1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: story about danger, about how danger never really goes away, 3 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: even after you've escaped the most dangerous place you've ever known. 4 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: And this is also a story about a band that 5 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: survived one of the most violent, lawless music scenes on Earth, 6 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: only to discover that the farther they traveled from it, 7 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: the nearer danger drew them in. This is about riots 8 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: and near death experiences, about criminals hiding out in mining camps. 9 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: It's about crossing over, about paying a price, and about controversy. 10 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: It's a story about how even the bands that make 11 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: it out alive don't always make it out unscathed. This 12 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: is the story of how Inexcess became one of the 13 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: biggest rock and roll bands on the planet. So of 14 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: course it's a story about great music. Unlike that clip 15 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:13,119 Speaker 1: I played for you at the top of the show. 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: That wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from 17 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: my mellotron called yah Na MK one. I played you 18 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: that loop because I can't afford the rights to my 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: Sharona by the Nack. Hey, why would I play you 20 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: that specific slice of Kurt Cobaine inspiring cheese could I 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: afford it? Because that was the number one song in 22 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: America on September nineteenth, nineteen seventy nine, and that was 23 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: the day that Australia's music scene literally went up in flames, 24 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: and six guys from down Under forged in the white 25 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: hot Fire first set their sights on Global Superstar. 26 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 2: On this a. 27 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: Special part two episode, wild Places, lawless scenes, criminals, mining camps, 28 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: controversy and in excess. I'm Jake Brennan and this is 29 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:34,519 Speaker 1: Disgrace Land. It was a land of opportunity and dust, 30 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: a place for men who weren't welcomed back home, men 31 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: blown west by the wind and hardened by the sun, 32 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: Criminals running from their past and running from the law. 33 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: It was a land without laws. Out here, there were 34 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: only promises, promises of wealth, of fame, and of a 35 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: new life, of vast life, one that seemed as endless 36 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: as the horizon. But those promises in that life were 37 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: hard earned, and they came. 38 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 2: At a price. 39 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: And so this was also a land of violence. And 40 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: it was a land where you backed up your best 41 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: shot with bare knuckles, a land where blood was spilled 42 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: and where justice came at the sharp end of a knife. 43 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 2: Blade or the jagged edge of a broken bottle. 44 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: This land was not the wild West of America in 45 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: the late eighteen hundreds. This was the wild West of 46 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: Australia in the nineteen seventies, or should I say the 47 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: wild West of the Australian music. 48 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 3: Scene in the nineteen seventies. 49 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: Of course, New York had the Ramones and suicide and 50 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: Patti Smith and London had the Clash and the pistols. 51 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: But by nineteen seventy seven Australia had something even more 52 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: untamed and unchecked. The Australian rock and roll circuit was lawless, 53 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: from Sydney to Melbourne to far flung mining and fishing 54 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: towns like Calgorily Headland in Bunbury. Australian audiences were desperate 55 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: to rage as Midnight Oil as Peter Garrett wants to 56 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: put it, And whether it was Midnight Oil or the 57 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: Saints or Radio Birdman or Cold Chisel or even the 58 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: Boys next Door, that's what Nick Cave and the Birthday 59 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: Parreaty called themselves. At first, Australian audiences were radicalized, mobilized 60 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: and energized by the music. 61 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 2: They wanted to be. 62 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: Part of the show, and I mean, physically street tough, 63 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: sun hardened subcultures. 64 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 2: Like the Sharpies would roll up their crop. 65 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: Cuts tight, and their t shirts tight, and their jeans 66 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: tight too, all of it tight, all of it's sharp 67 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: as fuck. They'd wait for a hippie or a moud 68 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: or a rocker, anyone who wasn't a sharpie really to 69 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: do the wrong thing, to look at them the wrong way, 70 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: to say the wrong word, and it was on, and 71 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: that night's entertainment would then soundtrack the raw, primordial violence 72 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: that ear splitting volume. Meanwhile, a couple of truck drivers 73 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: six pints deep would be to beat each other's faces, 74 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: and while some half baked tounty at the bar weaponized 75 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: a beer bottle in order to express his displeasure at 76 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: the fact that he couldn't hear the football game on 77 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: the shitty television set that hung above the cash register. 78 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: But one venue's bar in particular served as a buffer 79 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: between the audience and the band. At the Star Hotel 80 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: in Newcastle, New South Wales, the band played behind the bar, 81 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 1: while the two hundred or so patrons packed inside had 82 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: to stand on the bar if they wanted to really 83 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: connect with the music on that untamed, physical level, but 84 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: the physical state of the Star Hotel was just about 85 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 1: his dodgy as it's rough around the Edge's clientele, and 86 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: so On September nineteenth, nineteen seventy nine, the Venerable Live 87 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: music venue hosted its final shows before shutting down for good. 88 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: The bands began playing at noon that day and they 89 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: went until ten pm that night, which, per a local ordinance, 90 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: was curfew. The club was at capacity inside, but outside 91 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: thousands more had gathered to give their beloved Star Hotel 92 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: to send off it deserved. 93 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 2: The cops walked. 94 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: Into the Star at ten pm on the dot. One 95 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: of the local band's heroes were wrapping up their final song, 96 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: and the thin walls were shaking and the stench of 97 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: sweat and beer and cigarettes was as strong as heroes 98 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: were alloud, but the cops aimed to be louder just 99 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: by being present. They forced the music to stop before 100 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: that final song was technically over, but not before Heroes 101 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: as lead singer leaned into the mic with a parting. 102 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 2: Thought the pig say we gotta go the place erupted. 103 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: All that untamed energy that had been put into the music, 104 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: into this codependent symbiotic relationship now had nowhere else to 105 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: go but to refocus itself on the ones who had 106 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: denied them their joy and communion and rage. As the 107 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: cops put the heroes as defiant singer and handcuffs, the 108 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: crowd emptied up onto the street, and. 109 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 2: Out there in the warm spring air, a. 110 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: Riot broke out chance of piss off pigs while the 111 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: locals wrestled with the police. As one bystander was led 112 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: into a waiting ambulance with blood running down his face, 113 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: another managed to steal a cops service revolver. A group 114 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: of men rocked the police car back and forth, finally 115 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: tipping it over, and as it came to rest on 116 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: its hood, fuel began to leak from the gas tank 117 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: and spill. 118 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 2: Onto the pavement. 119 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,239 Speaker 1: Some random source of ignition was then tossed onto the liquid, 120 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: a stray cigarette perhaps, and within seconds the cruiser erupted 121 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: in a fireball. The flames quickly spread to a nearby paddywagon, 122 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: which burned alongside the cruiser, while the memories of all 123 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: the shows inside the tiny Star hotel drifted off into 124 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: the night like the smoke that was now billowing from 125 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: the wreckage. Only a few weeks before, the now infamous 126 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: Star Hotel Riots the Sydney by way of earth band, 127 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: the Ferris Brothers had just played their first gig under 128 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: the catchier new name in Excess. Just like Heroes in 129 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil and all the rest, in 130 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: Excess and the Brothers Ferris that's Andrew, John and Tim, 131 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: along with Gary Beers, Kirk Pengilly and lead singer Michael Hutchins, 132 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: had come up in the lawless years of the Australian 133 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: pub rock circuit. 134 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 2: They were forged by the white hot danger of the scene. 135 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: Even if your perception of in Excess has always been 136 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: the pretty boys of the nineteen eighties and early nineteen 137 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: nineties era of rock and roll, the pretty boy thing 138 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 1: was just attention getting. The pretty boy thing sold records, 139 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: millions of records. But I'm getting ahead of myself. By 140 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: a matter of fact, in Excess were a product of 141 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: an exceedingly hostile environment. And this environment wasn't necessarily the 142 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: Star Hotel on the evening of September nineteenth, nineteen seventy nine. Instead, 143 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: theirs was a mining camp in Goldsworthy, a two day 144 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: drive from Sydney, where they were offered one thousand dollars 145 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: to entertain the workers for a week. 146 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 2: And like some of the. 147 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: Crowd at the Star, many of these mining workers lived 148 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: one step ahead of the law. They came to Goldsworthy 149 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: to hide from judges and lawyers and women. Out here 150 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: in the dust, in the dirt, all their pent up aggression, 151 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,959 Speaker 1: all their violence that ripped into the ground beneath them, 152 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: with their shovels, with their picks that they held in 153 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: their calloused hands. This area of Australia was unforgiving, a 154 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: dystopian mad Max vision, where chaos and disorder lingered in 155 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: the silences, where the miners made it through another day 156 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: only because they knew that a bunch of bust in 157 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: horrors were waiting for them in the decrepit shacks on site. 158 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: This was a land where as in excessus tor van 159 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: rocketed west and then north, John Ferris looked out the 160 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: window only to see a pile of dead kangaroos on 161 00:09:57,520 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: the side of the road. It was a land where 162 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: you didn't know whether the audience was going to applaud 163 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:04,839 Speaker 1: or jump from their chair and strangle. 164 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 2: You to the life with squeeze from your body. There 165 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:07,559 Speaker 2: was a. 166 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,679 Speaker 1: Land where there was fear, even in the communal bathroom, 167 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: which was crawling with spiders as big as one of 168 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: those working men's callous hands. But a thousand bucks was 169 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: a thousand bucks, and so John Ferris and Michael Hutchinson 170 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 1: in Excess did what any other band in Australia circle 171 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: of the late nineteen seventies would do. They took the gig. Besides, 172 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: some steady money meant that Kirk no longer had to 173 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: sell weed out of his guitar case to make ends. 174 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: Me and in making the drive and taking the gig, 175 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: surrounded by dead kangaroos and giant spiders and hardened criminals 176 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 1: and all in Excess learned how to survive. But survival 177 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: wasn't enough. John Kirk, Michael and the guys aspired to 178 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: things bigger than the vastness of the brutal Australian scene. 179 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 2: They wanted the world. They wanted to cross over to 180 00:10:58,360 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 2: the world, which. 181 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: Was something that some of even the most popular Australian 182 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: bands like The Great Cold Chisel were never able to achieve. 183 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: In Excess also didn't exactly fit in with the Australia thing. 184 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is that they weren't 185 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: a banned for the raging crowd. They didn't inspire the 186 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: sharpies and their rivals to bang. Hence, they were a 187 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: band that made you shake your ass instead, and so 188 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: they used that to their advantage to pull themselves up 189 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: to that next rung of success. But it took more 190 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: than ask shaking funk, more than talent and drive to 191 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: realize crossover worldwide success. It required an ever present danger 192 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: as your companion. Because once in Excess left Australia to 193 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: take on the world, danger followed them that rode with 194 00:11:46,120 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: them in tandem until it eventually threatened their lives. It 195 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: took a little over three years from their first official 196 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: gig as in Excess for Michael Gary Kirk and the 197 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: Farris Brothers to break into America. Three years in which 198 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: they kept their collective nose to the grindstone, recording, touring 199 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: and honing their sound, which continued to be a little 200 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: more sleek and a lot more funky than most of 201 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: their contemporaries back home. Three years in which they went 202 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,559 Speaker 1: into autopilot put in the reps, kept hammering at the 203 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: dream just like those lawless miners, kept hammering at the 204 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: ground with their shovels. And when it last, They hit 205 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,320 Speaker 1: the golden shores of America in March of nineteen eighty three. 206 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: They did so on the back of their first album 207 00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: to be released stateside, Shabu Shabbab, which was actually their 208 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: third album in Australia. The album's lead single, The One Thing, 209 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: had even gone all the way to number thirty on 210 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: the Billboard Hot one hundred. But waiting for them at 211 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: the club in San Diego where they were to begin 212 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: a tour opening for Adam and the Ants, was not 213 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: a crowd anywhere near the size of the crowd that 214 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,679 Speaker 1: had rioted outside the Star Hotel on its final night. 215 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: It was even smaller than a typical audience of redneck 216 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 1: manual laborers back in Goldsworthy. 217 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 2: Twenty four people. 