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INXS (pronounced "in excess", In-X-S) are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales.^[1][2] Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax.^[3] For twenty years, they were fronted by Michael Hutchence on lead vocals, whose "sultry good looks" and magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band.^[1][3] Initially known for their New Wave/ska/pop style, they later developed a harder pub rock style,^[1] including funk and dance elements.

INXS achieved international success with a series of hit recordings through the 1980s and 1990s, including the albums Listen Like Thieves, Kick, X and Welcome to Wherever You Are and the singles "Original Sin", "Need You Tonight", "Devil Inside" and "New Sensation".^[4][5][6][7]

Hutchence died in 1997 and INXS did not perform publicly for a year.^[1] The band made appearances with several guest singers including Jimmy Barnes, Terence Trent D'Arby, and Jon Stevens; Stevens formally joined the band for a tour and recording session in 2002.^[2] In 2005, members of INXS participated in a reality television series, broadcast worldwide, culminating in the selection of their new lead singer, Canadian J. D. Fortune, and the release of "Pretty Vegas" and "Afterglow" as singles, and its album Switch.^[7][6][8]

INXS has won six Australian Recording Industry Association awards including three for 'Best Group' in 1987, 1989 and 1992^[9], and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.^[10][11] To date INXS have sold more than 30 million records.

History

Early years

The origins of the band began with Andrew Farriss convincing his fellow Davidson High School classmate, Michael Hutchence, to join his band, Doctor Dolphin.^[12] The band contained two other classmates, Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders and a bass player, Garry Beers and Geoff Kennely, from a nearby high school, Forest High School.^[12] In 1977, Tim Farriss, Andrew's older brother, invited Andrew, Hutchence and Beers to join him and his schoolmate Kirk Pengilly. Tim and Pengilly had been playing together since 1971 as either an acoustic duo or as a four-piece band called Guinness^[12] (named after their bass player's dog^[13]). Together with younger brother Jon Farriss they formed the Farriss Brothers, who consisted of Garry Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar, Geoff Kennelly on Drums, Michael Hutchence on lead vocals and Kirk Pengilly on guitar and saxophone.^{[1][3][14][15]} The band made their debut on 16 August 1977 at Whale Beach,^[16] 40 km (25 mi) north of Sydney. Andrew Farriss remembers:

The parents of the Farriss boys relocated to Perth, Western Australia in 1978, taking Jon to continue his schooling and, as soon as Hutchence and Andrew finished school, the rest of the band followed.^[2][16] They briefly performed as The Vegetables, singing "We Are the Vegetables", before returning to Sydney ten months later,^[16] where they recorded a set of demos.^[12] At a chance meeting in the car park of the Narabeen Antler, a pub in North Narrabeen. Tim was approached by Gary Morris, the manager of Midnight Oil.^[12]

The band began to regularly support Midnight Oil and other local bands. Morris advised that a member of the Oils crew had come up with a new name and suggested they change it to INXS.^[12] The name INXS was inspired by English band XTC and Australian jam makers IXL.^[2][16]

Pengilly explained that Morris had some other ideas:

The band's first performance as INXS was on 1 September 1979 at the Oceanview Hotel in Umina, New South Wales^[17] and by the end of 1979, after passing on the Christian band image, they hired Chris Murphy as their manager and continued taking on the Oz pub circuit.^{[2][13][16][18]}

Murphy was an adept business manager and negotiator. By early 1980 the band had signed a five-album record deal with a Sydney independent label, Deluxe Records, run by Michael Browning, a former manager of AC/DC.^[1][2][12]

1980s

From "Simple Simon" to Shabooh Shoobah

INXS released their first single, "Simple Simon"/"We Are the Vegetables", in Australia and France in May 1980.^[1][13][19] The single had its debut TV performance on Simon Townsend's Wonder World.^[16] Their self-titled debut album, INXS, was recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Annandale, Sydney, it was co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire (ex-Ayers Rock), with all songs attributed to the entire band, at the insistence of Murphy.^[12][13] Deluxe gave them a budget of $10,000 to record the album, so to keep within the budget they had to record from midnight to dawn, usually after doing one or more performances earlier that night.^[13] The album was released in October 1980. It featured "Just Keep Walking" which was their first Australian Top 40 single,^[1][4] with the album peaking in the Top 30 of the Kent Music Report for Australian albums.^[1][3][4] The album eventually went gold (selling over 35,000 units) but it took a number of years to do so.^[12]

These early records demonstrated their New Wave/ska/pop style, and were followed by near constant touring with almost 300 shows during 1981 as the band developed their status as a live act.^[1][2]

In 1981, they signed Gary Grant as their tour manager, who then became co-manager a year later.^[12] Between touring commitments, the band released their third single in May 1981, "The Loved One", which was a cover of a 1966 song by Australian group The Loved Ones. The song was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney,^[12] produced by Richard Clapton,^[3] and peaked in the Top 20.^[1][4][19]

The success of the single led to Clapton and the band returning to Studio s 301 between July and August 1981 to create an album. In October 1981, their second album Underneath the Colours was released and became a hit in Australia peaking at #15.^[4][20]

Soon after recording sessions had finished, band members started work on outside projects. Beers, Jon and Andrew Farriss played on Clapton's solo album, The Great Escape. Hutchence recorded "Speed Kills", written by Don Walker of Cold Chisel for the soundtrack of the film Freedom directed by Scott Hicks. It was his first solo single and was released by WEA in early 1982.^[12] In January, INXS toured New Zealand as support act for Cold Chisel. Band manager, Murphy, became convinced their future no longer lay with Deluxe Records, who had been unable to attract international interest, and decided to record a new song, "The One Thing" at their own expense, with Mark Opitz at Paradise Studios.^[12] The song turned out so well that Murphy hired Opitz to produce three more songs.^[13] Murphy approached WEA Australia with copies of the song, leading to INXS signing a recording deal in July 1982 with WEA for releases in Australia, South East Asia, Japan and New Zealand, Atco Records (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records) for North America and Polygram for Europe and the UK.^{[1][2][3][12]}

Murphy and the band weren't entirely convinced that Opitz could produce an entire album that would attract international interest so prior to recording their third album Pengilly, Hutchence and Andrew Farriss visited the UK and USA, with a view to selecting a suitable producer, only to find that no-one they wanted was available and that most people advised them that Opitz's work on their single was as good as they could wish for.^[12]

In mid-1982, they commenced recording at Rhinoceros Studios, with Opitz.^[3]

In October 1982, Shabooh Shoobah was released internationally on Atlantic/Atco Records, peaking at #52 on the US Billboard 200 and #46 on the Hot Pop Albums chart.^[7][8] In Australia it peaked at #5 and remained in the albums charts for 94 weeks.^[4] The single "The One Thing" brought them their first Top 30 hit in United States peaking at #30 on 28 May 1983^[21], it was a Top 20 hit in Canada,^[6] and peaked at #14 in Australia on 23 August 1982.^[4]"One Thing" was their first video to air on the fledgling MTV and siginficantly added to the ultimate success of the single.^[13] INXS undertook their first US performance in San Diego in March, 1983, to a crowd of 24 patrons.^[12] Their first tour was as support for Adam and the Ants, then support for Stray Cats, The Kinks,^[1], Hall & Oates followed by The Go-Go's.^[12][13] INXS played alongside many of their contemporaries on New Wave Day in May 1983, at the US Festival in Devore, California.^[22] It was during this time that Grant, their co-manager, relocated permanently to New York to ensure a continual presence in the northern hemisphere.^[12] The band remained on the road in the US for most of the year, including support for Men at Work and by mid-1983 were headlining venues such as The Ritz in New York.^[12]

From "Original Sin" to Listen Like Thieves

Following a performance in Toronto, Canada, the band was approached by producer Nile Rodgers, and by September 1983, recorded "Original Sin", originally titled "Brand New Day", at New York's Power Station Studios.

Three tracks from Shabooh Shoobah were featured in the soundtrack for the 1984 film Reckless.^[23] The band then travelled to the UK to begin sessions on their fourth album with Nick Launay at the Manor Studios in Oxford.

The album The Swing released in April 1984,^[3] received more significant attention from around the world, as "Original Sin" became their first #1 single and was a highly popular song worldwide with fans and reviewers.^[24] During 1984 it was #1 in Australia (for two weeks in January)^[4] as well as in Argentina and France, #6 in New Zealand, #11 in Canada, #23 in Switzerland,^[25] #31 in the Netherlands and #58 in the U.S.^[6] Yet "Original Sin" was largely ignored in the UK, where INXS was described in New Musical Express as a "depressingly definitive example of excruciating, boring, incredibly unimaginative MTV rock",^[1][26][27] and INXS didn't have any Top 50 chart success until the 1985 album Listen Like Thieves.^[28]

During 1984, INXS toured non-stop performing across Europe, the UK, the US and Australia and by December 1984, The Swing, was double platinum, making it, at the time, one of the five biggest domestic albums in the history of Australian music.^[12] In March 1985 the band re-entered Sydney's Rhinoceros Studios to record their next album, together with producer Chris Thomas (Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, The Pretenders, Elton John).

As the band were finishing the recording sessions, Thomas told the band that the album was not good enough and still had no “killer” track:

Andrew produced a demo tape of a funk song he had been working on "Funk Song No. 13" and evolved it into "What You Need".

Whilst the band was recording, WEA released Dekadance, a limited edition cassette only EP of INXS remixes from their album The Swing.^[3]

On 19 May 1985, INXS won seven awards at the 1984 Countdown Music and Video Awards ceremony.^[1] They performed "Burn for You", dressed in Akubras (hats) and Drizabones (outdoor coats/oilskin jackets). They performed five songs for the July 1985 Oz for Africa concert, in conjunction with the Live Aid benefit.^[29] Two INXS songs, "What You Need" and "Don't Change", were also in the BBC broadcast and are contained on Live Aid's four DVD boxed set released in 2004.^[30]

INXS had started out as a New Wave act, gradually moved in a more straight-ahead rock-oriented direction through the first half of the 1980s.^[31] Listen Like Thieves was released in October 1985,^[3] was approved of by critics^[32], reaching #3 on the Australian charts and #11 on the US charts. With the release of Listen Like Thieves, the band had developed a rock sound influenced by Led Zeppelin and XTC, but remained true to the band's original roots in Aussie pubs. It was also the first album to feature songs written by a combination of band members, with Andrew Farris and Hutchence becoming the primary songwriters in the years to follow.^[13] The first US single from the album, "This Time", stalled at #81 in late 1985, but the next single, "What You Need", released there in early 1986, became a top five Billboard hit,^[6] bringing INXS their first breakout US success. The single was also a top 20 hit in Canada, reached #2 in Australia (September 1985)^[4] but only #51 on the UK charts.^[28]

The British press dismissed the album, with New Musical Express calling the band 'INX-cusable' and a reviewer declaring Listen Like Thieves to be a 'complete and utter turkey'.^[12] In the United States however Rolling Stone Magazine wrote "INXS rocks with passion and seals the deal with a backbeat that'll blackmail your feet."^[32]

In August 1985, they toured ahead of the album's release, before touring South America before returning to Melbourne to play for Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales at a concert in Australia, it was filmed and later released on home video entitled Living INXS^[33], an edited version of the concert was played on MTV in the US in 1985 on their Saturday night concert series. In November, December, January, and February INXS toured North America, Europe, and New Zealand. The band then took a two month break, with Andrew Farriss writing and producing "You're Gonna Get Hurt" for Jenny Morris (who had previously been a backing vocalist with the band^[34]), and Hutchence featuring in Richard Lowenstein's second feature film Dogs in Space.^[35] Lowenstein had previously made the video clip for "Dancing on the Jetty". Whilst a song from the movie, "Rooms for the Memory", written by Ollie Olsen, with vocals by Hutchence^[36] charted, the movie was received well by critics but was not a commercial success.

In May 1986, the band returned to the United States and over the next six months performed 32 European shows, including support for Queen at their Live at Wembley '86 concert on July 12th, 42 US shows and 12 Australian shows. America's influential Musician magazine calling them "the best live band in the world."^[12]

From "Good Times" to Kick

Whilst supposedly taking an eight month break before commencing work on a new album, their manager Murphy decided to stage a series of major outdoor concerts across Australia, featuring INXS, Jimmy Barnes, Models, The Divinyls, Mental as Anything, The Triffids and I'm Talking.^[16] To promote the tour INXS recorded two songs with Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel: The Easybeats cover "Good Times" and "Laying Down the Law" which Barnes co-wrote with Beers, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Hutchence and Pengilly.^[37] "Good Times" was used as the theme song for the Australian Made series of concerts in the summer of 1986–1987.^[16] It peaked at #2 on the Australian charts,^[4] and months later was featured in the Joel Schumacher film The Lost Boys and its soundtrack,^[38][39] allowing it to peak at #47 in the US on 1 August 1987.^[6][21]

After the success of "What You Need" and Listen Like Thieves, the band knew their new material would have to be even better, according to Pengilly,

They recorded Kick in Sydney and Paris, it was produced by Thomas again,^[3] but Atlantic Records was not happy with the result, as manager Chris Murphy remembers:

Despite Atlantic's protests, Kick was released in October 1987 and provided the band with worldwide popularity, it peaked at #1 in Australia,^[4] #3 on the US Billboard 200,^[8] #9 in UK,^[28] and #15 in Austria.^[40] It was an upbeat, confident album that yielded four Top 10 US singles, "New Sensation", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Devil Inside" and #1 "Need You Tonight".^[6] "Need You Tonight" peaked #2 on the UK charts,^[28] #3 in Australia,^[4] and #10 in France.^[41] They toured heavily behind the album throughout 1987 and 1988. The video for the 1987 INXS track "Mediate" (which played after the video for "Need You Tonight") replicated the format of Bob Dylan's video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues", even in its use of apparently deliberate errors. In September 1988 the band swept the MTV Video Music Awards with the video for "Need You Tonight/Mediate" winning in 5 categories.^[42]

During 1989, Hutchence collaborated with Ian 'Ollie' Olsen on a side project, Max Q,^[1] the two had previously worked together on Lowenstein's film Dogs in Space. The rest of the band also took a break to work on side projects, but soon returned to the studio to record their follow-up album to Kick.

1990 to 1997: from X to Elegantly Wasted

In October 1990, INXS released X which was produced by Thomas again and it peaked at #3 in Australia,^[5] #5 in the US,^[8] #2 in the UK,^[28] #5 in Switzerland and #10 in Sweden.^[7][43] It followed in the same vein as Kick, and added harmonica to some songs. X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" (both Top 10 in the US),^[6] "Suicide Blonde" peaked at #2 in Australia, #11 in the UK^[28] and in Switzerland.^[44] Other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success.^[1]

Hutchence's romance with Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue brought the group a new audience of fans.^[1][45] INXS performed at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1991, during their "Summer XS" tour stop in London to a sold out audience of 74,000 fans.^[1] This performance was recorded and filmed to become their live album Live Baby Live (a video version was also released under the same title), which was released in November 1991 and peaked in the Top 30 in both Australia and UK album charts,^[5][28] but had less success on The Billboard 200.^[8]

On 28 March 1992 INXS performed at the controversial 'Concert for Life' at Centennial Park in Sydney (a fund raiser for the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Centre), together with Crowded House, Yothu Yindi, Jenny Morris, Diesel, Ratcat and Def FX. Due to inclement weather the expected attendance of 100,000 never came through and the event only raising $500,000.^[46]

Welcome to Wherever You Are, produced by Mark Opitz and released in August 1992,^[3] was an experimental album using sitars and a 60-piece orchestra while adding a much more "raw" sound to their music. It received good critical reviews and went #1 in the UK^[28] and in Sweden;^[47] #2 in Australia and Switzerland,^[47] and #3 in Norway,^[47] but had less chart success in the US peaking at #16.^[8] Singles from the album included, "Taste It" and "Baby Don't Cry" which were Top 20 successes in UK but had less success in US or Australian markets.^[5][6][28]

Full Moon, Dirty Hearts', produced by Opitz again, was released in November 1993 and peaked at #3 on the UK charts,^[28] #4 in Australia,^[5] #8 in Sweden,^[48] #9 in Switzerland,^[48] #14 in Norway,^[48] but did not reach the Top 50 in the US.^[8] The title track featured The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde and another track, "Please (You Got That)", featured Ray Charles. The band made a full video album for the record using unknown Australian students to direct with help by Richard Lowenstein. Full Moon, Dirty Hearts received mixed reviews and was the last record under INXS' contract with Atlantic. The band took time off to rest and be with their families, while Hutchence remained in the public eye through modelling and film acting.^[1]

In 1997, the group released a comeback album titled Elegantly Wasted, which garnered mixed reviews. It fared respectably in Australia (#14),^[5][49] Canada (#14),^[8] France (#30),^[49] UK (#16)^[28] (where INXS had ironically more success in the 1990s than in the 1980s), Belgium (#7),^[49] Switzerland (#13),^[49] but only #41 in US.^[8]

On 22 November 1997, Hutchence was found dead in his Sydney Ritz-Carlton hotel room.^[50] On 6 February 1998, after an autopsy and coronial inquest, New South Wales State Coroner, Derrick Hand, presented his report which ruled that Hutchence's death was a suicide while depressed and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.^[50][51][52] Despite the official coroner's report, fans and relatives considered his death accidental.^[53][54][55]

1997 to 2003: transitional years

After Hutchence's death, INXS did not perform publicly for almost a year and then only made a few one-off performances with different guest singers until 2000.^[2] On 28 November 1998, they played at the Mushroom 25 Concert with Jimmy Barnes fronting for two songs: "The Loved One" and "Good Times".^[2][17] On 12 June 1999, they headlined the opening of Stadium Australia in Sydney, with US singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby as guest vocalist, they performed "New Sensation", "Kick", "Never Tear Us Apart" and "What You Need".^[2][17]

Former lead singer of Australian band Noiseworks, Jon Stevens began singing with INXS in May 2000.^[2] They played as one of the headline acts at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and then toured through South America and Europe.^[17] Stevens was officially named a member of INXS in 2002 and they started recording new material in November.^[2] Stevens left in October 2003 to pursue a solo career,^[2] only recording a contractual obligation song called "I Get Up", it was not officially released as a charting single due to it being part of the game EA Sports Rugby 2004 this does not constitute a charting single. All sales of this single were not tallied in comparison to the ARIA charts of the time. The song was used in the Rugby Union World Cup 2003 and the EA Sports Rugby 2004 video game.

2004 to 2005: Rock Star: INXS

INXS returned to the news in 2004, when it was announced that a new reality television program titled Rock Star: INXS would feature a contest to find a new lead vocalist for the band. The show, which had its debut on the CBS network 11 July 2005, (on Global in Canada, VH1 in the UK and FOX8 in Australia), featured 15 contestants vying for the position of lead singer. The show was executive produced by Survivor's Mark Burnett and hosted by Brooke Burke and former Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro.

On 20 September 2005, J. D. Fortune (born Jason Dean Bennison, but uses his mother's maiden name) of Salt Springs, Nova Scotia, Canada won the eleven-week competition, which culminated in his singing the Rolling Stones's "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and INXS' "What You Need" in the finale of the show to become the new lead singer of INXS. With Fortune they recorded their 2005 album, Switch produced by Guy Chambers and went on a world tour in 2006. Runner-up Marty Casey was the opening act during the first leg of the tour, along with his band, The Lovehammers.^[56]

During the Rock Star: INXS competition, the contestants were challenged to write the lyrics and melody to music written by Andrew Farriss. Originally this challenge was divided up into two teams. When Fortune did not see eye-to-eye with his team (that included Casey), he decided to venture out on his own and write his own lyrics. At first Fortune's move seemed to have doomed his chances to win the competition (because it was perceived he couldn't work in a team), but it was this move that resulted in his creation of the lyrics to "Pretty Vegas". This song became a favourite of both fans and INXS and played a major role in Fortune being able to win the competition ^{[citation needed]}. "Pretty Vegas" was released 4 October 2005 and reached #5 on the iTunes Store ranking of top downloaded songs on its first day, it peaked at #9 in Australia,^[5] #37 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[6] and became a huge radio airplay hit (going platinum and reaching number one) in Fortune's native Canada.

2005 to 2008 Reworked line up JD Fortune era

On 29 November 2005, the band's first album with Fortune as lead singer, entitled Switch, was released in the United States via Epic Records. The new lineup started touring in support of Switch in January 2006. Fortune revealed he was working on material for the next INXS album after Switch,^[57] but it would turn out that Fortune would not participate in INXS's next album, and Fortune's songs would later appear on his solo album.

In September 2006, the band and Epic Records parted ways.^[58]

INXS toured Australia and New Zealand in March 2007, with Simple Minds and support band Arrested Development.^[59] After the cancellation of a 31 August 2007 show in Cleveland, Ohio, INXS placed a statement on their website stating "Due to ongoing medical issues with Garry Beers' hand, the band's doctor has urged the band to not play more than three shows in a row or risk permanent damage to Garry's hand."^[60]

2009 to present

The band is once again without a frontman. The band signed with Petrol Records in December 2008, reuniting them with former manager Chris Murphy.^[61] The band was preparing to enter the studio in March 2009 to record a new project without a singer.^[62]

On 16 February 2009, J. D. Fortune revealed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada that INXS let him go from the band with a shake of the hand at an airport in Hong Kong.^[63] Fortune admits to becoming addicted to cocaine during his stint with the band.^[64]

On 23 February 2009, Chris Murphy, INXS creative director and global business strategist and former manager, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, said J. D. was not sacked and, in fact, "the band made it known to him that they had not ruled out seeing a return by Fortune." He also states JD was next on his list to call regarding a major recording contract he was negotiating for the band.^[65] In an interview with Confidential on March 1, 2009, Murphy stated "The whole thing has been bizarre - he was basically a contractor and his contract had ended." ^[62] Speaking with Billboard, Murphy stated that he would rather part ways with the band than work with Fortune. "If the band said to me tomorrow, 'We'd still like you to make that call and talk to him about working on a project,' I'd have to say 'Sorry, I have to go.'^[66]

In an interview with Sun Media published on 6 March 2009, J. D. Fortune clarified his claim that he had been fired at an airport. After returning to Canada from Hong Kong, Fortune believed there were still two more legs of the INXS 2007 tour to complete. When the rest of the tour was cancelled and the band did not return his calls for 10 months, he believed he was out of the band.^[67]

The band is currently recording an album in memory of Michael Hutchence. Brandon Flowers of the band The Killers revealed that he recorded the song "Beautiful Girl" with the band.^[68]. Rob Thomas from the band Matchbox Twenty recorded the song "Never Tear Us Apart" and "Original Sin" with the band.^[69][70] Australian singer-songwriter Vanessa Amorosi has also been reported to have recorded a version of "Devil Inside".^[71] Oddly, Ben Harper has also reportedly recorded a version of "Devil Inside".^[72] Gabriella Cilmi, Nikka Costa, Tricky, and Eskimo Joe's Kavyen Temperley have recorded tracks for the project, although it is not yet known what songs that have performed on.^[72][73] Deborah de Corral is also slated to perform on the album.^[72] Patrick Monahan of Train will be recording an as-yet undecided track. ^[74] The album is being produced by James Ash of Rogue Traders.^[75] C. M. Murphy revealed in November 2009 that the band will release some singles in the early part of 2010, culminating in a new album release in October 2010. ^[76] Other reports have the album coming out in May 2010. ^[72]

On 30 November 2009, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, and Kirk Pengilly performed an acoustic version of Don't Change with the Qantas Choir at the Pride of Australia Awards. ^[76]

On 8 December 2009, INXS announced they will be embarking on a large scale world tour, commencing with a performance in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.^[77] The band announced on 11 February 2010 that J. D. Fortune would be vocalist for the performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics, but it will be a one-off performance with Fortune, and a vocalist for the subsequent world tour has yet to be announced. ^[78] The band performed at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on 24 February 2010 with guest singers J. D. Fortune and Argentine singer Deborah de Corral.^[79]

On April 22, 2010, INXS announced that Fortune would again front the band for a performance on July 10, 2010 at Townsville, QLD, Australia.^[80]

Influence and recognition

Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, INXS was a major force in Australian popular music, leading the way into worldwide popularity for several Australian bands. The band worked closely with several other Australian artists, such as Models and ex-patriate New Zealander Jenny Morris, helping to establish their careers. By the mid-nineties, however, their popularity had waned, especially in the US, where their Greatest Hits compilation failed to reach the Top 100. At the 1996 BRIT Awards, Michael Hutchence presented Oasis with an award, after which their lead guitarist Noel Gallagher remarked "Has-beens shouldn't be presenting awards to gonna-bes" INXS was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame on 30 October 2001.^[10][11][81] INXS has won six other ARIA Awards including three for 'Best Group' in 1987, 1989 and 1992.^[9] The band has also received three Grammy nominations over their 30-year career. In 2007, The Farriss Brothers were inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Awards Hall of Fame. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), INXS have sold 15 million units in the United States alone, making them the third-highest selling Australian music act in the United States, behind AC/DC and The Bee Gees.^[82]

Featured in

In 2002 in America, McDonald's and Toyota used "New Sensation" for a promo campaign. "New Sensation" also was featured in the 2003 movie Shattered Glass It is also currently in a sofa advert in the UK. "What You Need" featured in a Chevy trucks advertising campaign. In Australia, "By My Side" has been used by NRMA Insurance on and off for eight years. "The One Thing" is featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories under the fictional radio station Flash FM.

TypeTitleSongMovieReckless"The One Thing" ^[83]MovieReckless"To Look At You" ^[83]MovieThe Lost Boys"Good Times" ^[83]MovieReckless"Soul Mistake" ^[83]MovieBeverly Hills Cop III"Keep The Peace" ^[84]MovieDonnie Darko (director's cut)"Never Tear Us Apart"Movie40 Days and 40 Nights"New Sensation"MovieCoyote Ugly"Need You Tonight"MovieCrocodile Dundee"Different World"MovieFace/Off"Don't Lose Your Head"MovieHysterical Blindness"What You Need"MovieIn The Land Of Women"Beautiful Girl"MovieMystery Date"Disappear"MovieMystery Date"On My Way"MovieMystery Date"Suicide Blonde"MoviePretty in Pink"Do Wot You Do"MovieShattered Glass"New Sensation"MovieRock Star"Devil Inside"MovieDrop Zone"Strangest Party (These Are The Times)"MovieTowelhead"New Sensation"MovieAdventureland"Don't Change"MovieYoung Guns 3"Don't Change"MovieHot Tub Time Machine"What You Need"AdChevy Trucks"What You Need"AdNRMA Insurance"By My Side"AdMcDonalds"New Sensation"AdToyota"New Sensation"GameGrand Theft Auto: Vice City"Kiss the Dirt"GameGrand Theft Auto: Vice City"The One Thing"GameName That Tune Eighties"Need You Tonight"GameName That Tune Eighties"New Sensation"GameName That Tune Eighties"Never Tear Us Apart"GameName That Tune Eighties"What You Need"

Discography

For a complete discography, see INXS discography.^[1][4][5]

• INXS (1980)
  
• Underneath the Colours (1981)
  
• Shabooh Shoobah (1982)
  
• The Swing (1984)
  
• Listen Like Thieves (1985)
  
• Kick (1987)
  
• X (1990)
  
• Welcome to Wherever You Are (1992)
  
• Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (1993)
  
• Elegantly Wasted (1997)
  
• Switch (2005)
  
• 12th studio album (2010)
  

Members

Listed chronologically:^[1][2][3]

• Garry Gary Beers – bass guitar, double bass (1977–present)
  
• Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitar (1977–present)
  
• Jon Farriss – drums, keyboards (1977–present)
  
• Tim Farriss – lead guitar (1977–present)
  
• Michael Hutchence – lead vocals (1977–1997 d.)
  
• Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals (1977–present)
  
• Jon Stevens – lead vocals (2002–2003, guest vocals 2000–2002)
  
• J. D. Fortune – lead vocals (2005–2009, Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics performance)
  

On tour/special performances:

• Jimmy Barnes – guest vocals (1998)
  
• Terence Trent D'Arby – guest vocals (1999)
  
• Deborah de Corral ; guest vocals (2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics performance)
  

Awards and nominations

INXS has won and been nominated for numerous music awards. These include ARIA Awards,^[9] Grammys,^[85], MTV Awards.^[85]

ARIA Awards

INXS has won seven Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards.^[9] The band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001 alongside The Saints.^[10][81] This induction recognised their achievement of a "significant body of recorded work" and that they "had a cultural impact within Australia".^[81] INXS has won six other ARIA Awards including three for 'Best Group' in 1987, 1989 and 1992.^[9]

YearNominated workAwardResult1987INXSBest GroupWon1989INXSOutstanding AchievementWon"Never Tear Us Apart"^{[nb 1]}Best VideoWonINXSBest GroupWon1992Live Baby LiveBest GroupWon1993"Baby Don't Cry", "Heaven Sent", "Taste It"^{[nb 2]}Engineer of the YearNominatedWelcome to Wherever You AreBest GroupNominated1994"The Gift"^{[nb 3]}Best VideoWonFull Moon, Dirty HeartsBest GroupNominated2001INXSHall of FameWon2004I'm Only LookingBest Music DVDNominated

Countdown Awards

Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week but then independently.^[89] The Countdown Music and Video Awards were succeeded by the ARIA Awards.^[89] INXS won seven awards at the 1984 awards ceremony,^[1] which was broadcast on 25 May 1985.^[90] On 20 April 1986 they won three further Countdown awards for 1985.^[91]

YearNominated workAwardResult1980INXSJohnny O'Keefe New Talent^[92]Nominated1984"Burn for You"Best Group Performance in a Video^[90]WonThe SwingBest Album^[90]WonINXSMost Popular Australian Group^[90]WonAndrew Farriss, Michael HutchenceBest Songwriter^[90]Won"Burn for You"^{[nb 4]}Best Promotional Video^[90]WonINXSMost Outstanding Achievement^[90]WonMichael HutchenceMost Popular Male^[90]Won1985"What You Need"^{[nb 5]}Best Video^[91]WonINXSMost Popular Australian Group^[91]WonINXSMost Outstanding Achievement^[91]Won

Grammy Awards

INXS received two nominations for 'Rock Vocal Group' at the Grammys.^[85]

YearNominated workAwardResult1988KickRock Vocal GroupNominated1990"Suicide Blonde"Rock Vocal GroupNominated

MTV Video Music Awards

INXS won five MTV Video Music Awards for their 1988 song "Need You Tonight".^[85]

YearNominated workAwardResult1986"What You Need"Best Group VideoNominated1988"Need You Tonight"Viewer's ChoiceWon"Need You Tonight"Video of the YearWon"Need You Tonight"Best Special EffectsNominated"Need You Tonight"Best Group VideoWon"Need You Tonight"Best Concept VideoNominated"Need You Tonight"Best Art DirectionNominated"Need You Tonight"Best EditingWon"Need You Tonight"Best Breakthrough VideoWon"Devil Inside"Best EditingNominated1989"New Sensation"Best Art DirectionNominated

Brit Awards

YearNominated workAwardResult1989INXSBest International Group^[93]Nominated1991INXSBest International Group^[94]Won1992INXSBest International Group^[95]Nominated

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL i KNOW RIGHT, their SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO classic

AFI (A Fire Inside) is an American alternative rock band from Ukiah, California, formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998, lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute backup vocals.^[1]

AFI have released eight studio albums over 18 years as a band, the first being Answer That and Stay Fashionable in 1995. The band then went on to release Very Proud of Ya the next year, followed up by a third in three years, Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes. Over the years, AFI has changed its style from the earlier days of hardcore punk, to the horror punk-influenced sound of 1999's Black Sails in the Sunset and 2000's The Art of Drowning. It was not until this, the band's fifth album, that the band first featured on the charts, as The Art of Drowning peaked at #172 on the Billboard 200.

The band had its first major success 12 years after it formed, in 2003, with Sing the Sorrow reaching #5 on the Billboard 200. The album was supported by singles "Girl's Not Grey" and "The Leaving Song, Pt. II", both featured in the top 20 of America's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2003. It went onto receive Platinum certification with over one million units sold in the US.

The band returned in 2006 with Decemberunderground, which featured the hit single "Miss Murder". Both achieved #1 in their respective charts, the Billboard 200 and Hot Modern Rock Tracks. The album also featured "Love Like Winter", which attained #4 on the Modern Rock charts. It reached as far as Australia, where it grasped Gold certification, and also achieved this in the United States, where it has sold in excess of 900,000 copies. AFI's eighth studio album is titled Crash Love and was released on September 29, 2009, peaking at #12 on the Billboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in its first week of release. The album's lead single is "Medicate".

History

Early years (1991–1998)

While still in high school in Ukiah, California, Davey Havok (vocals), Mark Stopholese (guitar) and Vic Chalker (bass) formed an outfit called AFI in 1991. AFI has been said to be abbreviated from the full title A Fire Inside.^[2] However, band members have stated that the name was formerly from the titles Asking for It^[3] and Anthems for Insubordinates.^[4] At the time, the band did not know how to play any instruments. Stopholese suggested his friend Adam Carson, who had a drum kit join the band.^[5] Stopholese learned guitar and Chalker learned bass, but Chalker was soon replaced by Geoff Kresge and AFI made its first EP in recording Dork (1991) with the now defunct Loose Change, which included future AFI guitarist Jade Puget.

AFI disbanded when its members attended different colleges, including UC Berkeley where members of the band lived and practiced for a time in the basement of the Delta Chi fraternity house on Channing Way. Kresge moved to New York where he played with Blanks 77. After reuniting to perform a live show, the other members decided to drop out of college to play full-time with AFI. Between 1993 and 1995 the band released several vinyl EPs (Behind the Times; Eddie Picnic's All Wet; This Is Berkeley, Not West Bay; AFI/Heckle; Bombing the Bay; Fly in the Ointment) independently. Their first full-length, Answer That and Stay Fashionable was released in 1995 on Wingnut Records. In 1996, AFI then released their second album, Very Proud of Ya, on Nitro Records. The songs "Cruise Control" and "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" from Very Proud of Ya were used in the 1996 independent film Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore, which was first screened in 1997 and also featured Havok in a small role.

After several tours in support of the album Very Proud of Ya, Kresge decided to leave the group. His spot was filled by Hunter Burgan for the remaining Very Proud of Ya tour dates. Burgan went on to help AFI record Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997) and was invited to become the full-time bassist. Future AFI guitarist Jade Puget also provided background vocals on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, making it the first album to feature all four current members of the band.

Black Sails and Art of Drowning (1999–2002)

After recording the A Fire Inside EP (1998), Stopholese left the band and was replaced by Jade Puget, vocalist Havok's close friend. The band then recorded Black Sails in the Sunset (1999), a musical turning point which introduced AFI fans to a much darker sound,^[6] mixing the band's original hardcore roots with dark romantic influences (a poem by Charles Baudelaire, "De profundis clamavi," is present in the hidden track "Midnight Sun") and an emphasis on a more somber atmosphere and lyrics. The influence of the Deathrock and Goth rock scenes was also apparent. During this period their style was mostly referred to as horror punk or "gothic punk."^[7]

The All Hallows EP (1999) spawned the single "Totalimmortal", a track later covered by The Offspring for the Me, Myself and Irene soundtrack. It received a fair amount of radio play and exposed AFI to larger audiences. Offspring frontman Dexter Holland was featured as a backing vocalist on a number of Black Sails tracks. The Boy Who Destroyed The World from the All Hallows EP was featured in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 video game.

In 2000, AFI released The Art of Drowning, which debuted on the Billboard Charts at number 174.^[8] "The Days of the Phoenix" was released as a single and video and, like "Totalimmortal," had some moderate mainstream success, garnering the band both TV and radio airplay.

Mainstream success, Sing the Sorrow and Decemberunderground (2003–2007)

In 2002, AFI left Nitro Records and released Sing the Sorrow (2003) on DreamWorks Records. The songs "Girl's Not Grey", "The Leaving Song Pt. II", and "Silver and Cold" had some Billboard chart success and exposed the band to even larger audiences. They were nominated in the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for the MTV2 award category for the "Girl's Not Grey" video, which came to be the first VMA they'd win.

In June 2006, AFI's seventh studio album, Decemberunderground, was released on Interscope Records. The album's first single "Miss Murder" reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts.^[9] The release reflects the continually changing and growing fan base of the band, and the album debuted as No. 1 on the Billboard charts.^[10] The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies of the album.^[11] Also, the band's second single, "Love Like Winter", enjoyed tremendous success on MTV's Total Request Live and was retired after 40 days on the countdown.

On December 12, 2006, AFI released their first DVD I Heard a Voice, featuring a live performance shot in Long Beach, California.

On January 20, 2007, AFI played "Miss Murder" and "Love Like Winter" on Saturday Night Live. Although the band performed "Love Like Winter" according to plan, technical difficulties occurred during their set of "Miss Murder," in which Davey's microphone went out during various parts of the song.

Though "The Missing Frame" was originally supposed to be the third single off Decemberunderground,^[12] Davey Havok confirmed in the "Ask AFI" section of the Despair Faction message boards that there will not be a video for the song.^[13] Havok also confirmed on the same boards that there would be no summer tour that year.^[14] Puget began writing some material for the next album.^[15]

On July 7, 2007 AFI performed at the American leg of Live Earth. They performed "The Missing Frame," "Love Like Winter," "Miss Murder," and a cover of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust".

AFI released a live album called I Heard a Voice from Long Beach Arena. This was released on iTunes on November 13, 2007. It features all the songs from the 2006 DVD I Heard a Voice, including notable hits from past AFI records such as: "Miss Murder", "Girl's Not Grey," "The Leaving Song, Pt. II," and "The Days of the Phoenix".

Begin Transmission and Crash Love (2007–present)

"Carcinogen Crush" was made available as a downloadable song exclusively for the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock by obtaining a code from purchasing the official soundtrack of the game.^[16] The song was later released as a digital single on December 4, 2007.

A new EP was set for a December release, however, Havok announced through the Despair Faction forums that it would not be available until early 2008. The EP was to contain previously unreleased songs from the Decemberunderground and Sing the Sorrow sessions. Adam later revealed more details, noting that some of the songs would be new and never before heard, some fans may have heard (like "Carcinogen Crush"), and some fans may know about but never have heard before.^{[citation needed]} It was later announced that the EP would be released after Crash Love,^[17] but then Havok said that due to political issues, it would not be released. The songs that were to be on the EP would instead be distributed on various versions of Crash Love.^[18]

In December 2008, the band released a video through YouTube revealing a contest for the upcoming album called Begin Transmission. It invited fans to make videos, telling the band about themselves in two minutes or less. Lead singer Davey Havok posted a video on December 19 that thanked the fans for their support and said he had watched every video up to that point (about 43 videos at the time). The contest ended on January 5, and fans were given the ability to score many of the videos themselves. The fans who won met the band and provided backing vocals for "I Am Trying Very Hard to Be Here", a song on the new album.

In late February it was confirmed via press release that AFI's eighth studio album would be titled Crash Love and that they would be embarking on a summer tour in support of it. In July 2009, Havok released a statement saying that after two years of writing and recording, the upcoming album would be released on September 29, 2009.^[19] It was recorded with producer David Bottrill (who was later dimissed in favor of Joe McGrath and Jacknife Lee).^[20][21] AFI previewed Crash Love on their MySpace page for two days starting September 22, 2009, seven days ahead of the official album release.^[22]

In January 2010, AFI released a teaser for the video of their new single "Beautiful Thieves". The full video officially premiered on February 4, 2010 on MTV television networks and websites.

AFI toured the UK with Sick of It All and The Dear & Departed in April 2010, and will be supporting Green Day on their summer 2010 U.S. tour. ^[23]

Band members

Current

• Davey Havok – lead vocals (since 1991)
  
• Adam Carson – drums, backing vocals (since 1991)
  
• Hunter Burgan – bass guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals (since 1997)
  
• Jade Puget – lead guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals (since 1998)
  

Former

• Vic Chalker – bass, backing vocals (1991–1992)
  
• Geoff Kresge – bass, backing vocals (1992–1997)
  
• Mark Stopholese – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1998)
  

Discography

Main article: AFI discographyStudio albums

• Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995)
  
• Very Proud of Ya (1996)
  
• Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997)
  
• Black Sails in the Sunset (1999)
  
• The Art of Drowning (2000)
  
• Sing the Sorrow (2003)
  
• Decemberunderground (2006)
  
• Crash Love (2009)
  

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961, who gained popularity for their close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars, surfing, and romance. Brian Wilson's growing creative ambitions later transformed them into a more artistically innovative group that earned critical praise and influenced many later musicians.^[1]

The group was initially composed of singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson, his brothers, Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. This core quintet was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1988.

