INXS debut kicks off a decade the Australian band would dominate

INXS : Just Keep Walking

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On October 13 1980 INXS released their self-titled debut album, featuring "Just Keep Walking", their first Australian Top 40 hit. The set of energetic new wave pop would most likely have been forgotten by now if the band hadn't blown up by the mid-80's. Even lead vocalist Michal Hutchence dismissed the debut:

 I'm not a great fan of the first album. It's naïve and kinda cute, almost. It's these young guys struggling for a sound. All I can hear is what was going to happen later and it's probably an interesting album because of that. "Just Keep Walking" was the first time we thought we'd written a song. And that became an anthem around town. It's funny, I remember kids in pubs saying it and hearing it on the radio the first time. We'd never heard that before.

Hutchence makes a good point. From the very start you can hear the three Farriss brothers find the groove. They are Andrew on keyboards and guitar, Jon on drums and Tim on guitar. Kirk Pengilly is already finding some catchy riffs on saxophone.And Hutchence is already slipping into some Jaggeresque posturing. There's a but more XTC than white funk on the debut, but by 1983's Shabooh Shabooh and the single 1984 Nile Rodgers produced single "Original Sin", the band would be well on its way to super stardom.