This is from the official INXS web site:

"Directed by famed filmmaker Joel Schumacher in October 1987, and shot "in the trenches" of the infamous Balboa Island Arcade & Boardwalk in the Newport Beach area of Southern California, this little peep show is quite an eyeful. Consisting of bikers, twin bodybuilders, transvestites, king pins, a gypsy fortune teller and all manner of other 'bizarre peoples' (male and female) and, of course INXS, 'Devil Inside' cuts open the underbelly of a netherworld of '4am ying and yang' and everything in between!"

I must say that description of Balboa was pretty colorful. The bodybuilders, transvestites, king pins, fortune teller and "bizarre" people were all paid actors imported for the shoot.

I was approached by a location manager and asked if I would allow Playland to be used in the filming of the video. I asked details and was told they would need access from approximately 8 pm to 4 am the following morning. I could keep the arcade open to the public the entire time filming was going on. He told me I should invite anyone who might be interested in appearing in a music video, this one, as opposed to most film shoots, was intending to use regular people as unpaid extras and background.

I asked who the group was and was told INXS. I had never heard of them. I was given a tape of their most recent album, signed a contract, and it was set.

As I said, I had no idea who they were, I mostly listened to classic rock back then and I was totally unaware of the contemporary rock scene. I told a young friend of mine that a video was going to be shot at the arcade and she might like to attend. She asked who the group was and I told her I'd never heard of them before but they call themselves INXS. She literally nearly fainted. When she recovered she told me that she would sure be there! I asked a friend of mine who was a musician if he had heard of them and he informed me INXS was currently the most popular band in the world, and that he too would be there for the filming.

I was, by now, suitably impressed!

When the time came for the shoot I had arranged for one of my managers and one of my regular employees to work that night. I was interested in watching the filming I knew would be going on all over the Fun Zone and that would allow me to leave the arcade and go wherever I liked. I also knew how tedious film shoots get after a while, I've seen many, and wanted the option to leave if I got bored.

When the crew arrived it was the usual chaos of a location shoot. Lots of trucks with lighting equipment, generators, cameras, make-up trailers, crews laying cables, etc. Yep, they pretty much took over the Fun Zone. Not a problem, for me at least. The location manager had paid me very generously for the right to use my location for part of the shoot. I expect all the other people involved were equally well compensated.

Signs were posted all around the Fun Zone that stated something to the effect that the public was welcome to be present, participate, but they had to agree that their images could appear in the video without compensation. And lots of people did show up.

The shoot started in the Fun Zone proper, with members of the band on the carousel. It was the usual thing, the song was played loudly over speakers while the band lip-synced to the music. The scene was shot over and over, and when the director was satisfied the whole circus moved to the Balboa Saloon. Not a lot of us got in there, but my friends and I found a place inside. Same as before, lots of loud music and lip-syncing.

Next in line was shooting inside Playland. I watched and tried to stay out of the way. I wasn't really interested in being in the video, just curious to watch (and make sure they didn't break anything!) They then moved to the sidewalk in front of Playland. The snack stand can be clearly seen in the video. Then to the parking lot beside Playland (where your gallery is now located.) I think they then moved to Kent Maddy's Bay Arcade but I'm not sure. By then I was bored and I went home.

The first I heard of the video after that was when a friend of mine called me from Florida. He said "Hey, how'd your place end up in the INXS video?" I told him the story of the video shoot and I began watching MTV hoping to find the video. Sure enough, it became quite popular and was played often. Often enough that all I had to do to capture it was turn on my VCR and wait for it to be played.

Upon viewing, only someone really familiar with the Fun Zone and surrounding areas used in the video would recognize it as the location.

The video and song became very successful and the video was nominated for MTV's video of the year. I watched the awards that year and Devil Inside came in second, losing, ironically, to another INXS video from the same album.

Perhaps you should set up a portion of your site dedicated to films and videos shot wholly or partially in Balboa. We all know the original Cleopatra was shot in Newport, as were parts of the John Wayne epic 'Sands of Iwo Jima.' Two post-war films that used Balboa as a location were 'Lord Love a Duck' starring Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowell, (I was signed on as an extra for that one, was never used), they towed one of the whales from Newport Dunes and had Ms Weld pose on it if front of the Fun Zone beach, while there was still a beach there, and 'Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation' starring James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara. I know Balboa and Newport have been used as a location for many films and TV shows. Another TV show shot "near" Balboa was 'The Baileys of Balboa.' The location scenes were shot in what was then a vacant lot next door to the Balboa Yacht Club. It wasn't a great show but had a "sterling" cast. Paul Ford, Sterling Holloway, Les Brown Jr, Clint Howard, John Dehner and Judy Carne. I watched them film a few times before becoming terminally bored.

Could be interesting to find out what others remember.

Alan Sandoval