The Beach Boys have often been called "America's Band",^[2][3][4] and Allmusic has stated that "the band's unerring ability... made them America's first, best rock band."^[1] The group has had thirty-six U.S. Top 40 hits (the most of any U.S. rock band) and fifty-six Hot 100 hits, including four number-one singles.^[1] Rolling Stone magazine listed The Beach Boys as number 12 in the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[5] According to Billboard, in terms of singles and album sales, The Beach Boys are the No.-1-selling American band of all time.^[6]

Many changes in both musical styles and personnel have occurred during their career, notably because of Brian Wilson's mental illness and recreational drug use (leading to his eventual withdrawal from the group) and the deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson in 1983 and 1998, respectively. Extensive legal battles between members of the group have also played their part. After the death of Carl Wilson, founding member Al Jardine left to pursue a solo career. Currently, the surviving members of The Beach Boys continue to tour in three separate bands: "The Beach Boys Band" with Love, Bruce Johnston, and a rotation of backing musicians; Al Jardine's "Endless Summer Band" with Jardine, his sons, and several former Beach Boys backup musicians; and Brian Wilson with a 10-piece band including members of The Wondermints and Jeff Foskett, who toured with the Beach Boys in the 1980s and 1990s as a backing guitarist/singer.^[7]

^History

^{Formative years}

^{Brian Wilson was born in Inglewood, California, in 1942, and his family moved to nearby Hawthorne when Brian was two years old. At the age of 16, Brian shared a bedroom with his two brothers, Dennis and Carl. He watched his father, Murry Wilson, play piano and listened intently to the harmonies of vocal groups like The Four Freshmen. One night he taught his brothers a song called "Ivory Tower" and how to sing the background harmonies. "We practiced night after night, singing softly, hoping we wouldn't wake our Dad." [8] For his 16th birthday, Brian had received a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He learned how to overdub, using his vocals and those of Carl and his mother. He would play piano and later added Carl playing the Rickenbacker guitar he got as a Christmas present.[9]Soon Brian was avidly listening to Johnny Otis on his KFOX radio show, a favorite station of Carl's. Inspired by the simple structure and vocals of the rhythm and blues songs he heard, he changed his piano-playing style and started writing songs. His enthusiasm interfered with his music studies at school. He failed to complete a twelfth-grade piano sonata, but did submit an original composition, called "Surfin'".[10]}

^{Family gatherings brought the Wilsons in contact with cousin Mike Love. Brian taught Love's sister Maureen and a friend harmonies. Later, Brian, Mike and two friends performed at Hawthorne High School, drawing tremendous applause for their version of The Olympics' (doo-wop group) "Hully Gully".[11] Brian also knew Al Jardine, a high school classmate, who had already played guitar in a folk group called The Islanders. One day, on the spur of the moment, they asked a couple of football players in the school training room to learn harmony parts, but it wasn't a success — the bass singer was flat.[12]}

^{Brian suggested to Jardine that they team up with his cousin and brother Carl. It was at these sessions, held in Brian's bedroom, that "the Beach Boys sound" began to form. Brian says: "Everyone contributed something. Carl kept us hip to the latest tunes, Al taught us his repertoire of folk songs, and Dennis, though he didn't [at the time] play anything, added a combustible spark just by his presence." It was Love who encouraged Brian to write songs and he also gave the fledgling band its first name: The Pendletones. The Pendletones name was derived from the Pendleton woolen shirts popular at that time. In their earliest performances, the band wore the heavy wool jacket-like shirts, which were favored by surfers in the South Bay. In 1962, the Beach Boys began wearing blue/gray-striped button-down shirts tucked into white pants as their touring "uniforms." This was the band's signature look through to 1966.[13]}

^{Although surfing motifs were very prominent in their early songs, Dennis was the only member of the group who surfed. He suggested that his brothers compose some songs celebrating his hobby and the lifestyle which had developed around it in Southern California.[14]}

^{Jardine and a singer friend, Gary Winfrey, went to Brian's to see if he could help out with a version of a folk song they wanted to record - "Sloop John B". In Brian's absence, the two spoke with his father, Murry, who was a music industry veteran of modest success. In September 1961, Murry arranged for The Pendletones to meet publishers Hite and Dorinda Morgan at Stereo Masters in Hollywood.[15] The group performed a slower ballad "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring", but failed to impress the Morgans. After an awkward pause, Dennis mentioned they had an original song, called "Surfin'". Brian was taken aback — he had not finished writing the song — but Hite Morgan was interested and asked them to call back when the song was complete.[14]}

^{With help from Mike, Brian finished the song and the group rented guitars, drums, amplifiers and microphones. They practiced for three days while the Wilsons' parents were on a short vacation. A few days later they auditioned for the Morgans again and Hite Morgan declared: "That's a smash!"[16]}

^{On October 3, 1961, The Pendletones recorded twelve takes of "Surfin'" in the Morgans' cramped offices (Dennis was deemed not yet good enough to play drums, much to his chagrin). A small quantity of singles was pressed. When the boys eagerly unpacked the first box of singles, on the Candix Records label, they were surprised and angered to see their band name had been changed to "Beach Boys". Murry Wilson, now intimately involved with the band's fortunes, called the Morgans. Apparently a young promotion worker, Russ Regan, had decided on the change to more obviously tie the group in with other surf bands of the time (his original name for the band was The Surfers). The limited budget meant the labels could not be reprinted.[17]}

^{Released mid-November, 1961, "Surfin'" was soon aired on KFWB and KDAY, two of Los Angeles' most influential radio stations. It was a hit on the West Coast, and peaked at #75 on the national pop charts.}

^{Influence of Murry Wilson}

^{As an eight-year-old, Brian Wilson says his "young life was already being shaped and influenced by music... None affected me more than the music I heard when my father played the family piano... I watched how his fingers made chords and memorized the positions".[18]}

^{Murry had limited success as a songwriter, peaking with "Two Step Side Step" when it was recorded for a Bachelors album in 1952. Despite his musical ability and any wish to educate Brian in particular, Murry "was a tyrant", quick to offer discouraging criticism and who "abused [his sons] psychologically and physically, creating wounds that never healed."[19] Carl found comfort in food and Dennis rebelled against the world to express his anger.[20] Brian would immerse himself in music to cope, but though he longed to learn piano as a child, he was too frightened to ask and even too scared to press the keys when his father was at work.[19]}

^{Eventually Brian surprised his parents by showing he had learned how to play the piano by watching his father. Thereafter, "playing the piano... literally saved my ass. I recall playing one time while my dad flung Dennis against the wall... That was just one of many incidents when I didn't miss a note, supplying background music to the hell that often substituted for a family life..."[21]}

^{At first, Murry steered the Beach Boys' career, engineering their signing with Capitol Records in 1962. In 1964, Brian ousted his father after a violent confrontation in the studio. Over the next few years, they became increasingly estranged; when Murry died of a heart attack in June 1973, Brian and Dennis did not attend the funeral.}

^{Early career}

^{Murry Wilson told the boys he did not like "Surfin'". However, "he smelled money to be made and jumped on the promotional bandwagon, calling every radio station..."[22] He got the group's first paying gig on New Year's Eve, 1961, at the Ritchie Valens Memorial Dance in Long Beach, headlined by Ike and Tina Turner. Brian recalls how he wondered what they were doing there; "five clean-cut, unworldly white boys from a conservative white suburb, in an auditorium full of black kids". Brian describes the night as an "education" - he knew afterwards that success was all about "R&B, rock and roll, and money." The boys went home with $50 apiece. In February 1962, Al Jardine left the band to continue his college studies.[23] David Marks, a thirteen-year-old neighbor and friend of Carl's, replaced him (Jardine, at Brian's request, rejoined the group in July 1963).[24]Though Murry effectively seized managerial control of the band without consultation, Brian acknowledges that he "deserves credit for getting us off the ground... he hounded us mercilessly... [but] also worked hard himself". He was the first to stress the importance of having a follow-up hit.[25] They duly recorded four more originals, on June 13 at Western Studios, Los Angeles, including "Surfer Girl", "409" and "Surfin' Safari". The session ended on a bitter note, however: Murry Wilson unsuccessfully suggested and then demanded that the Beach Boys record some of his own songs, saying "My songs are better than yours."[26]}

^{On July 16, on the strength of the June demo session, the Beach Boys were signed to Capitol Records. By November, their first album was ready - "Surfin' Safari". Their song output continued along the same commercial line, focusing on California youth lifestyle. The early Beach Boys’ hits helped raise both the profile of the state of California and of surfing. The group also celebrated the Golden State’s obsession with hot-rod racing ("Shut Down," "409," "Little Deuce Coupe") and the pursuit of happiness by carefree teens in less complicated times ("Be True to Your School," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "I Get Around").}

^{Their early hits made them major pop stars in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries, with sixteen hit singles in 1962-1965. After the British Invasion in 1964, some British groups, in particular The Beatles, eclipsed their success.}

^{Apart from the Wilsons' father and the close vocal harmonies of Brian's favorite groups, early inspiration came from the driving rock-and-roll sound of Chuck Berry and Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Musically, their early songs are often based on those of others; for instance, "Surfer Girl" shares its rhythmic melody with "When You Wish Upon a Star", while "Surfin' USA" is a slight variation of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". However, Brian Wilson rapidly progressed as a composer, arranger and producer; the Pet Sounds album in particular is recognized for the quality and originality of its melodies, harmonies, and arrangements.[27] In his autobiography, Brian states that the melody of "God Only Knows" was inspired by a John Sebastian record.}

^{Brian's innovations and personal difficulties}

^{The stress of road travel, composing, producing and maintaining a high level of creativity was too much for Brian Wilson to bear. On December 23, 1964, while on a flight to Houston, Brian suffered from an anxiety attack and left the tour. Shortly afterward, he announced his withdrawal from touring to concentrate entirely on songwriting and record production. This wasn't the first time Brian had stopped touring. In 1963, when Al Jardine returned, Brian left the road; but when David Marks quit, Brian had to return in his place. For the rest of 1964 and into 1965, Glen Campbell served as Wilson's replacement in concert, until his own career success required him to leave the group. Bruce Johnston was asked to locate a replacement for Campbell; having failed to find one, Johnston himself subsequently became a full-time member of the band, first replacing Wilson on the road and later contributing his own talents in the studio beginning with the sessions for "California Girls".}

^{Jan & Dean, close friends with the band and opening act for them in concert in 1963 and 1964, encouraged Brian to use session musicians in the studio. This, along with Brian's withdrawal from touring, permitted him to expand his role as a producer. Wilson also wrote "Surf City" for the Jan & Dean opening act. Their recording hit #1 on the U.S. charts in the summer of 1963, a development that pleased Brian but angered father/manager Murry, who felt his son had "given away" what should have been the Beach Boys' first chart-topper. A year later, the Beach Boys would notch their first #1 single with "I Get Around."}