218 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: That's who was waiting for Inexcess in America, twenty four people. Clearly, 219 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: there was more work to do. Clearly they had to 220 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: push themselves even harder in order to set themselves apart, 221 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:46,560 Speaker 1: which meant they had to funk even harder. There was 222 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: only one man in America who could take them to 223 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: the promised land of funk, with a touch so deft 224 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: and a sound so smooth that it could not be denied, 225 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: and they found that man where all walks of funk 226 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: and rock melted down into one undeniable group. New York City, 227 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: Michael Hutchins took it all in the pine paneled walls, 228 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: the thirty five foot high ceilings, the state of the 229 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: art neave mixing console, the hell's kitchen recording studio known 230 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: as the Power Station came as advertised, this was where 231 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: real bands made records, and it was where In Excess 232 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: was now beginning to make The Swing their fourth LP. 233 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: But even better than the legendary location was the company 234 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 1: sitting next to Michael in front of the knave knocking 235 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: out those trademark rhythmic chunks on a stratocaster. 236 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 2: Was Nile Rogers. 237 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: The Nile Rogers as in Chic, as in a freak out, 238 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: as in the guy who had just helmed mega hits 239 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: by Sister Sledge and Diana Ross, and only one year 240 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: prior had produced David Bowie's album Let's Dance in this 241 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: very same space. Nile cleared his calendar after seeing In 242 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 1: Excess open in Toronto for men at Work, the Australian 243 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: band who were having their own moment in North America 244 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: with their huge hit down Under now Here was an 245 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: excess at the power station, laying down Michael and Andrew's 246 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: new song Original Sin, with now Rogers adding his unmistakable 247 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: rhythm guitar. 248 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 3: To the track. 249 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 2: It was just the thing. 250 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: It was American groove meets Australian grit. It was minimal, 251 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: it was tight, and it had style. For days music 252 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: maybe the universal language, but style was the currency, and 253 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: now Rogers knew this, as did Nile's friend Daryl Hall 254 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: of Hall and Oates, who sat in on a session 255 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: as a favor and sang backing vocals. But style also 256 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: required substance, something that Nile also knew, just like rock 257 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: and roll needed that little bit of danger. So Now 258 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: pulled Michael aside when they were recording the lead vocal 259 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 1: track and he made a suggestion. Instead of singing dream 260 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: on white Boy, dream on White Girl in the chorus, 261 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: Nile said, how about making it dream on black boy, 262 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: dream on white Girl. Now came from an interracial family, 263 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: so the note was personal for him. But also this 264 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: was rock and roll. It was supposed to be provocative. 265 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: It was supposed to cross barriers by blending black and 266 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: white in the lyrics in excess could cleverly mirror how 267 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: their music was now blending black R and B with 268 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: white new wave. Not only did it sound good and 269 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: make a big statement, it also seemed like the perfect 270 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: recipe to really cross over into America. But crossing over 271 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: into America in this way would come with a price, 272 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: just like those hard earned promises out in the wild 273 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: west of the Australian music scene once came with a cost. 274 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: Original Sin may have been the band's first number one 275 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: hit back in their native country, but in the States, 276 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: its moderate success was tinged with controversy. It seems crazy 277 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: now in twenty twenty six, but in nineteen eighty four, 278 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: a song about an interracial romance could be a dangerous 279 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: prospect depending on who was listening and where. 280 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 2: Darrel Hall's manager was listening. And he was pissed. 281 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: And when he heard the final mix, he wasted no 282 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,400 Speaker 1: time calling up now Rogers and giving him a piece 283 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 1: of his mind. Who the fuck did he think he 284 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: was changing that line without first getting permission? 285 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 2: Dream on black Boy? Was he fucking crazy? 286 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: Did he understand how problematic that was, how problematic that 287 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: was for his client? He was downright scandalous is what 288 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:34,719 Speaker 1: it was. And Daryl Hall didn't do scandal. Now Rogers 289 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 1: didn't let the criticism bother him. The rest of the 290 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: country not so much. American radio stations banned the song 291 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: from rotation, thus preventing it from charting any higher than 292 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,200 Speaker 1: number fifty eight, where it stalled out on the Billboard 293 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: Hot one hundred one radio station in Illinois even received 294 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,120 Speaker 1: a bomb thread from a caller who demanded the song 295 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: be taking out the air immediately. In excess, escape from 296 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:02,199 Speaker 1: the controversy relatively unscathed, after all, they'd been shaped and 297 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: molded by far worse back in the down underscene. If anything, 298 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,920 Speaker 1: all the attention in both positive and negative strengthened their result. 