you're allowed to tell me who. I'm gonna ask you anyway, who have you picked up lately?
SPEAKER_02Well, I picked up Richard Wilkins.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Um, he was he was here for the the the actor awards, the Australian uh cinematography and television uh awards uh last month on the Gold Coast. So there he is, and I see Richard Wilkins. So I didn't have a name board, I knew who he was. He's he's walked out, so I sort of gave him a bit of a wave, and and and he had a he had a young lady, you know, beside him that I looked at, but uh, you know, once once Richard came out, you know, Richard and I started talking, his his girlfriend, you know, went went off to the toilet and and we went to get his bags. He's gone, you know, hi Chris, how are you? And I'm like, I'm like, good. So I'm you know, starstruck, uh, you know, again, because I'm a shy man. I'm like, what do I say? So I said, You and I have actually met before. And he said, Really? He said, When was that? I said, uh November 26, 1997 in Sydney. And he just instantly went, Michael's funeral. I went, I went, yep. Uh, and he said, Well so I said I was a fan, I snuck in, I got in, and I and I was there. He's like, Wow, he said, that's fantastic. So you know, we started talking about you know Michael and and you know, Kel ringing him and asking him to represent the fans and media and so forth. Just during that conversation, his girlfriend starts starts walking, you know, from the loop. So she's got a blouse on, and then under the blouse, she's got a t-shirt. So I can just see like 10 centimeters, you know, of this t-shirt. I'm looking and I'm like, is that the X factor to a t-shirt, you know, with the red X and then the band standing? And then she's 20 meters away, and then I'm looking, it is so I turn her and I go, Richard, is your girlfriend wearing an NXS t-shirt? And she went, I don't know. So she comes over and he says, Show me what you're wearing under the shirt. So she's you know, flashes the the thing, and she and she and he goes, Oh, yeah. She always wears my NXS shirts, she just chucks them on whenever she wants, you know. And so so it was it was a really easy meeting, and and you know, we both had you know, we're we're talking in excess the entire way, you know, to where I I I took him out to Hot At. So that was um that was fantastic to meet Richard and listen to some of his stories for my ears only, and he got to he got to experience the the fans, you know. We were talking about you, and you know, he's like, Oh, you're an OB, you know, from the podcast. So yeah, it was pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00Well, let's say hello to Richard if you're listening. Hello, Richard.
SPEAKER_02Hello, Dickie.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it'd be nice if we if we see you over at um the induction, if that happens, that would be wonderful. I think that would be a good full circle, wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_02It would, I think, if Richard's actually listening, perhaps Richard, you could get in touch with me. I reckon he would be an awesome guest.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'd love him to come on. I bet he's got some great stories that he'd love to share with the fans because he is a fan of the music. He's got the t-shirt.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he does. Yeah, yeah, plenty of them apparently as well.
SPEAKER_00And was there anybody else that you've met?
SPEAKER_02Um um I I looked after Baz uh Lumen for a few days during that time. He at the time, and that that's a month ago, so it was a couple of days or a week before the launch of his new Elvis documentary. So I I didn't I didn't have and again I was respectful towards you know, towards Baz and what they were doing. Um, so I didn't have the opportunity to talk about in excess, but like every second I'm like I'm just thinking in excess, in excess, in excess, in excess.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, do like what you're doing for Elvis, do it for Michael. Bazzy, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But again, I didn't, you know, he was a busy man, very busy man. He was on the phone, you know, or he's talking to his PA the entire time.
SPEAKER_00You had an infamous person in the NXS world in your cab. You had Colin Diamond, didn't you? How did that go?
SPEAKER_02I did.
SPEAKER_00I I did. Did you strained yourself?