^{By 1964, traces of Brian Wilson's increasing studio productivity and ideas were noticeable: "Drive-In," an album track from All Summer Long features bars of silence between two verses while "Denny's Drums," the last track on Shut Down, Vol. II, is a two-minute drum solo. As Wilson's musical efforts became more ambitious, the group relied more on nimble session players, on tracks such as "I Get Around" and "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)." "Help Me, Rhonda" became the band's second #1 single in the spring of 1965.}

^{1965 led to greater experimentation behind the soundboard with Wilson. The album Today!! featured less focus on guitars, more emphasis on keyboards and percussion, as well as volume experiments and increased lyrical maturity. Side A of the album was devoted to sunnier pop tunes, with darker ballads on the reverse side. This pattern was also evident on some of the band's singles, with songs such as "Kiss Me, Baby" released on the B-side to "Help Me, Rhonda" and "Let Him Run Wild" on the B-side to "California Girls", each featuring Brian Wilson's lead vocals and foreshadowing the youthful angst that would later pervade Pet Sounds.}

^{In November 1965 the group followed up their #3 summer smash "California Girls", with another top 20 single, "The Little Girl I Once Knew." It is considered to be the band's most experimental statements prior to Pet Sounds, using silence as a pre-chorus, clashing keyboards, moody brass, and vocal tics. Perhaps too extreme an arrangement to go much higher than its modest #20 peak, it was only the band's second single not to reach the top 10 since their 1962 breakthrough. In December they would score an unexpected #2 hit (#3 in the UK) with the single "Barbara Ann", which Capitol Records released as a single without input from any of the Beach Boys. It has become one of their most recognized hits over the years and was a cover of a 1961 song by The Regents.}

^{It was during this time that the Beatles' Rubber Soul came out, and Brian Wilson was enthralled with it. Until then, each Beach Boys album (and most pop albums of the day) contained a few "filler tracks" like cover songs or even stitched-together comedy bits. Brian found Rubber Soul filled with all-original songs and, more importantly, all good ones, none of them filler. Inspired, he rushed to his wife and proclaimed, "Marilyn, I'm gonna make the greatest album! The greatest rock album ever made!"[28]}

^{Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations}

^{Wilson's growing mastery of studio recording and his increasingly sophisticated songs and complex arrangements would reach a creative peak with the acclaimed LP Pet Sounds (1966). Pet Sounds is on many music lists as one of the greatest albums of all time, including those of TIME,[29]} Rolling Stone, New Musical Express, Mojo, and The Times. According to Acclaimedmusic.net, Pet Sounds is the most acclaimed album of all time by music journalists.^[30] Among other accolades, Paul McCartney has named it one of his favorite albums of all time (with "God Only Knows" as his all-time favorite song). McCartney has frequently said that it was the inspiration behind the seminal Beatles' album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Echoing this sentiment, Beatles producer George Martin is quoted saying, "Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."^[31]The album's meticulously layered harmonies and inventive instrumentation (performed by the cream of Los Angeles session musicians known among themselves as The Wrecking Crew) set a new standard for popular music. It remains one of the most evocative releases of the decade, with distinctive strains of lushness, melancholy, and nostalgia for youth. The tracks "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows", showcased Wilson's growing mastery as a composer, arranger, and producer. "Caroline, No," also taken from Pet Sounds, was issued as a Brian Wilson solo single, the only time Brian was credited as a solo artist during the early Capitol years. The album also included two sophisticated instrumental tracks, the quiet and wistful "Let's Go Away for Awhile" and the brittle brassy surf of the title track, "Pet Sounds". Despite the critical praise it received, the album was indifferently promoted by Capitol Records and failed to become the major hit Brian had hoped it would be (only reaching #10). Its failure to gain wider recognition hurt him deeply.^[32]

Because of his withdrawal from touring, Wilson was able to complete almost all the backing tracks for the album while the Beach Boys were on tour in Japan. They returned to find a substantially complete album, requiring only their vocals to finish it off. There was some resistance from within the band to this new direction. Lead singer Mike Love is reported to have been strongly opposed to it, calling it "Brian's ego music," and warning the composer not to "fuck with the formula."^[33] Other group members also fretted that the band would lose its core audience if they changed their successful musical blueprint. At Love's insistence, Brian changed the title and lyrics of one song from "Hang On to Your Ego" to "I Know There's an Answer." Another likely factor in Love's antipathy to Pet Sounds was that Wilson worked extensively on it with outside lyricist Tony Asher rather than with Love, even though Love had co-written the lyrics for many of their earlier songs and was the lead vocalist on most of their early hits.

Seeking to expand on the advances made on Pet Sounds, Wilson began an even more ambitious project, originally dubbed Dumb Angel. Its first fruit was "Good Vibrations", which Brian described as "a pocket symphony". The song became the Beach Boys' biggest hit to date and a U.S. and U.K. No. 1 single in 1966 — many critics consider it to be one of the best rock singles of all time. In 1997, it was named the "Greatest Single of All Time" by Mojo music magazine. In 2000, VH1 placed it at number 8 on their "100 Greatest Rock Songs" list, and in late 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number 6 on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. It was also one of the most complex pop productions ever undertaken, and was reputed to have been the most expensive American single ever recorded at that time. Costing a reported $16,000, more than most pop albums, sessions for the song stretched over several months in at least three major studios.

In contrast to his work on Pet Sounds, Wilson adopted a modular approach to "Good Vibrations" — he broke the song into sections and taped multiple versions of each at different studios to take advantage of the different sound and ambience of each facility. He then assembled his favorite sections into a master backing track and added vocals. The song's innovative instrumentation included drums, organ, piano, tack piano, two basses, guitars, electro-theremin, harmonica, and cello. The group members recall the "Good Vibrations" vocal sessions as among the most demanding of their career.^[32]

Even as his personal life deteriorated, Wilson's musical output remained remarkable. The exact nature of his mental problems was a topic of much speculation. He abused drugs heavily, gained an enormous amount of weight, suffered long bouts of depression, and became paranoid. Several biographies have suggested that his father may have had bipolar disorder and after years of suffering, Wilson's own condition was eventually diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder.^[32]

Smile

While putting the finishing touches on Pet Sounds, and just beginning work on "Good Vibrations," Brian met fellow musician and songwriter Van Dyke Parks. In late 1966, Brian and Parks began an intense collaboration that resulted in a suite of challenging new songs for the Beach Boys' next album, which was eventually named Smile.^[35] Using the same techniques as on "Good Vibrations," recording began in August 1966 and carried on into early 1967. Although the structure of the album and the exact running order of the songs have been the subjects of endless speculation, it is known that Wilson and Parks intended Smile to be a continuous suite of songs that were linked both thematically and musically, with the main songs being linked together by small vocal pieces and instrumental segments that elaborated upon the musical themes of the major songs.But some of the other Beach Boys, especially Love, found the new music too difficult and too far removed from their established style. Another serious concern was that the new music was simply not feasible for live performance by the current Beach Boys lineup. Love was bitterly opposed to Smile and was particularly critical of Parks' lyrics; he has also since stated that he was deeply concerned about Wilson's escalating drug intake. The problems came to a head during the recording of "Cabin Essence", when Love demanded that Parks explain the meaning of the closing refrain of the song, "Over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield." After a heated argument, Parks walked out of the session, and shortly thereafter his creative partnership with Wilson came to an equally abrupt end.

Many factors combined to put intense pressure on Brian Wilson as Smile neared completion: Wilson's own mental instability, the pressure to create against fierce internal opposition to his new music, the relatively unenthusiastic response to Pet Sounds, Carl Wilson's draft resistance, and a major dispute with Capitol Records. Matters were complicated by Wilson's reliance on both prescription and illegal drugs, amphetamines in particular, which only exacerbated his underlying mental health problems.

Also at this time the Beach Boys management (Nick Grillo and David Anderle) started work on developing and implementing the band's own record label, Brother. The intent of the label was for side projects and an invitation for new talent. The Beach Boys became one of the first rock bands to create their own label (shortly afterwards, The Beatles followed with Apple). The output of the label, however, was limited to one album and two singles and with the subsequent failure of the second Smiley Smile single "Getting Hungry", the band decided to shelve the Brother label until 1970.

In May 1967, Smile was shelved, and over the next thirty years, the legends surrounding Smile grew until it became the most famous unreleased album in the history of popular music.^[36]

However, some of the tracks were salvaged and re-recorded at Brian's new home studio, albeit in drastically scaled-down versions. These were released, along with the completed versions of "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains", on the 1967 LP Smiley Smile, which would prove to be a critical and commercial disaster for the group.

Despite the cancellation of Smile, interest in the work remained high and versions of several major tracks — including "Our Prayer", "Cabin Essence", "Cool, Cool Water", and "Surf's Up" — continued to trickle out. Many were assembled by Carl Wilson over the next few years and included on later albums. The band was still expecting to complete and release Smile as late as 1972, before it became clear that Brian had been the only one who could have made sense out of the endless fragments that were recorded. A substantial number of original tracks and linking fragments were included on the group's 30th anniversary CD boxed set in 1993. The full Smile project did not surface until Wilson and Parks completed the writing, aided by Darian Sanahaja who helped in sequencing, and Brian re-recorded it as Brian Wilson Presents "Smile" in 2004.

Mid-career changes

After the popularity of the song "Good Vibrations" came a period of declining commercial success. Smiley Smile and subsequent albums performed poorly on the U.S. charts (although they fared better in the UK). The group's image problems took a further hit following their withdrawal from the bill of the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival.

The 1967 album Wild Honey, regarded by some as another classic, features songs written by Wilson and Love, including the hit "Darlin'" and a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her". Friends (1968) is a largely acoustic album, influenced by the group's adoption of the practice of Transcendental Meditation. The title single was their least successful single since 1962. This was followed by the single "Do It Again", a return to their earlier-style formula. Moderately successful in the US at #20, the single went to #1 in the UK.

As Brian's mental and physical health deteriorated in the late 1960s and early 1970s, his song output diminished; he eventually became withdrawn and detached from the band. To fill his creative void, the other members began writing and producing songs. Carl Wilson gradually took over leadership of the band, developing into an accomplished producer. To complete their contract with Capitol Records before signing with Reprise Records, they produced one more album, 20/20 (1969), primarily a collection of leftovers (including remnants from Smile), old songs by outside writers, and several new songs by Dennis Wilson. One of those songs, "Never Learn Not to Love", featured uncredited lyrics by Charles Manson^[37] and was originally titled "Cease to Exist". Besides "Do It Again", the album included Carl's production of the Ronettes' "I Can Hear Music".

In 1969, the Beach Boys reactivated their Brother Records label and signed with Reprise Records. With the new contract, the band appeared rejuvenated, releasing the album Sunflower to critical acclaim. The album was and still is recognized as a complete group effort, with all band members contributing significant material, such as "Add Some Music to Your Day", Brian's "This Whole World", Dennis' "Forever" and Bruce Johnston's "Tears in the Morning". The band experienced their worst chart performance ever, not even making the top 100, although the single "Cottonfields"—which appeared on non-US releases of Sunflower as a re-vamped version of a track that first appeared on 20/20—did become a Top 5 hit in the UK.

After Sunflower, the band hired Jack Rieley as their manager. Rieley chose a different direction for the group, emphasizing, among other things, political and social awareness. The result was 1971's Surf's Up, featuring Brian's Smile centerpiece, "Surf's Up". The song itself was virtually the same arrangement of Brian performing in the studio in 1966, with Carl adding vocals and the "Child is Father of the Man" overdubs. Carl's "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows" are standouts. Brian contributed one of his best songs, "'Til I Die", which almost did not make the album sequencing. Bruce Johnston produced the classic "Disney Girls (1957)", a throwback to the easier, simpler times they remembered. Johnston ended his first stint with the band shortly after the record's release, reportedly because of friction between him and Jack Rieley. The album was moderately successful, reaching the US top 30. While the record made its run on the charts, the Beach Boys added to their refound fame by performing a near-sellout concert at Carnegie Hall, and following that with the famous appearance with the Grateful Dead at Fillmore East on April 27, 1971.

The addition of Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin in February, 1972, led to a dramatic departure in sound for the band. The album Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" was an uncharacteristic mix that included several songs drawn from Fataar and Chaplin's previous group, Flame, which are nearly unrecognizable as Beach Boys songs. Although it has its supporters, the album is widely considered to be one of the group's most unfocused and inconsistent. It did not make an impact on the charts.

The Beach Boys came up with an ambitious (and expensive) plan in developing their next project, Holland. The band, their families, assorted associates and technicians moved to the Netherlands for the summer of 1972, renting a farmhouse to convert into a makeshift studio. By the end of their adventure the band felt they had come up with one of their best efforts yet. Reprise, however, felt that the album was weak, and after some wrangling between the camps, the band asked Brian to come up with commercial material. This resulted in the song "Sail On, Sailor", a collaboration between Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, became one of the most emblematic Beach Boys songs. Reprise approved and the album was released early 1973, peaking at #37 on the Billboard album chart. Holland was also popular on FM radio, which embraced tracks like Mike Love and Al Jardine's "California Saga". Included as a "bonus" EP was Brian's storytale Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale), which was directly influenced by Randy Newman's Sail Away LP. Holland proved that the band could still produce contemporary songs with wide (if not mass) appeal.

Despite the indifference displayed by the record label, the band's concert audience started to grow. The Beach Boys in Concert, a double album documenting the 1972 and 1973 US tours, became the band's first gold record for Reprise.

Endless Summer

In the summer of 1974, Capitol, in consultation with Love, released a double album compilation of the Beach Boys' pre-Pet Sounds hits. Endless Summer, helped by a sunny, colorful graphic cover, caught the mood of the country and surged to #1 on the Billboard album chart. It was the group's first multi-million selling record since "Good Vibrations", and remained on the album chart for three years.^[38] The following year Capitol released another compilation, Spirit of America, which also sold well. With both compilations, the Beach Boys suddenly became relevant again to the American musical landscape, propelling themselves from being the opening act for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to headliners selling out basketball arenas. Manager Jack Rieley, who remained in the Netherlands after Holland's release, was relieved of his managerial duties in late 1973. Rolling Stone awarded the band the distinction of 1974's "Band of The Year", based solely on the their juggernaut touring schedule and the material written and produced by Brian over a decade earlier.

Blondie Chaplin left the band in late 1973 after an argument with Steve Love, the band's business manager (and Mike's brother), Ricky Fataar stayed until fall 1974, when he was offered a chance to join a new group being formed by Joe Walsh. Chaplin's replacement, James William Guercio, started offering the group career advice that turned out to be so smart and sensible that eventually he became the band's new manager.

Under Guercio, The Beach Boys staged a highly successful 1975 joint concert tour with Chicago, with each group performing some of the other's songs, including their previous year's collaboration on Chicago's hit "Wishing You Were Here". Beach Boy vocals were also heard on Elton John's 1974 hit "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me".

Nostalgia had settled into the Beach Boys' hype; the group had not officially released any albums of new material since 1973's Holland. While their concerts continuously sold out, the stage act slowly changed from contemporary presentation/oldies encores to an entire show composed of mostly pre-1967 music. Performances of Smiley Smile to Holland material would eventually be phased out, replaced by their hits from 1961 to 1966. This decision frustrated serious fans of the band for many years to come.

Brian's return

15 Big Ones marked the return of Brian Wilson as a major force in the group in that it was the first album he produced since Pet Sounds. This album included several new songs composed by Brian, and several of his arrangements of favorite old songs by other artists, including "Rock and Roll Music" (which made #5), "Blueberry Hill", and "In the Still of the Night". Brian and Mike's "It's OK" was yet another return to their earlier "summertime fun" style, and was a moderate hit. The album was publicized by an NBC-TV special, telecast on August 4, 1976, simply entitled "The Beach Boys", which was produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels and featured appearances by SNL cast members John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Another project included singing back-up for Eric Carmen on his Top 40 hit, "She Did It" in 1977.

For the remainder of 1976 to early 1977, Brian Wilson spent his time making sporadic public appearances and producing the band's next LP Love You, a quirky collection of 14 songs mostly written by Brian alone, including more "fun" songs ("Honkin' Down the Highway"), a mature love song ("The Night Was So Young")—a mix ranging from infectious to touching to downright silly. The songs were delivered to the Beach Boys only as demo versions, mostly with only Brian's vocals and Moog synth and drum-machine backing tracks. The Beach Boys were expected to finish them, but because of time constraints the majority of the material was released as Brian's originally recorded demos. The result was an uneven, incomplete effort and not a commercial success. Despite its flaws, the album is one of the more popular offerings in the Beach Boys' later oeuvre. Many sources cited the album as a return to the group's roots.

After Love You, Brian's contributions began to decline over the next several albums until he again virtually withdrew from the group. His appearances with the band in concert diminished. His performances became erratic, his recordings uninspired. Despite the much-publicized "Brian's Back" campaign in the late '70s, most critics believed the group was past its prime. Many expected that at some point Brian Wilson would eventually become the latest in a long line of celebrity drug casualties.

During this period the band put out two further studio efforts: M.I.U. and L.A. Light Album. M.I.U. was recorded at Maharishi International University in Iowa (now Maharishi University of Management) at the insistence of Mike Love. Dennis and Carl made limited contributions to the project; the album was mostly produced by Alan Jardine and Ron Altbach, with Brian appearing as the role of "Executive Producer". Regardless, despite a handful of interesting tracks, the album was largely a contractual obligation to finish out their association with Reprise Records. Reprise likewise did not promote the album.

At the same time of the M.I.U. album release, The Beach Boys signed with CBS Records (now part of Sony/BMG). They received a substantial advance and reportedly agreed to a guaranteed minimum of one million dollars per album. However, CBS was not satisfied with preliminary reviews of their first product-L.A. Light Album. The band realized at this point that Brian either could not or would not write and produce the required material. As a stop-gap measure, Bruce Johnston returned to the group as both a member and this time as a producer. The Brian and Carl song "Good Timin‘" became a US top 40 single. The album featured outstanding performances by both Dennis (cuts intended for his second solo effort Bambu) and Carl ("Full Sail"). The group also enjoyed moderate success (if not indifferently received) with a disco reworking of the song "Here Comes the Night", originally on the Wild Honey album.

In 1980, the band recorded and released Keeping the Summer Alive. Again, Bruce Johnston was in the producer's role as well as performing on the album. Sessions took place at Western Recorders, the site where Brian produced many of his most enduring songs as well as Al Jardine's barn studio in Big Sur and Rumbo Studios in Los Angeles. Brian contributed some inspired production ideas occasionally as seen in the television special the band made for the album's release. Even though Dennis Wilson was credited,(his drumming is heard on the group's cover version of Chuck Berry's "School Days") this was the first Beach Boys album not to feature Dennis (due to his ongoing personal problems). He was not in the Going Platinum television special and was asked not to participate in the recording project. Carl Wilson had discovered a young talented drummer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist by the name of Scott Mathews and though Mathews was signed to Capitol Records, Carl asked him to join the band. Mathews jumped at the chance to record with his long-time heroes but ultimately chose not to join the band because of his blossoming career in the studio as a producer and songwriter plus (much like Brian), his dislike for touring.^{[citation needed]}

Late 1970s – present

In the late 1970s, Dennis Wilson increasingly indulged in drug and alcohol abuse. Some of the group's concert appearances were marred when he and other band members showed up on stage drunk or stoned. The band was forced to publicly apologize after a poor performance in Perth, Australia in 1978, during which several members of the group appeared to be drunk.^{[citation needed]}Dennis Wilson was the first Beach Boy to release a solo album, entitled Pacific Ocean Blue, on August 22, 1977. A follow-up album entitled Bambu was recorded with friend and musician Carli Muñoz but remained unfinished and unreleased until Pacific Ocean Blue was re-issued in 2008.

From 1980 through 1982, The Beach Boys and The Grass Roots performed Independence Day concerts on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.., attracting large crowds.^[39][40] However, in April 1983, James G. Watt, President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, banned Independence Day concerts on the Mall by such groups. Watt said that "rock bands" that had performed on the Mall on Independence Day in 1981 and 1982 had encouraged drug use and alcoholism and had attracted "the wrong element", who would mug people and families attending any similar events in the future.^[40] During the ensuing uproar, The Beach Boys stated that the Soviet Union, which had invited them to perform in Leningrad in 1978, "obviously .... did not feel that the group attracted the wrong element".^[40] Vice President George H. W. Bush said of The Beach Boys, "They're my friends and I like their music".^[40] Watt apologized to The Beach Boys after learning that President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan were fans of The Beach Boys.^[41] Nancy Reagan apologized for Watt.^[42] White House staff presented Watt with a plaster foot with a hole in it, symbolizing his having shot himself in the foot with his decision.^[43] In 1984, The Beach Boys gave an Independence Day concert on the Mall to an audience of 750,000 people.^[44][45] Love and Johnston most recently appeared on the Mall in 2005 for the Fourth of July concert.

Meanwhile, Dennis Wilson's personal problems continued to escalate, and on December 28, 1983, he drowned while diving from a friend's boat, trying to recover items he had previously thrown overboard in fits of rage.

Despite Dennis's death, the Beach Boys soldiered on as a successful touring act. On July 4, 1985, the Beach Boys played to an afternoon crowd of one million in Philadelphia and the same evening they performed for over 750,000 people on the Mall in Washington (the day's historic achievement was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records). They also appeared nine days later at the Live Aid concert. That year, they released an eponymous album and enjoyed a resurgence of interest later in the 1980s, assisted by tributes such as David Lee Roth's hit version of "California Girls." In 1987, they played with the rap group The Fat Boys, performing the song "Wipe Out" and filming a video for it.

In 1988, they unexpectedly scored their first #1 hit in 22 years with the song "Kokomo" which was written for the movie Cocktail, becoming their biggest-selling hit ever. It was written by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher. As well as producing and co-writing several of the band's later songs and albums, Melcher was a long-time friend of Bruce Johnston, and the duo recorded together as Bruce & Terry and The Rip Chords, both surf acts with a very similar California sound, before Johnston formally joined The Beach Boys. Riding on "Kokomo"'s steam, the Beach Boys quickly put out the album Still Cruisin', which went gold in the U.S. and gave them their best chart showing since 1976. In 1990, the band, featuring John Stamos on drums, recorded the title track of the comedy Problem Child. Stamos later appeared singing lead vocals on the song "Forever" (written by Dennis Wilson) on their 1992 album Summer in Paradise.

Members of the band appeared on television shows such as Full House, Home Improvement (TV series), and Baywatch in the late 1980s and 1990s, as well as touring regularly. In 1995, Brian Wilson appeared in the critically acclaimed documentary I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, which saw him performing for the first time with his now-adult daughters, Wendy and Carnie of the group Wilson Phillips. The documentary also included glowing tributes to his talents from a host of major music stars of the '60s, '70s and '80s. In 1996, the Beach Boys guested with Status Quo on a re-recording of "Fun, Fun, Fun", which was a British Top 30 hit.

After years of heavy smoking, Carl Wilson succumbed to lung cancer on February 6, 1998 after a long battle with the disease. Although Love and Johnston continued to tour as the Beach Boys, Jardine did not participate and no other original members accompanied them. Their tours remained reliable draws, even as they came to be viewed as a nostalgia act. Meanwhile, Brian Wilson and Al Jardine (both still legally members of the Beach Boys organization) each pursued solo careers with their new bands.

On June 13, 2006, the major surviving Beach Boys (Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks) all set aside their differences and reunited ^{[citation needed]} for a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the album Pet Sounds and the double-platinum certification of their greatest hits compilation, Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys, in a ceremony atop the Capitol Records building in Hollywood. Plaques were awarded for their efforts to all major members, with Brian Wilson accepting for his late brothers Carl and Dennis. Wilson himself implied there was a chance that all the living members (not having performed together since September 1996) would reunite again.

On June 21, 2010 the Las Vegas Sun reported that Brian Wilson would join The Beach Boys for their 50th anniversary.^[46] However, Mike Love subsequently stated, "At this time there are no plans for my cousin Brian to rejoin the tour...We have had some discussions of writing and possibly recording together, but nothing has been planned...I..felt the need to clarify that there are no current 'reunion' tour plans."^[47]

Court battles

Many legal difficulties developed from Brian Wilson's psychological problems. In the early 1980s, the band hired controversial therapist Eugene Landy in an attempt to help him. Landy did achieve some significant improvements in Wilson's overall condition; from his own admissions about his massive drug intake, it was highly likely that Wilson would have died if Landy had not intervened. Landy successfully treated Wilson's drug dependence, and by 1988 Wilson had recovered sufficiently to record his first solo album, Brian Wilson. But Landy became increasingly possessive of his star patient. After accusations that Landy was using his control over Wilson for his own benefit, the band successfully entreated the courts to separate Landy from Wilson.

In addition to the challenges over the use of the band's name and over the best way to care for Wilson, there have been three significant legal cases involving the Beach Boys in recent years. The first was Wilson's suit to reclaim the rights to his songs and the group's publishing company, Sea of Tunes, which he had signed away to his father in 1969. He successfully argued that he had not been mentally fit to make an informed decision. While Wilson failed to regain his copyrights, he was awarded $25 million for unpaid royalties.

The second lawsuit stemmed from Wilson's reclamation of his publishing rights. Soon after Wilson won his Sea of Tunes case in 1989, Mike Love discovered Murry Wilson did not properly credit him as co-writer on dozens of Beach Boys songs, including "California Girls", "Catch a Wave", "I Get Around", "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)", "Be True to Your School", "Help Me, Rhonda", "I Know There's an Answer", and numerous others. With Mike and Brian unable to determine exactly what Mike was properly owed, Mike sued Brian in 1992 to gain credit for his co-authorship of a number of important Beach Boys songs, winning $13 million in 1994 for lost royalties. In interviews, Mike revealed that on some songs he wrote most of the lyrics, on others only a line or two. Even though Mike sued Brian, both parties said in interviews that there was no malice between them; they simply couldn't come up with an agreeable settlement by themselves.

However in November 2005, Love filed yet another lawsuit against Brian Wilson and his management. Love alleged that the UK publication The Mail on Sunday and Wilson’s representatives gave the false impression to the readers of The Mail on Sunday that their joint promotional giveaway of nearly three million copies of the CD called Good Vibrations was authorized by Mike Love and the Beach Boys. This free CD, Love alleged, includes five of Love and Wilson’s co-authored hit Beach Boys songs, and was done to promote Wilson's solo CD, Smile. Love also claimed that Smile and Good Vibrations were marketed using the Beach Boys’ names and images without permission. The complaint sought several million dollars in damages, and also a million dollars to cover costs of advertising to correct the perceived "damage to the band's reputation".

Love stated at the time: “Once again the people around Brian, my cousin and collaborator on many hits, who I love and care about, have used him for their own financial gain without regard to his rights, or my rights, or even the rights of the estates of his deceased brothers, Carl and Dennis, and their children... Unfortunately, history repeats itself. Because of Brian’s mental issues he has always been vulnerable to manipulation. I simply want to stop the infringers and stop the deception!”^[48]

There has been speculation that Love's lawsuit was an attempt to pressure Wilson into agreeing to let him continue to use the profitable Beach Boys name for his and Johnston's touring efforts.^[48] Wilson's lawyers suggested in legal filings that Love was seeking to assert as personal claims the rights of the corporate holder of the Beach Boys trademark, Brother Records International, in which Love and Wilson are both shareholders.^[49]

Wilson’s website listed the following statement in response: “The lawsuit against Brian is meritless. While he will vigorously defend himself he is deeply saddened that his cousin Mike Love has sunk to these depths for his own financial gain.”

Love's 2005 lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice on May 10, 2007 as to all the defendants, including Wilson. In a series of rulings, the court rejected all of Love's claims, including the claim that Smile was a Beach Boys project as to which Love deserved compensation from Wilson directly.^[50] The court subsequently ruled that Love had to pay the legal fees of all the defendants as well.^[51]

Legacy

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988,^[52] with Mike Love delivering a speech that assailed Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Diana Ross.^[53] The band was chosen for the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.^[54] In 2001, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Brian Wilson was inducted into the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2006.^[55] In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the Beach Boys #12 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, .^[56]

In 2007, the Beach Boys were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.^[54]

The group is frequently referred to when the topic of summertime songs comes up. About.com listed Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys, a 2003 compilation CD, as the greatest summertime hits CD.^[57]

Richard Daniel Roman's Latin pop summer classic "Vive El Verano" is dedicated to the Beach Boys.

Toni Tennille, of the duo Captain & Tennille, remains the only known "Beach Girl", having once sung with the Beach Boys while on tour.

The Wilsons' Hawthorne, California house, where the Wilson brothers grew up and the group began, was demolished in 1986 to make way for Interstate 105, the Century Freeway. A Beach Boys Historic Landmark (California Landmark #1041 at 3701 West 119th Street), dedicated on May 20, 2005, marks the location. The Beach Boys continue to tour, with a backing band accompanying original members Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. Other "honorary Beach Boys", such as John Stamos and former member David Marks also make guest appearances on their tours.^[58]

As of 2010^[update], the remaining Beach Boys (Love and Johnston, minus Brian and Jardine) continue to tour.^[59]

The Beach Boys logo was created by artist Jim Evans, and was originally used on the "15 Big Ones" record sleeve.

Band members

Main article: The Beach Boys lineupsWhen the band first formed in 1961, it consisted of the Wilson brothers, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Jardine quickly left and was replaced by David Marks. After 16 months or so, Jardine came back, and Marks would quit soon thereafter.

Brian Wilson quit touring in 1965, and at first, Glen Campbell filled in for him. Later, when it became clear that Campbell's other commitments would interfere with The Beach Boys' touring schedule, Bruce Johnston became the permanent fill-in. Johnston would soon become a full-fledged member of the band, starting with providing backing vocals for Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).

In the early 1970s, Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin, both members of The Flame, joined the band. Chaplin lasted for just under two years, with Fataar departing a year later.

With the deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson, surviving Beach Boys include Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston. However, Love has licensed the name 'The Beach Boys' for his touring group, which consists of himself, Johnston, Love's son Christian Love, Scott Totten, Randell Kirsch, John Cowsill, and Tim Bonhomme.

Discography

Main article: The Beach Boys discography

• Surfin' Safari (1962)
  
• Surfin' USA (1963)
  
• Surfer Girl (1963)
  
• Little Deuce Coupe (1963)
  
• Shut Down Volume 2 (1964)
  
• All Summer Long (1964)
  
• The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (1964)
  
• Today!! (1965)
  
• Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) (1965)
  
• Beach Boys' Party!! (1965)
  
• Pet Sounds (1966)
  
• Smiley Smile (1967)
  
• Wild Honey (1967)
  
• Friends (1968)
  
• Stack-O-Tracks (1968)
  
• 20/20 (1969)
  
• Sunflower (1970)
  
• Surf's Up (1971)
  
• Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" (1972)
  
• Holland (1973)
  
• 15 Big Ones (1976)
  
• Love You (1977)
  
• M.I.U. Album (1978)
  
• L.A. (Light Album) (1979)
  
• Keepin' the Summer Alive (1980)
  
• The Beach Boys (1985)
  
• Still Cruisin' (1989)
  
• Summer in Paradise (1992)
  
• Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 (1996)