299 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: You know you touch a nerve, you're doing it right 300 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: and all that. Andrew and Michael continued to contribute most 301 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: of the band's songwriting, crafting a number of killer tracks 302 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: for their next record, nineteen eighty five Listen Like Thieves. 303 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: The album was made with English producer Chris Thomas, who 304 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: had worked previously with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, 305 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: and the Sex Pistols. Thomas held on to the funky 306 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: swagger that now Rogers had brought to the table, but 307 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: he folded it into an album that sounded like an 308 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: inexcessed show, felt big, sweaty, sexy. The album was their 309 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: first global smash, and the last song they recorded for 310 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: the most excellent lead single, What You Need, finally cracked 311 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: the top ten in America. 312 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 2: Where the album quickly went gold. 313 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 1: This was all happening as Australia's cultural cachet in the 314 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: States was set to soar with the blockbuster movie Crocodile 315 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: Dundee and those ubiquitous Fosters beer commercials right around the corner. 316 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: It was also happening with the promotional arm of MTV, 317 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 1: which put the music video for What You. 318 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 2: Need into heavy rotation. 319 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: All this newfound fame and success allowed in Excess to 320 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: settle into the welcoming arms of rock and roll Excess, 321 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: where they could make psychotic rock and roll choices like 322 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: fly from America to Australia overnight, down and back just 323 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,440 Speaker 1: so they could shoot their next music video for their 324 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,719 Speaker 1: song Kiss the Dirt on a salt lake with horizon 325 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: for days. It was a crazy idea and that said, 326 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: the flight there and the shoot itself, all that went 327 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: just fine. But the trouble started on the flight back. 328 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: To the States when Tim Ferris woke up from his 329 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,639 Speaker 1: rock and roll slumber thirty thousand feet up in the air, 330 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 1: only to find the pilot passed out. 331 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this. 332 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: We're We're, We're. 333 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 2: Okay. 334 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: So we've established that, when done right, rock and roll 335 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,880 Speaker 1: is a dangerous game. But rock and roll is also 336 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: a young man's game, and you can only pull off 337 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: the kinds of stunts in excess we're pulling off in 338 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties, if you were young mid to late 339 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: twenties tops, which happened to the age of all the 340 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,439 Speaker 1: members of the band at the time, and incidentally, as 341 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: old as you possibly can be, to hop a private 342 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: plane in the States, land in Australia, fifteen hours later, 343 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: shoot a music video on the moon planes north of 344 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: Adelaide and then the so called Opal capital of the World, 345 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: a town called kober Petes. 346 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 2: Get back on the plane just a few hours. 347 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,360 Speaker 1: Later, ragged but right, ride a high pressure system back 348 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,920 Speaker 1: to the good old US of a and Bob's your uncle. 349 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: Michael Hutchins was neither Bob, nor was he your uncle, 350 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: but he was known to the rest of the guys 351 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: as the camp on account of all the mind altering 352 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,120 Speaker 1: goodies he carried in his candy bag or candy satchel, 353 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: or whatever he called the receptacle on which he hit 354 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:11,879 Speaker 1: away his stash of illicit drugs. Right now, however, the 355 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: Candyman was fast asleep, slumped in his seat aboard the 356 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: band's private plane, high above the deep dark abyss of 357 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 1: the Pacific, en route back to the Land of the 358 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: Free and home of the brave. Just hours earlier, the 359 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: Candyman had bravely stood atop the windshield planes of Kuber Petes, 360 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 1: the sun beating down and the sand flying in his face, 361 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: black T shirt, jeans, big belt buckle, moves like Jagger, 362 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: lips sinking while looking like anyone's platonic ideal of a 363 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 1: front man, while a director shot footage for the music 364 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: video for Inexcess's latest single, Kissed the Dirt Falling down 365 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 1: the Mountain. Now it was the aftermath of that shoot, 366 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,880 Speaker 1: and most everyone was asleep on the plane, perhaps courtesy 367 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:57,880 Speaker 1: of some of the goodies in the candy Man's bag. 368 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: But at some point Tim Ferris, who was shaken awake 369 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: by a little burst of turbulence, He wiped his eyes, 370 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,120 Speaker 1: stood up and carefully made his way from the back 371 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,880 Speaker 1: of the plane to the front, curious to see whether 372 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: the pilot knew if they were heading into more nasty 373 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: weather ahead. As he approached the cockpit, the plane shifted again. 