Story Behind the Song: INXS' 'New Sensation'

"I got a new sensation/ Perfect moments/ That's so impossible to refuse."

Before it was a smash hit in 1988, there was a time when INXS' "New Sensation" seemed a little too new. The band's multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Farriss came up with the groove and guitar riff back in 1982, but he and late frontman Michael Hutchence didn't deem it ready for public consumption until 1987's "Kick" album.

Farriss told the Story Behind the Song — and the story of how he and Hutchence started making music together — to Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Bart Herbison: Although you're the keyboard player for the band, you play a lot of instruments, and you came up with the guitar riff on “Devil Inside,” which we just did an episode on. When you and Michael wrote, did you always write together? Did you just bring them music? Because it was more of an Elton John/Bernie Taupin kind of relationship, wasn't it?

Andrew Farriss: I think that's a good analogy. That's an interesting way to look at it. I only ever met Bernie Taupin once in an elevator in Nashville. It was on my way with my wife, Marlina, to go see Elton perform at Bridgestone Arena. And I tried to sort of talk to him, but I don't think was in that headspace, so I just left it alone. I just wanted to tell him I admire his lyrics. But I had met Elton many years before actually. I satout on a street with Michael Hutchence and Elton John, out having a coffee with those two legends....we're in the middle of the public, and everyone's walking by, and I'm going, "That's what I love about both these guys. They are real people, they're not hiding. They'll just sit out and talk to anybody. And because they do that, they're invisible."

But to get back to your point, Michael never played a physical instrument. He struggled with that. And that's cool. I think the closest he really came was playing a little bit of violin when we were teenagers in school, but he just didn't have the thing burning thing in him to go learn an instrument. So really, his instrument in many ways, even before he was a singer, was his lyric writing. He always wrote, and very carefully, methodically wrote a lot of lyrics. And I noticed that about him when we were teenagers. That was unusual. You know, most of the guys around me were either playing football or chasing girls around, or getting into cars or motorbikes or whatever it was. They weren't sitting down and writing complicated concepts and things. And I picked up on that.

…I said to him, "You should get more people to sing this stuff. It's really good, you know? And then I said, "Why don't you even try singing?" And he didn't want to do that at first. I carry that legacy with me... it's like a badge of honor, but I also take that very seriously, because he had a huge career, Michael. God bless you, man, wherever you are. But I just want to say that the way we worked a lot of the time, which may come as a real surprise to a lot of people, was very similar to what you said about Elton and Bernie Taupin. But we didn't often smash it out in a room for hours to get it. Michael is a very social kind of character....We would get together and he'd say, "What do you got?" I said, "Well, I have a listen to this." And in the old days, it was a cassette. Or I might have an acoustic guitar or play on a piano....He goes, "I love that. So just give me something to take away, and I'll bring a lyric back for you." And that's often the way we worked. It was ridiculous.

BH: Do you remember playing him this groove for “New Sensation?”

AF: Yeah, he heard that. I'd actually written the music as early as the end of 1982. And it was from outer space compared to what was happening in 1982. So I think it wasn't ready, for whatever reason. And the record producer, Mark Opitz, who did another three of our big records for INXS, he nearly fainted.

He said, "Do you mean to tell me that when I was producing such-and-such record, you already had that music?" ...But when we were putting the "Kick" album together, Michael and I knew. We both said "This piece of music is important. It suits what we're trying to do with 'Need You Tonight,' 'What You Need,' all this sort of funk rock stuff." And "New Sensation's" got a blues angle to it as well. It just works. And Michael's lyrics? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

BH: And do I hear a banjo in the background?

AF: Yeah, I played that on a keyboard. It's a sample.

BH: It's a sample. Oh my god. I didn't even know that. It's a damn good sample (laughs)

AF: Yeah, well, I probably could have picked it on a banjo. But the record producer, Chris Thomas, he was a real stickler for getting things smack on, lucky for us.  He wasn't loosey goosey....his first job was working on the Beatles' "White Album." He was very instinctual.

BH: Every time an INXS song comes on, I love it. But it sounds current. Ee've been through 20 different phases of music, yet somehow everything you did sounds “now” and relevant, in my opinion.

AF: I think you're right. But I'd like to give credit to Michael, and to the record producers, and also to our manager who passed away. They would champion ideas…Back in the 80s, we started working with hip-hop remixer people, and dance DJ people, and a lot of people were like, "What are you doing?" And we're like, "Well, we don't know what we're doing. But that's the exciting part of it."

About the series

In partnership with Nashville Songwriters Association International, the "Story Behind the Song" video interview series features Nashville-connected songwriters discussing one of their compositions. For full video interviews with all of our subjects, visit www.tennessean.com/music.

More from the Story Behind the Song series

Story Behind the Song: INXS' 'Devil Inside'

Story Behind the Song: Lady A's 'Need You Now'

Story Behind the Song: Tim McGraw's 'Highway Don't Care'

Story Behind the Song: Blake Shelton's 'Boys Round Here'

Story Behind the Song: Carrie Underwood's 'Before He Cheats'

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'New Sensation' by INXS: here's the story behind the song