"Don't Change" is a song by Australian rock band

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

. It was released as a single from the album '' Shabooh Shoobah'' in October 1982. It has been described as the song that made the band internationally famous.

Reception

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'' reviewed the "Don't Change" single saying "churning rhythms and swirling guitars provide a straight ahead forward thrust for singer Michael Hutchence's philosophical pronouncements." "Don't Change" peaked at number 14 Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA) created their own

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in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974. on the Australian Singles Charts and reached number 80 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 17 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Top Tracks chart. In February 2014, after the Channel 7 screening of '' INXS: Never Tear Us Apart'' mini-series, "Don't Change" charted again in Australia via download sales. It peaked at #92 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film & Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings deemed culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant and relevant for Australia. It was fo ...

collection. In January 2018, as part of

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Don't Change" was ranked number 28. In a retrospective review,

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described the song as "one of the best rock songs of the 1980s".

Music video

The music video, directed by Scott Hicks, was originally planned to be filmed on an airport runway, in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, but was cancelled due to bad weather and filming took place in a nearby airport hangar. Hutchence knew Hicks, and had performed on two songs included on the soundtrack of an earlier feature film directed by him, ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

''. The two tracks, "Speed Kills" and "Forest Theme", were written by Don Walker (

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...

). "Speed Kills" was Hutchence's first solo single and was released by

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

in early 1982.

Uses in media and other versions

"Don't Change" plays during the credits of the movie ''Adventureland'' and is featured on its soundtrack. The song has been covered by

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician. He serves as the co-founder, lead vocalist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers, which he formed with Dave Ke ...

, The Audreys,

The Bravery The Bravery is an American rock band formed in New York City in 2003. The band consists of lead vocalist Sam Endicott, guitarist Michael Zakarin, keyboardist John Conway, bassist Mike Hindert and drummer Anthony Burulcich. They are best know ...

, Everclear, Face to Face,

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986. After starting ...

Grinspoon Grinspoon are an Australian rock band from Lismore, New South Wales, which formed in 1995 by Pat Davern on guitar, Joe Hansen on bass guitar, Kristian Hopes on drums and frontman Phil Jamieson on vocals and guitar. Also in that year, Grinspoon ...

, AFI,

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

Lazlo Bane Lazlo Bane is an American alternative rock band from Santa Monica, California, United States. They are well known for collaborating with former Men at Work member Colin Hay, and providing the song "Superman" as the theme for the television show ...

and

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...

Track listing

7" single Track listing

Charts

References

External links

"Don't Change"
at

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{{Authority control 1982 songs 1982 singles INXS songs Warner Music Group singles Songs written by Michael Hutchence Songs written by Andrew Farriss Songs written by Jon Farriss Songs written by Tim Farriss Songs written by Garry Gary Beers Songs written by Kirk Pengilly Song recordings produced by Mark Opitz