374 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,120 Speaker 1: Tim grabbed one of the overhead compartments to stabilize himself 375 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: and rubbed his eyes once more, and this time because 376 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: he wasn't believing what he was seeing. His brother, Andrew 377 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 1: was sitting in the pilot's seat, frozen in fear, white 378 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: knuckling the yoke in his hands. Tim's eyes then went 379 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: from one shocking sight to the next, turning his head 380 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,200 Speaker 1: slightly to witness the plane's pilot snoring in the seat 381 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 1: next to Andrew, way off in dreamland with drool running 382 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 1: down his chin. Tim darted forward as Andrew struggled to 383 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: keep the plane level. The fuck is going on, Andrew. 384 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: Andrew couldn't take his eyes off the sky. 385 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 3: In front of him. I don't know, he said to 386 00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 3: his brother. 387 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: The pilot asked if I wanted to say, and the 388 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: next thing I know, he's out. As Tim shook the 389 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: pilot awake, he couldn't help but wonder what. 390 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 2: If he hadn't woken up when he did? 391 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:10,360 Speaker 3: What if the pilot hadn't woken up. 392 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: All the what ifs began to bounce around in his 393 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: mind along with. 394 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 3: This one, what if we just cheated death. 395 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:25,399 Speaker 1: That's an intoxicating thought, especially for young men playing a 396 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: dangerous game. That feeling of invincibility of being able to 397 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:34,359 Speaker 1: do anything, including flying a plane, and that's sort of 398 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: high carried over into the sessions for Inexcess's next album, 399 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,879 Speaker 1: their follow up to their big breakthrough Listen Like Thieves. 400 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: Once again they worked with producer Chris Thomas, this time 401 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 1: recording not only at a studio in Sydney, but also 402 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,400 Speaker 1: at a studio in Paris, where they found the recording 403 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,680 Speaker 1: console dusted with cocaine left behind from a recent Rolling 404 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: Stone session, or so the French speaking studio assistant a 405 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: shirt them. Such was rock and roll, a world of 406 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: myths that has built brick by brick by the observers 407 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: hanging out on the sidelines. As the sessions for album 408 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,879 Speaker 1: number six wound down, Chris Thomas feared they had a 409 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: problem similar to one. 410 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,919 Speaker 2: They'd had with the last album. They didn't have a 411 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 2: strong lead single. 412 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: What You Need had been the last song recorded for 413 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: Listen Like Thieves, written explicitly to be a hit, and 414 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: it did manage to become one of in Excess's biggest singles. 415 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 1: So Thomas told Andrew and Michael that they had two 416 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: weeks two weeks to write the album's best song and 417 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,360 Speaker 1: lead single. The pressure was intense, even for a couple 418 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: of guys who felt invincible and had faced more treacherous 419 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: predicaments in their past. But necessity is the mother of invention. 420 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: So Andrew found himself leaving his apartment and getting into 421 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,199 Speaker 1: the back of a taxi waiting outside his place so 422 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:56,879 Speaker 1: that he could go to the airport and fly to 423 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: Hong Kong, where he and Michael would hold up with 424 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 1: his brother John on his apartment and squeeze out a 425 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,439 Speaker 1: hit song. As soon as he closed the door and 426 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: the cabby began to pull away from the curb, Andrew 427 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: heard it in his head. 428 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:17,159 Speaker 3: Down don don don hun don don done stop. 429 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: He yelled at the cab driver stop, I forgot something 430 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 1: back in my place, and the cabby side clearly annoyed. 431 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 2: Andrew struggled to keep the riff in his head. 432 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 1: Done done, done don, and he threw op at the 433 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,720 Speaker 1: door and tumbled out and ran upstairs to his apartment. 