Here's a story - if it's even close to true. There are strong web-based rumours that INXS are chasing former Baby Animals lead singer, Suze DeMarchi.
The brilliant DeMarchi, arguably Australia's finest ever female rock vocalist and leader of one of the country's greatest-ever rock bands, would a massive acquisition for INXS: her profile and fanbase - despite a lengthy absence broken only by the release of a solo album a couple of years ago - is still sufficient to draw renewed interest to the veteran band which has struggled since the tragic death of lead singer Michael Hutchence (and the subsequent stream of Hutchence family problems and the recent death of Paula Yates, his soul mate and mother of their surviving daughter Tiger Lily).
Several music websites are reporting that the remaining band members are talking to DeMarchi about joining - whether in a guest capacity (as Terence Trent D'Arby and former Noiseworks lead singer Jon Stevens have over the past year or so) or as a permanent member is uncertain, although the latter is probably more likely, given the relative age of the band and their accumulated wealth.
If she joins, DeMarchi would be the first female vocalist to front INXS.
Speaking recently to NME.COM, guitarist Tim Farriss said he had mixed feelings about playing live without Hutchence, but the band planned to continue because they had "climbed too many mountains" to "just give it away".
"There were a lot of fans who were mega Michael Hutchence fans and that's understandable, because so am I, there's no doubt about that.," Farriss said. "But at the end of the day, he's not here and we are and we have to get on with our lives.
"He was just one section of the band, while we miss him more than anyone else would, apart from Tiger and Paula, I think the best way we can honour his memory is go ahead and do the right thing and continue making music."
DeMarchi led the Baby Animals to the top of the charts in 1991 with their debut self-titled album which - on the back of a string of hits including Rush You, One Word, Early Warning and Painless - went on to become the biggest Australian debut album of all-time with sales of more than 400,000 in Australia alone. That record stood until it was broken by Savage Garden's debut album.
Their second album, the Ed Stasium-produced Shaved and Dangerous, failed to live up to the debut but it also contained many songs the band didn't want on it and a production they Suze later defined as unsatisfactory. Subsequently, they were caught up in a lengthy legal wrangle with their management and by the time it was resolved in the late Nineties the band had split.
DeMarchi's solo album, Telelove, marked a change of pace from the full-on rock and shimmering pop of the Baby Animals: a fine songwriter DeMarchi experimented with her sound becoming a lot more electronic and sales were only moderate.
Married to former Extreme guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt, and the proud mother of a gorgeous young daughter, DeMarchi remains the quintessential Australian rock woman: a stunning lethal cocktail of sex, attitude and aggression capped by a marvellous voice. Live, she and the Baby Animals were a brilliant blast of energy, power and subtle contrast.
Certainly, it's always seemed (personally) that enlisting a female vocalist was the obvious way for INXS sans Hutchence to go forward. And there's little doubt DeMarchi would be a big asset and attraction.
That's Entertainment's initial enquiries suggest the rumours began after DeMarchi appeared as a guest on an INXS show - featuring Stevens in as lead singer - over the New Year.
Her record company, FMR, also knew nothing about her joining INXS, however, it hadn't been in contact with her for a while.