SPEAKER_02I did, I did. It was uh so um I've got various playlists on my Spotify. So put NXS on, and he was I think he was off to Bali uh to meet up, you know, with family and friends for holidays and so forth. So he was in way holiday mode on his phone, so I had NXS in the background. So after I'd done my my walk and went, you know, into the vehicle, and uh you know, I said to him, I said, So I'll have NXS in the background. So he stuck his head up and went, hmm, NXS. Okay, and that was it. And then during sort of conversation, oh you know, where are you off to? I'm off to Bali and so forth. Oh, okay. And I think, and then I'm like, didn't Michael have a place in Bali just to sort of see if he could sort of you know grab onto a conversation. So I dropped two or three little little hints, and as we drove past the oligarch tree, and I'm like, Oh, you know, Michael used to live here, and he went, Oh, okay. But he didn't then give the second comment, so I didn't go any any any further. But that was uh yeah, that was interesting. I had lots of questions for him. Where's the money?
SPEAKER_00You know, exactly, exactly. Tell us more about what's going on there. Okay, well, yeah, so that would be yeah, that would be quite an intense conversation if you ever got into something like that with that that man, I reckon. Okay, well, I mean, that doesn't really matter to us. We always want to talk about the music, don't we? So, why does in excess still matter to you? And why does he think it matters to so many of us?
SPEAKER_02Well, it is about the music, and the music never dies. It's still I spoke about this earlier. It the sound is still relevant and it still sounds good. The music can either think about or you can dance about, it'll never change. There's 10 albums, 10, 11 songs, there's a hundred, hundred and twenty songs to make you feel good about in excess. And my as Michael says, do it for the music.
SPEAKER_00He did. Well, talking about Mike, what do you think made him so special? I mean, we've uh we've you know, you've we've been through the JD fortune years, and you know, many people have tried to front the band, but he is irresplaceable, isn't he?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Well when I was a kid and I'm and I'm listening to NXS for the first time, I'm like 12, I'm listening to uh I think I'm talking Australia Top 40 or whatever it was, like a Sunday at six o'clock or something like that. And I had a little a little uh music box wireless, you know, in my room like 1983, 1982, and and listening to Shibou Shabba like for the first time. One thing, black and white, don't change. It wasn't it wasn't the it wasn't Michael, it wasn't the band, it was the sound of the music. Yeah, and I'm listening to this, but I'm 12. Uh what do you know? You know nothing, you know. But you're just listening to sound come out of you know, your your list and your room, and as a 12-year-old, that's what encapsulated me to the band was the sound of the music. Then years you know had passed, and the swing had come out, so the swing came out, and I think I was 13 or 14, so like it was like 84, 85, and my dad took me just to Singapore. I'm at the Hilton in Singapore, and dad's at work, and he just leaves me, you know, there. So I went down to you know Newton Circus and bought myself a Sony Wartman, okay, and the swing. And that was the only CD that's I had dad gave me like 20 bucks or something like that, but that's all I could afford is one CD, and I listened to the swing 500 times over the next week. Sitting there by the pool, just listening and listening, and and and that's you know, from the the couple of years before listening to Suburba Shaban, now the swing, you know, as a young teenager, the music, the lyrics, and again, I haven't really seen any music videos. Uh wasn't watching TV and stuff like that, it's just the music. And then listen like Thieves come out, but you know, now all of a sudden it's 86, 85, MTV, I'm 14, I'm 15, I'm watching TVs, watching watching music videos, and there's this guy, you know, it's Jesus Christ, you know, singing. It was like, it was just the god, you know, I was yeah, and it was just the swagger, you know, the charisma, the sex appeal. I don't know any of these things. I'm 15. What do I know? I haven't really been looking at girls yet. You know, I wasn't going back at that stage and listening to other albums and so forth. I was just in the time of this is the album now, and then I'm 17 and Kick comes out. Oh my god, you know. So I'm at this stage, I'm nightclubbing in Surface Paradise, and there's a dozen different nightclubs. And then, like me and a few friends from school, we'd when we were out clubbing, we would just go nightclub to nightclub and just go straight to the DJ and go, can you put some in excess on? So you put on like three, four songs of in excess, and would just dance like crazy, and then finish that and then put something else on and would leave and go to the next nightclub and go, put in excess on. So, like on a Friday and Saturday night, I there'd be like five, six hours of only in excess in nightclubs. And then next week we'd do it, we'd do it again. Everything just grew from there, and it was you know, and uh now at this stage I'm able to to to get the CDs of and and DVDs of the original in excess and and underneath the colours and a mouse under to back listen to things like that, and then it just got it just got bigger and bigger and bigger. So, yeah, but Michael was the swanger, the charisma, the sex appeal, everything. You know, I was I was in love with this guy as a as a heterosexual man.
SPEAKER_00He was definitely the cherry on the top of it all, wasn't he? That's as if it couldn't get any better, and then you got to see him visually, and then you got to see him play live as well. Now you've got two young boys that are probably around the same age you were when you've got to into in excess, and I know for a fact playing in excess to them. What other songs are they listening to?
SPEAKER_02Well, I've got I've got three sons, uh a Cameron from my my previous marriage. Oh uh Cameron his middle yep, Cameron, his middle name Michael, and then I've got I've got Andrew. Hello, Andrew, his middle name Michael, and then and then when my third son was born, my wife said to me, he is not being named Kirk or John or Gary Gary. But I was able to get I was able to get Michael in. So my three sons, all of their middle names are Michael.
SPEAKER_00Oh bless you.
SPEAKER_02But Andrew, Andrew, my son, Andy, he's 15 now. Uh for Christmas, he he got he got a uh a record player, a dick, as you call it. So you know, he's got kick and and the swing, and you know, elegantly and so he's listening to all of these himself now without me prompting, and it's so good to walk past his room and and hear you know in excess. But ever since they were kids, they listen to Australian music, they know every in excess song. A few years ago, we we bought a piano, and the first song that I learned on the piano was Beautiful Girl.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's lovely.
SPEAKER_02They get the next next time you come around, be like asked to, and they'll just go into the into the small house and they'll just go dun dun dun dun dun dun and they could do that on the
SPEAKER_00piano so you know and they're such good kids go boys they're lovely they're good boys they they're growing up good not met cameron yet but yes the the the little ones are gorgeous are good okay well we're going to go into quick fire round are you ready for this far away okay Chris are you ready okay favorite in excess song you can only do one today today um melting in the sun okay favorite in excess album today sweet most underrated in excess song men and women Marco Pitts it's such an awesome song I love it I love it I need to listen to it more it's one that I just go oh just no I don't listen to it okay best in excess music video um taste it the banded one yeah the banded one yeah the x rated one yeah and then and then listen like thieves you know in yeah in in that but how good is the original sin as well that video that's quite cool as well isn't it in in Japan with the with the trucks with the trucks passing and the Japanese mafia and the motorbikes and stuff pretty cool beautiful great one okay and best in excess live performance you've seen on youtube lately oh on YouTube um I would say it would have to be uh Jules Holland oh never tear us apart yeah where Michael is sitting on the piano andrew's playing and Michael's got the purple jumpsuit on with all his junk hanging out and that performance of just piano and Michael's voice that is the song that will be played at my funeral yeah like that song just don't well up don't well up don't well you're doing really well you're doing real but yeah I remember that performance on Jules Holland and I've I've probably said this a lot of times on my other podcast with Hayden the in excess access all areas podcast I watched that and I recorded it and all I could think about was I can't wait to get back home and actually watch that recording I was oh it was just something else wasn't it I think he had like a little baby blue jumper on and yeah it was like a purple jumpsuit yeah yeah it wasn't a jumpsuit just a jumper and a and jeans jumper and pants yeah yeah yeah but he definitely didn't have any underwear on no anyway moving on one word to describe Michael Hutchins one word oof love love bless you oh that reminds me we'll come back to that hold that thought okay I've got one more for you one word to describe the inx fan community loyal yeah they are they're very loyal they're beautiful and loyal to different things loyal to in excess loyal to themselves that they can continue to be fans of inx loyal to you be friends oh my god and loyal to all of us those those tours as bus tours that you've organized for the for the fans they're just extraordinary like they should we should have five buses it should be 300 people because there's so many people that love inexcess and are loyal to inexcess and you know and and you and what you're doing you're bringing us you're bringing us all together thank you and I I am blushing quite a bit because like I just do it because I just want to bring people together and I just do it because I love I love creating a a party atmosphere and and and create creating communities and I want to hear your stories as well Chris so thank you so much for coming on but um I'm I did say something about the about love. Michael and love yes and Michael and love and there is an album that um came out around the same time as the Mystified documentary that was done by I think it was done by Sony and it was um a Michael Hutchins journey and it was called Mystify to go with it and with the Mystified um documentary even though it none of the songs were actually part of it but if you if you listen to it there's a lot of commentary and there's a lot of um songs and isolated songs and it's and I've said this before it's a great album to get in the car on a journey because I've and me and Dr Jim talk about this all the time you actually sing along with Michael on some of those isolated things and just absolutely amazing but you got to hear it and you got the feels hey you got the feels tell us about that Chris I I did I did I did I remember listening to it the first time I was taking Eddie I think to art class I went and saw the movie Mystify Richard Long the movie Mr Five then I bought and I bought this the the the CD and we got up to song 15 or 16 and it was a boon for you in that song you know the it's the the the media are asking questions the fans at the funeral and listen to this song you know I'm like okay and and then all of a sudden this reporter asked this question you know what did Michael mean to you and it was me it was me and I and I answered it you know even now you know I I get here you know how do you answer that question what did Michael mean to you so all I could get out and I'm live on national TV channel seven live camera in the Michael's funeral at Michael's at Michael's funeral and all I could get out was I loved him you loved him and and that hasn't changed it hasn't it I can feel yeah not the the only thing that's changed is the scar and the hurt you know around it and and again that that's that's it's you and and and our week six fed community it's not your community it's not my community no our it's our fed community we're we're in this we're in this in fact what we've what we created lately is something called the backstage legends and I think there's about 40 of us and it's climbing in this chat group every day you know we're talking about the polls or we're talking about the leaderboard at the moment or a song or have you heard this have you seen this and it's just everyone's just got each other's back and you know how you doing we've got Lisa Mac who's conquering cancer at the moment there's always somebody that's going on a holiday and we're wishing them well and it's just such a wonderful community.
SPEAKER_02We've got three I think there's three of them going at the moment let's have a look there's Hutch 26 which was our our Michael birthday um and then there's yeah and then there's the in excess triple A patrons yeah which actually I'll talk about patrons and then there's the listen like fans oh there's three of them now you want to chunk I don't know I'm sure you do but you know my phone lives next to the the bedside table and every dead set minute up until about at least three o'clock in the morning the light goes on someone's message light goes off light goes on and shaka whacks me turn your buddy phone over because because we're just it it it it it's like we're 15 you know and we're all you know this social media thing which I'm not into social media at all but these are my three that I'm on and that's your chat yeah it's good it's really good fun we we share quite a lot between us all it's been really good fun and thank you yes you were um you you came straight into um my life and into the podcast life and became a patron and supported Hayden and I and now I've started this um podcast yes I've got a few bills so thank you Chris for helping me with that as well so yeah if you're welcome yeah so it was was it easy to become a a patron or a backstage legend? Well uh I was I was a patron with with uh in access access all areas of the the podcast and certainly through talking to you and having you know many conversations about moving from access all areas to listen like thieves podcast I'm amazed at at actually how much money it takes to put podcasts together and and um and websites and Facebook pages and and QR codes and stuff like that. So I certainly did straight away move my my my patron that I was giving money for accessible areas. It's on kids and it was like it's like $20 $30 a month it's it's like it's like one beer almost you know um craft one craft beer or a couple of coffees.
SPEAKER_00So I'm I think I think we're both fueled by um to is new to this afternoon.
SPEAKER_02Yes we're having a so yes I am I am doing a pledge and I think I'm pledging thirty dollars a month which is less which is which which is less than than my KO you know which is less way less than than everything else. It's like nothing it's a dollar a day so I'm I'm really happy to do that because without a little bit of money you know and funding it's coming out of your pocket and that's not fair.
SPEAKER_00So I think you know as a as a fan and as a friend you know I'm I'm happy to do that and I would just ask for everyone that's that's listening you know if you can certainly do I don't know $10 $20 a month $30 a month which will help this and and and and help us you know get to where we want to go and it's not money that's going into B's pocket it's just money to pay for the bills for this so it's it's a no-brainer so come up here yeah I want to do a quality show so if I want to do a quality show yes I do have to do that I hate I hate asking for money but yeah if I I started it off as a five tier at five tier a tier so you can start off as little as five dollars ten um twenty and thirty so and and donations so thank you to everybody that has thank you to everybody who's thinking about it if you are thinking about it there is a seven day trial as well for free um and you can go on to our patron and the um link is in our um description today so I like the I I like the name what it would back backstage legend instead of patron yes I like that yeah it's a bit of an old fashioned name isn't it patron um it reminds me of going to the pub or something so yes you're all backstage legends to me we're all legends anyway yep so if you haven't done it do it you know because it you know you you sign up you forget about it you don't even know it just comes out of your credit card or whatever you know and every woman's got a million subscriptions so just add one more if you are paying 20 or 30 dollars a month which is the gold and for patinum I can invite you onto the show too and you can be sitting in Chris's seat and we can have a chat so um all the all the people that support me on the tiers they also get extra stuff because me and Chris are probably going to talk a little bit more off stage off stage off air and we'll put that into the chats as well and there's lots of posts as well so you can get to see the video of me doing my little thing the other day did you see that Chris I did I did that was that was like super super fan you're you're our queen bee but you're now the super fan I am super fan super fan bee yes I don't mind fangirl I was reading that article but nowhere in the article did it actually say vote dot rockhall dot com.
SPEAKER_02It said go out and well the the the the the daily mail one it's saying go and vote go and vote go and vote but I don't think it said where to actually go and vote.
SPEAKER_00Shall I tell you the story how that happened so you know how we've like all of the people on Facebook that own pages and or not own pages but that look up on the admin they've been posting like continuously every day every couple of hours it's just fantastic to see telling the truth and I shared one of my posts onto a community which was the Manly community um down on the northern beaches which is where in excess you know became in excess I got a message in my Facebook page for um in excess access all areas from a guy called Jim and he says oh um I saw that you were in this um community page would you like to hear I can see that you're you're loving excess do you want to talk about it I was like yeah no problem so we just had a chat over the phone next minute is like oh you're a fangirl this is fantastic and says um do you mind if um I get in touch with the um daily telegraph about you and I was like yeah like I don't mind you know I want to get you know as many votes as possible for in excess so that would be great and then literally that afternoon he said I'm sending a photographer around in 20 minutes. I was like what so um yeah so I had to get all my gear out and then she was here for an hour and she did videos and photos so all of that's going to be that is in the post so you can actually watch those um me playing up again in the camera nice nice nice well Chris it's been absolutely wonderful having you on as always it's such a fun chat it's always um good meeting people like you with unique stories great stories and connections and I'm sure there's some more stories that we'll have along the way especially when we come back from the rock hall and when that happens and so this is what it's all about everybody so let's celebrating the music the memories and the incredible fan community and keeping in Access's legacy alive. Thank you so much for joining me Chris thank you B thank you in Access Well thanks for listening everybody it's been absolutely fantastic if you want to know more then check out the links that are in our description and send a message