434 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: Forty minutes later, he emerged climbing into the backseat of 435 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 1: the cab once more, now with a cassette tape in 436 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,400 Speaker 1: his hand, watching the cave up front, shifting clearly annoyed, 437 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: but not too annoyed honestly, because the meter was running 438 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: in well. Time was money, Yes, Andrew thought time was money, 439 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: And with those forty minutes of time upstairs, he was 440 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,120 Speaker 1: able to lay down that razor sharp rhythm guitar roof 441 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: that had come to him like divine intervention, along with 442 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 1: a complimentary bass part and a drum machine beat, thus 443 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: laying down the groundwork for the most money he and 444 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 1: the guys would ever make in their lives. And when 445 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: he got to Hong Kong, he played the track for Michael, 446 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,679 Speaker 1: who ran with him, and in far less than There 447 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,720 Speaker 1: Are a Lot of two weeks they had their hit 448 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:27,200 Speaker 1: Need You Tonight, became Inexcess's first and only number one 449 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: song in America. The full album Kick was a certifiable sensation, 450 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: a new sensation, a ubiquitous slab of funk rock that 451 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: took over the world. Even detractors like the Dean of 452 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: American rock critics, Robert Chriscau, called them silly, middlebrow hacks, 453 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: which is what he wrote at the time. The printed 454 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: word couldn't hurt In Excess, not in nineteen eighty seven 455 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: when they were on top of the world, Nor could 456 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: it hurt them back in nineteen seventy seven when they 457 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: were beset on all sides by criminals, wild West opportunists. 458 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: But a few years after the smashed success of Meet 459 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: You Tonight, as In Excess continued to solidify their status 460 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: as one of the greatest modern rock and roll bands. 461 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: An envelope arrived at the hotel room of Michael Hutchins, 462 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,680 Speaker 1: an envelope containing not the printed word, as one would expect, 463 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: but something far more sinister because his fame, notoriety, success. 464 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 1: As all those things increase, so too does danger, but not. 465 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 2: In direct proportion. 466 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 3: The danger increases tenfold. 467 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: Hey, guys, Back in our part one episode on In Excess, 468 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,120 Speaker 1: I briefly mentioned how the Gallagher Brothers of Oasis used 469 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: their speech had an awards show to throw a shade 470 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,040 Speaker 1: at Michael Hutchins and In Excess, and how that affected Michael, 471 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: how it really messed him up in a lot of ways. 472 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: So what we didn't have time to get into was 473 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: the aftermath of that disk and how Michael eventually got 474 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: his own revenge, Eternal Infinite Revenge. Actually, it's a pretty 475 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: entertaining and surprising story, and you can hear all about 476 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: it in this week's Disgraceland mini episode. To do that, 477 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: you got to be a member of Disgraceland All Access. 478 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: Sign up through Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Go to disgracelandpod 479 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: dot com to do just that. All right, back to 480 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: our part two episode on in Excess right now. In 481 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, rock and roll was in crisis. Bands 482 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: that had dominated MTV in the airways for years, bands 483 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: like Guns N' Roses, def Leppard, Metallica, even in excess, 484 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: bands that still managed to represent a threat to the 485 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: moral order of things, Suddenly, in the cold light of day, 486 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: in the light now ushered in by the so called 487 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: grunge movement, these older bands began to feel less authentic 488 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: or even worse uncool. 489 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 2: By the time Nirvana released in. 490 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: Utero in September of that year, the very idea of 491 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: the rock star had become suspect. Kurt Cobain was the 492 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 1: biggest rock star on the planet, But then no, he 493 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: wasn't Kurt was the anti rock star. He was the 494 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: flip side of what Michael Hutchins so easily and effectively embodied, 495 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: the guy preening and prowling on stage with his shirt unbuttoned, 496 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: and rock and roll as we Knew It was being 497 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: reframed as nothing but myth in the light of Kurt 498 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,560 Speaker 1: and Grunge's realism. 499 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 2: Of course, it was all. 500 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: A pose, whether you were in a hair band or 501 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: in a Seattle band, or whether or not your band 502 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: still had a saxophone player as in excessive. My point 503 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 1: here is that as early as nineteen ninety three the 504 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: writing was on the wall, and by the end of 505 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,240 Speaker 1: the decade, at the turn of the century, rock and roll. 506 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,880 Speaker 2: As we Knew it would be dead. Don't get me 507 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 2: wrong here. 508 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: We still had rock bands, and we still do, some 509 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 1: very good ones at that but rock and roll as 510 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: a cultural force, as a menace to society, that was 511 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: long gone by two thousand. All that was left was 512 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: for rock to become institutional and nostalgic and corporatized, while 513 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: hip hop. 514 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 2: Rushed in to fill the cultural void. 515 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: But again, in ninety three, rock wasn't quite dead yet. 516 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: It was simply in crisis. It would be another four 517 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: years before Michael Hutchins found himself in a crisis in 518 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: a Sydney hotel room, attempting to navigate the impassable that 519 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: dark night of the soul. Tonight, it was a different 520 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: hotel room somewhere in Germany, where In Excess were performing 521 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: as part of their Get Out of the House Tour. 522 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 1: Their ninth and latest album, Full Moon Dirty Hearts, was 523 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: already suffering from the grunge effect. It didn't even break 524 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: the top fifty in America, a far cry from the 525 00:30:57,760 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: commercial triumph of Kick and its. 526 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 2: Follower of X. 527 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: No matter, this tour was all about going back back 528 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: to basics, back to small clubs and even smaller audiences, 529 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: back to the way things were before In Excess became 530 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: worldwide superstars. But there was no going back. These guys 531 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:21,239 Speaker 1: were superstars. They've been the subjects of adulation, coveted and 532 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: obsessed over and despised all the same time. They were 533 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,719 Speaker 1: the recipients of shrieks and screams of love, sick confessions, 534 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: and of strange correspondences. And one of those correspondences, sent 535 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: to Michael Hutchins at his hotel, almost went down like this, 536 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: Michael turned the envelope over in his hands. It was 537 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: heavier than it seemed, an oddly shaped, and he was 538 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: unsure if the letter had been mailed to the hotel 539 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: or simply dropped off, as German was rusty and the 540 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: front lobby could only help so much. But there was 541 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 1: no return address. And again it was so oddly shaped, 542 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,600 Speaker 1: so lump, so strange, this envelope. He wondered what could 543 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:06,680 Speaker 1: be inside. Fans said all sorts of creepy and wonderful things, 544 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 1: dependent on the day and the fan. Michael grabbed hold 545 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: of the end of the envelope with his fingers, and 546 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 1: as he tore it open, he saw the flash before 547 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: he heard the explosion, and then Fortunately for Michael, this 548 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 1: didn't actually happen, although he was in fact sent a 549 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: letter bomb at his German hotel. A man who had 550 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: worked for in Excess for a decade after years as 551 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: a police officer intercepted the envelope and identified it as 552 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: an explosive device long before Michael got his hands on it. 553 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 2: It was a. 554 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: Poorly cheaply made letter bomb, but a bomb nevertheless, one 555 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: that could have done significant damage to Michael had. 556 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 2: He opened it. Could have even killed him. 557 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: Michael and his bodyguard kept this nearly fatal incident a 558 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: secret for years, and Michael took it to his grave, 559 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: and the body guard only revealed what had happened seven 560 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 1: years after Michael's death. In twenty fourteen. He recalled that 561 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 1: Michael was pretty even keeled when he was initially informed 562 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: about the letter bomb. He understood that no one was 563 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 1: ever really safe in this world, and that someone in 564 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: his position was perhaps more susceptible to danger than most. 565 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, he was an entertainer. 566 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: He was a rock star, as were the other members 567 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: of his band, and so it was on to the 568 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: next show, and then the next town, the next country, 569 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:39,280 Speaker 1: and so on. It turns out, for Michael Hutchins, at least, 570 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: the real danger was hidden not in an envelope or 571 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: in a spider infested mining camp out in the wild 572 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: boonies of Australia, but inside himself. And when Michael died, 573 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: the danger died with him. 574 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 3: And that is a disgrace. 575 00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:14,919 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan in This is Disgrace Sland. Hey, guys, 576 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 1: thanks for checking out this episode of Disgraceland on Inexcess listen. 577 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:19,960 Speaker 2: We're asking the question this. 578 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 1: Week which artists have had the most cultural impact? That 579 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: We're not from the United States or England, So basically, 580 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,720 Speaker 1: which international artist has made the biggest cultural impact. Obviously 581 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: we're talking about this because in excess being from Australia, 582 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:37,799 Speaker 1: but it can be a band or. 583 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:38,840 Speaker 2: An artist from any country. 584 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: Let me know six one, seven, nine oh six sixty 585 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:43,879 Speaker 1: sixty three eight voicemail and text at disgrace lamd pod 586 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: on the socials listen. If you're a Disgraceland fan, you 587 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: can leave a review to support the show over on 588 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,319 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You might win some free merch 589 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: and if you want to further support the show, you 590 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,920 Speaker 1: can do so at Patreon. 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