Michael Hutchence

Oz For Africa was held on the 13th July 1985 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.  It was Australia's contribution to Live Aid to raise money for famine relief in Africa.  The concert feaured 17 bands who helped raise $10 million through Australia.

The concert began twelve hours before the Wembley Stadium, London concert, so the Australian concert was actually the first Live Aid concert held.

The four-hour concert was broadcast around Australia, with some INXS songs also broadcast overseas.

Michael Hutchence with INXS performed 5 songs, choosing to preview some new songs from their upcoming album 'Listen Like Thieves'.  The 5 songs they performed at Oz For Africa were 'Original Sin', 'Listen Like Thieves', 'Kiss The Dirt', 'What You Need' and 'Don't Change'.

In 2004, 2 of the tracks ('What You Need' & 'Dont Change') were included on the Live Aid 4-DVD box set.

Watch the Oz For Africa video's below:

Classic performance of 'Listen Like Thieves' on the influencial BBC2 UK TV show 'Old Grey Whistle Test' that ran between 1971 – 1987…

The classic INXS no.1 USA hit single 'Need You Tonight' (written by Michael Hutchence & Andrew Farriss) is to be included on the new 'Rock Band 3' video game to be released later this year.

Check out http://www.rockband.com for details and trailers…

On January 28th, 1985 Australia's top musicians gathered together for the East African Tragedy Appeal Concert. This concert was the first in a series of famine aid related events that eventually led up to the Live Aid concert.

The event was held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia to around 30,000 people.  The idea of the concert was to have many 'super groups' form, so artists from one band would join another band.  The main songwriters Michael Hutchence & Andrew Farriss represented INXS at the concert.

Here is the guest book signed by Michael Hutchence, and other artists from the day.

Guests included singers and members of bands from the following artists: Broderick Smith, Chris Wilson, Larry Groves, Mental as Anything, Mondo Rock, INXS, Midnight Oil, Divinyls, Eddie Raynor, Beargarden, Little River Band, Midge Ure, Pseudo Echo, Kids In The Kitchen, Real Life, I’m Talking, Goanna, Australian Crawl, DD Smash, The Models, Mi Sex, Black Sorrows, Split Enz, Stephen Cummings, Joe Camilleri, Dave Dobbyn, Jon English, EuroGliders, John Farnham, Dear Enemy, Dr. Feelgood, Vanetta Fields, Rene Geyer, Hoodoo Gurus, Pink Pinks, Craig Harnath, Ghostwriters, Icehouse,  Sharon O’Neill, John Schumann, AC/DC, Strange Tenants, and the Uncanny X-Men.

The event was broadcast on television in the form of a telethon simulcast on radio around Australia.

Midge Ure was a guest singer of a song written by Brian Canham and James Leigh of Pseudo Echo.  Sam Sejavka from Beargarden / The Ears (who Michael Hutchence's Dogs in Space' character is based on) also performed on the song. 

The song titled "Can we Get Together" was to be Australia's contribution to the famine effort like 'We Are The World' or 'Do They Know It's Christmas'. Unfortunately the song, which was sung at this event by Brian Canham and Midge Ure, was recorded in the studio but was never released.

After the event, Midge Ure flew back to London. He later met up with Bob Geldof to discuss the possibility of a similar event.  Then 6 months later Live Aid was held.

The EAT concert raised around $1 million dollars which was paid to the Red Cross.

During 1984 as Michael Hutchence was creating a frenzy with INXS in the USA on 'The Swing World Tour'.  Michael was given a demo tape of LA Valley girl Flame Fortune.  Michael was impressed and brought her back to Australia to record the single 'Sex Symbol' backed with 'Jungle Boy'.

Michael co-produced the single and performed backing vocals. The musicians who played on this project were known as 'The Rocking Love Gods'. They included Tim Brosman, Buzz Bidstrup (The Angels, Gangajang), Andrew Farriss (INXS), Rick Grossman (Divinyls), Barton Price (The Models) and James Reyne (Australian Crawl).

Watch Flame interviewed on 'After Dark' by Donnie Sutherland.

The single was released on orange vinyl by Polygram in 1985, with a video clip by Richard Lowenstein which also features the late Troy Davies.  At the time there was quite alot of hype about Flame Fortune, and she was featured on the cover of Countdown Magazine in April 1985! 

She soon faded from the spotlight but Flame released 'I.O.Pan' during 1991 in Australia.  The lyrics seemed to predict her own death…and not long after she was found murdered!

It is believed Michael Hutchence wrote the INXS song 'Show Me (Cherry Baby)' about Flame Fortune, which appeared on his last studio album with INXS 'Elegantly Wasted'.  At shows on the 1997 INXS tour Michael often introduced the song as "this is about a girl from LA who was murdered".

Watch the 'Sex Symbol' video clip below, and for details on Flame Fortune releases check out the Discography section.  R.I.P. Flame Fortune!

Since Michael's passing, U2 have often paid tribute to their great mate 'Hutch' many times at their concerts around the world. 

On Nov 23rd, 1997 the day after Michael died, U2 performed in San Antonio, TX.  Bono was very emotional having just lost a close friend "Michael was not only a great singer but a great friend of ours".  The band then played a snippet of Walzing Matilda which led into a very stripped back version of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'.

Next song 'With Or Without You' then contained a snippet of 'Never tear Us Apart'.  Followed by 'Staring At The Sun' where a big picture of Michael was shown on the huge video screen and nothing else.  To close the show the band performed 'Wake Up Dead Man' before 'Never Tear Us Apart' was again played over the PA system.

U2 paid tribute to Michael again at their Mexico City concert by dedicating the song 'One'. "This one goes out to a mate of ours, great mate…great singer…I'm sorry, I'm sorry…for Michael Hutchence".

The next year in Australia, at the press conference in Perth at the start of the Australian Pop Tour, Bono said they can't help thinking about Michael while they were here, and that the whole Australian Pop Tour would be in memory of Michael Hutchence.  Below Bono and Larry talk to Molly Meldrum in Perth about Michael's passing.

That 1998 Australian tour, Bono did an interview for '60 Minutes' where he was asked if he was angry at Michael.  Bono responded by saying he can't be angry at him, he was just stuck in a moment he couldn't get out of. 

A couple of years later on the next U2 album 'All That You Can't Leave Behind', Bono had written a song about a conversation he wanted to have with Michael, recalling the quote in the interview the song was titled 'Stuck In A Moment (You Can't Get Out Of).  U2 have often dedicated this song to Michael in their live shows as well.

When U2 played in Sydney in 1998, they invited the other original INXS members along to their show, as well as close family and friends of Michael's.  It was pouring rain and lightning, just the same as after Michael's funeral, and other important dates to do with Michael there always seems to be a lightning storm!  Before playing 'One' Bono turned to the big picture of Michael on the screen and said:

"I Just wanted to say goodbye
To a great singer
And a great friend
I just wanted to say goodbye
I just wanted to say goodbye
In front of his mates
In front of his family
In front of his band
I just wanted to say goodbye
So goodbye Michael"

U2 also often dedicated the song 'Gone' to Michael live as well.  Here is an example during their 2001 tour in Boston where Bono yells out 'Hutch' at the start of the song.  Brilliant guitar playing by The Edge in this song!

On the 10th anniversary of MH's death in 2007, Bono and The Edge performed 'Desire' at Union Chapel in London.  During the song Bono mentioned it was a special date and started playing 'Need You Tonight' as a tribute to Michael.

Ofcourse Bono also recorded a duet for Michael's solo album 'Slide Away'.  Bono and U2 were great friends of Michael's, and would just like to say thank you on behalf of Michael's many fans for the special tributes to Hutch over the years!  

The National Portrait Gallery aims to increase the understanding of the Australian people – their identity, history, creativity and culture through portraiture.

The National Portrait Gallery building, situated on King Edward Terrace, Parkes, Canberra, bounded by the High Court of Australia and the National Gallery of Australia, displays some 400 portraits of people who have shaped Australia and who continue to shape our nation.

Included is a portrait of Michael Hutchence taken by photographer Harry Borden in Paris during 1997.  This photo and others by Harry were also used for Michael's solo album release in 1999.

Listen to the video interview with Harry Bordan below as he discusses his photo shoot with Michael.

http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/michael_hutchence.php

Only weeks before Michael's death on Nov 22nd, 1997.  Duran Duran released their new album titled 'Medazzaland' on October 14th, 1997.  Due to their record company situation with EMI at the time they could only release the album in America and Japan.

The album featured the song 'Michael You've Got A Lot To Answer For', which is about lead singer Simon Le Bon's friendship with Michael Hutchence.  The two of them along with the likes of Bono, would often party in the South of France and London together.

The night Michael died Duran Duran were on tour in Cleveland, Ohio.  They dedicated their entire performance to Michael Hutchence.  Cutting out a number of songs from the set list including 'So Long Suicide' from 'Medazzaland'.

In the 80's Duran Duran and INXS were two of biggest pop/rock acts in the world, able to come out of the new wave period of the early 80's, and be able to blend different styles together to make pop/rock music that people could also dance to.

Listen to the song here:

Dogs In Space – 8:00pm
Unscreened in Los Angeles for ages, Richard Lowenstein's seminal Australian post-punk masterpiece Dogs In Space comes to the Cinefamily in a brand-new HD restoration! Based on Lowenstein's own whirlwind experiences as a young man in the heart of the late '70s Melbourne scene, the film is a dense, chaotic stew of vignettes charting the endless 24/7 partying that takes place in a trashy communal house — a magical realm in which its wild, impoverished inhabitants do dope, go to shows, play shows, smash TVs, occasionally go to school, and generally live out a gloriously hedonistic life path. In the center of this storm is Sam (played by INXS frontman Michael Hutchence), the charismatic heroin addict whose Zen-like calm fares him well amongst a kingdom's worth of other jokers, junkies and misfits. With a killer soundtrack (featuring Aussie local heroes amongst the likes Iggy Pop and Gang of Four), warm 'n fuzzy period rock show recreations and a fluid, audacious visual style, Dogs In Space is not only an authentic gem begging for rediscovery — but is also a helluva good time. Part Time Punks main man DJ Michael Stock will be spinning records before and after the films!
Dir. Richard Lowenstein, 1986, Blu-Ray, 104 min.

We're Livin' On Dog Food – 10:00pm
The original rallying cry of punk rock truly was a shot heard 'round the world, as evidenced by its deeply planted roots in even Australian soil! From its auspicious late '70s beginnings, Melbourne's underground post-punk subculture overflowed with talent, ferocity and a willingness to go boldly where no Aussie had gone before — and We're Livin' On Dog Food, originally intended as just a small Dogs In Space "making-of" doc, is the definitive collection of interviews and vintage footage from this vibrant and unpredictable scene. Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party), the Primitive Calculators, Ollie Olsen, Phillip Brophy and many others proffer their recollections and air their animosities in a tribute to the real-life realm of yesteryear that inspired the world of Dogs In Space. The legendary venue The Crystal Ballroom, Nick Cave's pre-Birthday Party band The Boys Next Door, the drugs, the fashions, the influences and the philosophies of the times are all on proud display alongside never-before-seen interviews with Michael Hutchence from the Dogs In Space set. Vive le "Little Bands"!
Dir. Richard Lowenstein, 2009, Blu-Ray, 94 min.