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Shine Like it Does: The Life of Michael Hutchence
Ultra-shy INXS front man, Jim Morrison poseur wannabe, chameleon, promiscuous sex god?
Who was Michael Hutchence?
To mark the twentieth anniversary of his death, music journalist and Rolling Stone Australia’s founding publisher Toby Creswell casts aside the hype and stereotypes to get close to the real Michael Hutchence, talking to others who knew him personally, and who loved and respected the complex and sensitive person he was, as well as those who followed his growth as a singer and songwriter.
This is a warm, heartfelt biography, a tribute to the man and his music that brings us closer to understanding how an insecure vocalist from Sydney’s northern suburbs grew into an accomplished lyricist and ultimately, a despairing wanderer in search of a real home and a family of his own.
Who was Michael Hutchence?
To mark the twentieth anniversary of his death, music journalist and Rolling Stone Australia’s founding publisher Toby Creswell casts aside the hype and stereotypes to get close to the real Michael Hutchence, talking to others who knew him personally, and who loved and respected the complex and sensitive person he was, as well as those who followed his growth as a singer and songwriter.
This is a warm, heartfelt biography, a tribute to the man and his music that brings us closer to understanding how an insecure vocalist from Sydney’s northern suburbs grew into an accomplished lyricist and ultimately, a despairing wanderer in search of a real home and a family of his own.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
220 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 21, 2017
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41 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 2, 2020
Toby Creswell was the founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine in Australia. Several books have been written about Michael Hutchence since his death on 22/11/1997, most of them fodder that can be extracted from the internet. With Toby's credentials in the rock industry in Australia, and with the promise of examining the 'man' and not so much the gigs and his fellow band members, as he states in the prologue of this book, I wanted to give it a try, and furthermore, love it.
On November 22nd, 1997 Michael Hutchence was found dead in his room at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Sydney, Australia. His band, INXS, had finally arrived home on their last leg of a tour supporting their latest album, Elegantly Wasted. I had tickets to their show that they were to perform in my hometown, Melbourne, just a couple of weeks later.
With everything you read about INXS, I do agree to some point. They were past the peak of their careers and desperately needed to change their direction to stay relevant. However, footage of the guys practicing for the shows on the last full day of Hutchence's life brought a level of excitement not felt with shows from the previous tour. Sure, this was a promotional tour for Elegantly Wasted but they were seen to be rehearsing hits from previous albums, songs from their prime era.
Creswell starts the book with great promise. He explores Michael's upbringing in his fractured family, moving from country to country before settling down in Australia for the second time. There are tidbits here about early childhood sorrows that may have reared their heads in later life. The chapters on Michael's dalliance outside of INXS with Ollie Olsen to create Max Q (a brilliant album by the way) are a pleasant trip into the underground Indie rock scene of Melbourne in the late 1990s but here it all grinds to a halt with great disappointment.
The rest of the book is just more internet fodder and another bio of the band. The same old issues with Paula Yates and Bob Geldof are raised, sure an integral part at the end of Hutchence's life, but by no means anything new. Stuff that was published in newspapers mere days after his funeral. Much relies on words from Anthony Bozza, who wrote the INXS biography, Story to Story so can be read there. Quotes from ex-girlfriends, Chris Murphy their long time manager, family and band members and the like. Nothing refreshing, nothing new except if this is the first book you read about Michael.
On November 22nd, 1997 Michael Hutchence was found dead in his room at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Sydney, Australia. His band, INXS, had finally arrived home on their last leg of a tour supporting their latest album, Elegantly Wasted. I had tickets to their show that they were to perform in my hometown, Melbourne, just a couple of weeks later.
With everything you read about INXS, I do agree to some point. They were past the peak of their careers and desperately needed to change their direction to stay relevant. However, footage of the guys practicing for the shows on the last full day of Hutchence's life brought a level of excitement not felt with shows from the previous tour. Sure, this was a promotional tour for Elegantly Wasted but they were seen to be rehearsing hits from previous albums, songs from their prime era.
Creswell starts the book with great promise. He explores Michael's upbringing in his fractured family, moving from country to country before settling down in Australia for the second time. There are tidbits here about early childhood sorrows that may have reared their heads in later life. The chapters on Michael's dalliance outside of INXS with Ollie Olsen to create Max Q (a brilliant album by the way) are a pleasant trip into the underground Indie rock scene of Melbourne in the late 1990s but here it all grinds to a halt with great disappointment.
The rest of the book is just more internet fodder and another bio of the band. The same old issues with Paula Yates and Bob Geldof are raised, sure an integral part at the end of Hutchence's life, but by no means anything new. Stuff that was published in newspapers mere days after his funeral. Much relies on words from Anthony Bozza, who wrote the INXS biography, Story to Story so can be read there. Quotes from ex-girlfriends, Chris Murphy their long time manager, family and band members and the like. Nothing refreshing, nothing new except if this is the first book you read about Michael.
March 30, 2018
Ho hum. A rather dull biography of one of Australia's greatest musicians. I skipped over a lot.
November 13, 2017
Was looking forward to reading this as it was the first book that has been published about MH in quite a while, and is timed to mark (cash in?) on the 20th anniversary of his tragic and untimely death.
My first disappointment was that it is only 190 pages, but felt even less than that. The book is billed as 'The life of Michael Hutchence', and although it is inevitable that it will talk about INXS, if you were to take that content out, you're probably left with less than half the book about the iconic Australian rock legend. Most of any remaining material has probably already appeared in 'Total XS' (by brother, Rhett) or 'Just a Man' (by half-sister, Tina and their mother)
An early annoyance in the book was reference to 'Michael and INXS' as if they were two separate entities or the five other members were part of his backing band.
Errors abound which would not be expected of a professional music journalist who you would expect to get his facts right. Early on in the book, the author talks about the last time he saw Hutchence before a show in Sydney when Bob Geldof was the topic of discussion, despite the Australian shows never taking place due to Hutchence taking his own life. The fact that this was an impossibility raises questions over the integrity of the author. Was anything else fabricated?
In another chapter, Garry Gary Beers was supposedly going through a messy divorce around the time of 'Welcome to Wherever You Are' when in fact GGB didn't divorce until the early 2000s following an affair with a backing singer on the 'Elegantly Wasted' tour. The author probably meant it was Kirk who was going through a divorce around that time. A basic lack of fact checking and proof reading here.
It is claimed that no singles from 'Full Moon, Dirty Hearts' appeared on INXS' first greatest hits compilation in 1994, when in fact 'The Gift' appeared. If the author meant the US edition, then it should have made that clear.
One of the photos was allegedly of when INXS played at Wembley Stadium in 1988, despite not playing there on the 'Kick' tour. They only performed there supporting Queen in 1986, and again in 1991 when they headlined on the 'X' tour.
Overall, very disappointing. There are a few anecdotes which were new to me, but if you want to read about Michael Hutchence (the man), you're far better off reading the books by his siblings and his mother who are the ones who REALLY knew him.
My first disappointment was that it is only 190 pages, but felt even less than that. The book is billed as 'The life of Michael Hutchence', and although it is inevitable that it will talk about INXS, if you were to take that content out, you're probably left with less than half the book about the iconic Australian rock legend. Most of any remaining material has probably already appeared in 'Total XS' (by brother, Rhett) or 'Just a Man' (by half-sister, Tina and their mother)
An early annoyance in the book was reference to 'Michael and INXS' as if they were two separate entities or the five other members were part of his backing band.
Errors abound which would not be expected of a professional music journalist who you would expect to get his facts right. Early on in the book, the author talks about the last time he saw Hutchence before a show in Sydney when Bob Geldof was the topic of discussion, despite the Australian shows never taking place due to Hutchence taking his own life. The fact that this was an impossibility raises questions over the integrity of the author. Was anything else fabricated?
In another chapter, Garry Gary Beers was supposedly going through a messy divorce around the time of 'Welcome to Wherever You Are' when in fact GGB didn't divorce until the early 2000s following an affair with a backing singer on the 'Elegantly Wasted' tour. The author probably meant it was Kirk who was going through a divorce around that time. A basic lack of fact checking and proof reading here.
It is claimed that no singles from 'Full Moon, Dirty Hearts' appeared on INXS' first greatest hits compilation in 1994, when in fact 'The Gift' appeared. If the author meant the US edition, then it should have made that clear.
One of the photos was allegedly of when INXS played at Wembley Stadium in 1988, despite not playing there on the 'Kick' tour. They only performed there supporting Queen in 1986, and again in 1991 when they headlined on the 'X' tour.
Overall, very disappointing. There are a few anecdotes which were new to me, but if you want to read about Michael Hutchence (the man), you're far better off reading the books by his siblings and his mother who are the ones who REALLY knew him.
February 13, 2019
While this book provided a broad overview of Michael’s life and music career, it failed to tell me anything I didn’t already know. There was none of the intricate detailed memories found in the INXS biography Story to Story, or close personal insights like those in Tina Hutchence’s Just A Man. However it was a quick and easy read, and I found myself playing each of the albums as the writing and production process was covered in the book. Overall it wasn’t a book to capture my imagination and indeed a lot of the descriptions went over my head as they compared INXS to artists and bands I’ve never heard of.
The last chapter left me feeling empty and full of regret that at the end Michael Hutchence was reduced to such a pale imitation of his former larger than life self. The author tried to paint a picture of Paula Yates as a person, but I can’t think of her as anything other than the reason that brilliant musician is no longer with us. To include a run down of her life story just feels distasteful, she might be dead now too but she wasn’t a victim in any of what went on.
The last chapter left me feeling empty and full of regret that at the end Michael Hutchence was reduced to such a pale imitation of his former larger than life self. The author tried to paint a picture of Paula Yates as a person, but I can’t think of her as anything other than the reason that brilliant musician is no longer with us. To include a run down of her life story just feels distasteful, she might be dead now too but she wasn’t a victim in any of what went on.
April 11, 2018
This was an entertaining, though not very detailed examination of the life of Michael Hutchence. It generally kept my interest even though most of the story is very well known. There were a couple of new things that I learnt, but because the volume was so slim, I don’t think Creswell had much intention of adding anything terribly new. The book could have done with better editing as some sentences were a bit strange and could have been edited out. Creswell quotes extensively from Anthony Bozza’s and INXSs ‘INXS story to story : the official autobiography’ so much so that I kind felt I should have read that book instead of his! I can recommend this book if you were interested in the short version of Hutchence’s story, otherwise there are plenty of other books, TV series etc. that will cover the same ground and probably do a bit better job.
October 6, 2025
This book was ok,but with the exception of a couple of details it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. In the midst of some of the joyful moments you had a lot of sad, painful moments. Michael Hutchence was breath-taking ,talented,and charismatic and will always be unforgettable.Not much you can say here.
January 4, 2020
This felt more like an INXS biography as a opposed to an intimate look into the life of Michael Hutchence, as the title insinuates.
Still an informative read for new fans of INXS and their career overall, but I felt like I didn't learn anything new about Hutchence.
Still an informative read for new fans of INXS and their career overall, but I felt like I didn't learn anything new about Hutchence.
February 17, 2018
With all the lead up there were no new insights. Disappointing even though I will always love reading about the great MH
August 1, 2021
I didn't even finish this book, it is a very uninteresting account of a person who did actually have an interesting life.
April 21, 2023
Me is always gonna be an INXS fan at heart and this book really filled in so many plot holes with with band and I love that
November 19, 2018
2.5 stars. This definitely felt more journalistic than personal and I didn’t really feel that I learned much more about Michael for having read it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews