Episode #153 | 11.28.23

INXS’ Michael Hutchence: All-Night Gigs, All-Night Orgies, and a Tragic Climax

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In this episode

Michael Hutchence’s sudden death in 1997 at the age of 37 left a hole in the hearts of Australians and the world. His band, INXS, cut their teeth on the lawless pub circuit down under. Three shows a night, from sunrise to sunset. Hundreds of shows a year. The bond that they formed was life-changing for them all, but especially for Michael, whose greatest fear was being alone. And then Michael Hutchence had his life changed for a second time. He was sucker punched by a taxi driver in the street. That attack left him unable to smell or taste. It altered his moods. And it may have had something to do with the final day of his life.

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Sources

Mystify: Michael Hutchence (2019, dir. Richard Lowenstein)

INXS Story to Story: The Official Biography, by INXS and Anthony Bozza

My lost weekend with Michael Hutchence (GQ)

Debunking the myth around Michael Hutchence's death (Far Out)

Paula Yates on 60 Minutes Australia (1998)

The Unlikely Story of How INXS Came to Rule the Late '80s With 'Kick' (Billboard)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOpP-TEcKF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCu_sTXf1E

Michael Hutchence’s death solved in coroner’s full report (Daily Mail)

Michael Hutchence on lower Broadway (Egg Magazine)

The Sweet Smell of INXS (LA Times)

The fateful punch that changed Michael Hutchence overnight (NZ Herald)

Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll stars: the lethal cocktail that ended in tragedy (The Guardian)

http://markwestwriter.blogspot.com/2013/10/inxs-get-out-of-house-tour-1993-20.html

Michael Hutchence detective spills all on star's death (Police Tape podcast)

Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.

Credits

Hosted by Jake Brennan.

Written by Zeth Lundy.

Copy edited by James Sullivan.

Scored and mixed by Matt Beaudoin.

Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker.

DISGRACELAND theme song, “Crenshaw Space Boogie,” written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava, and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.

*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak