My son came home from school yesterday (age 9) and told me he had to do an assignment on a “great” Australian who had passed. Most of the other kids were doing Ned Kelly and Slim Dusty, Don Bradman etc. I suggested to him he did Michael Hutchence. Of course he wanted to know who he was and what he did. So I got out an INXS CD and pulled some info up from the internet. He was most interested in Michael's life story and his achievements and loved the music. Of course he had heard quite a few of the tracks before but didn't know who they were. Today music artists come and go so quickly and very few have the staying power to last over 2 decades. I want all three of my boys to grow up appreciating bands like INXS, U2 and even AC/DC (their fathers fav!) All three have an interest in music - Tom is learning acoustic guitar at the moment with me and so he appreciates what it takes to produce and write great music. It is nice to think that my son's generation could take the time to understand and appreciate someone who we took for granted as we grew up listening to bands like INXS. He particularily felt compassion for Michael's daughter as she is only marginly older than him. He found it hard to believe that someone like Michael wasn't old (his words!)We are both keen to finish this assignment for his school and I hope by doing do other kids in his class open their eyes up to what I would call “A great Australian”.