High Above The Kitchen: A Bit About Neil Finn (part 1)

jamesgeraghty
5 minutes ago
8 min read

I had considered some sort of even more long-winded and pretentious title for the article, including making some reference to his undoubted musical genius, but luckily opted against that route.

Neil Finn has fully been a part of my life since 1988, when I first fell in love with the second Crowded House album, Temple of Low Men. I had heard one or two tracks on the radio and then seen a bit of an interview with them on some long forgotten Channel 4 show or other. I was hooked.

His songwriting is almost second to none, and he is the envy of many of his musical peers (and quite a few in the generations before and since) - with his ability to combine the depth of his impressionistic lyrics, with an ear for a gorgeous melody line and pop hook - but also not afraid to occasionally experiment with a random change in direction. The fact that he has managed to find a home for that skill in not one, but two, bands, not to mention a full solo career, many collaborations, and make celebrated and successful records in all of those guises, is testament to that skill.

I figure, before I even really start on my research for this, that there will be way too much information for one article, so for now we will call this part one and focus on his early years through to the formation of Crowded House.

Oh, and you may be wondering why the kitchen reference too. Well, Neil Finn has used kitchens as a reference point for the mundanity of daily domesticity, and the word crops up on songs on at least the first three Crowded House records:

World Where You Live (Crowded House): “Looking for wide open spaces high above the kitchen.”
I Feel Possessed (Temple of Low Men): “I could feel you underneath my skin, as the wind rushed in, sent the kitchen table crashing.”
Weather With You (Woodface): “Things ain’t cooking in my kitchen, strange affliction wash over me.”

The Sound of Te Awamutu

Neil Mullane Finn was born in May 1958 in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, the youngest of four born to his Irish mother (Mary) and his WWII veteran father (Dick). There was a strong backbone of Catholicism in the family thanks to Mary, an encouragement to play sports and always plenty of music.

In fact, he was singing at family gatherings all the time, with older brother Tim - a relationship that would bear much fruit over the coming decades. It was his admiration for Tim that led him to start learning guitar and piano, so that he could be more like him.

Having already been playing home shows, and later doing performances in places like local prisons and hospitals, at aged 18, Finn formed a group called After Hours, who debuted briefly in 1976 when they debuted . But it wasn’t long before Tim was on the phone to him from London. Time had helped form Split Enz back in 1972, pulling together as many art school themes as they could, and they were starting to forge a name for themselves. But, as with any antipodean band of the era, if they really wanted to consider success they had to relocate to London.

After Hours: St Theresa (demo made in Auckland before he left to join the Enz)

The Enz were there, but another founding member, and singer-songwriter, Phil Judd, had decided to leave. So, in 1977 they were in need of a replacement - and Tim Finn knew just the young man; hence the call to his younger brother.

Means to an Enz

By the time Neil joined the crew, Split Enz (initially Split Ends) was already five years and two albums in. Tim Finn and Judd, the two songwriters, had formed the band, initially being complemented by Mike Chunn, Miles Golding and Mike Howard. They took their folksy chamber pop onto the tv show New Faces, but were soon voted out for apparently being “too clever”. But with the addition of keyboard player Eddie Rayner (lots more to come on him) and the change from Ends to Enz (itself making a nice little NZ - New Zealand reference), momentum started to build. There were various line-up changes, with Noel Crombie’s admission as percussionist and ‘visual director’ being another big step, as he would be key to their legendary look over the coming years.

Split Enz: Late Last Night (official video of one of their pre-Neil era singles)

The move to London had happened in 1976 after first record Mental Notes had made some ripples down under. Second LP, Second Thoughts, was suitably going to be produced by another art-rock connection, with Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera taking the reins. But by the time they were ready to work on album three, Judd and Mike Chunn had gone.

So, in flew 19 year old Neil to help pull together third record Dizrythmia, with the band this time getting to work with one time Beatles engineer, Geoff Emerick. Finn would tell John Aizlewood in Mojo later of the move; “I called my parents and, bless them, they let me go. I had my passport in three days, flew over and went straight into rehearsals in Chalk Farm [London]. It was a shot in the dark for them too. I could sing and probably write, but I couldn’t play electric guitar. I jumped around on-stage to compensate, but I was pretty hopeless for the first six months.”

Split Enz: Bold As Brass (official video - second single including Neil - you can hear the poppy shift they were making)

While there were no big hits, the album did see them start to throw in some more poppy sounds. But it wasn’t enough; they were dropped by Chrysalis and had no agent or manager, and it was only a $5k grant from the New Zealand Arts Council that kept them afloat a bit longer.

I See Red, a single which cemented their drift to a new pop/rock sound, got a release and made the NZ Top 20. Returning home for Christmas 1978, things were something of a rollercoaster. They lost their equipment in a suspicious fire at a rehearsal space, before (with borrowed gear) they blew everyone away in early 1979, at the Nambassa Festival, a hippy festival held in New Zealand in the late 70s.

The Frenzy album got them signed to A&M Records and then things really took off. On that sits one of his early fan faves, Give It A Whirl, a song which Neil had written the music for (on an acoustic guitar at 3am in the Chorleywood home the band were living during their time in the UK), while Tim provided many of the lyrics.

Split Enz: Give It A Whirl (live in Australia, 2006 - one of Neil's first co- write's and co-lead vocals)

1980s True Colours is the record where Neil Finn (21 at time of writing / recording, and 22 at release) really came to the fore. He had sole writing credits on three of the record's eleven songs, and a co-write on The Choral Sea instrumental at the album's close. But it is the single I Got You that really announced him to the world.

He would later recall, “I think Tim came up with the title. We were sitting around in Rose Bay, Sydney, writing and I remember thinking the chorus was kind of weak. But when we rehearsed it, it felt really good straight away.” Good enough that it topped the Aussie charts for eight weeks, hit the top back in NZ, was Top 20 in the UK and not too far from the US Top 40. If you don’t like this song, just bear in mind that one reviewer (in Roadrunner magazine) said the song “positively drips with appeal that only philistines could fail to appreciate.”

Split Enz in 1978, with Tim 2nd left and Neil 3rd from right. Photo: Neil Finn website

There were two periods of his young life where it started to occur to him that he could actually write songs. The first came as a fifteen year old, when he had the opportunity to open for Split Enz during some New Zealand shows - he did a few songs solo which were well received, “and I thought, ‘Yeah, these are pretty good pieces of music’.” But it was of course, I Got You, and its big reception when he knew “there’s something a bit magical going on and that means other people really get it.”

Split Enz: I Got You (live at the MCG, 2009 - oh my, what a song!)

1982’s Time and Tide included a moment of controversy. While Tim’s Six Months In A Leaky Boat was later voted as the fifth best New Zealand song of all time, when it came out in May 82, people in the UK thought it was a criticism of the Falklands War that had not long started (it was written before the war had started, so that was untrue). Elsewhere on the record, Neil’s contribution was up again, being involved in writing (solely or jointly) seven of the twelve tracks, including another fan favourite in Take A Walk.

Following 1983's Conflicting Emotions, Tim decided, in spring 1984, that his time in the Enz was done. His debut solo record, Escapade, had fared well and he fancied his chances on his own. So now, with none of those original 1972 Ends members left, Neil took over the role of band leader, which consisted of one last record (See Ya Round) and tour. By the end of that year, it was done (the final show was in Auckland on 6 December 1984) and Neil was in need of a new project…

Split Enz: I Walk Away (live in Auckland, 1984 - would become one of my favourite Crowdies songs, but first showed up on See Ya Round)

Mullane it over

The Mullanes (Hooper and Finn) on stage at The Tivoli in Sydney (1985). Photo: Sue Johnson-Ham

He put together The Mullanes (his middle name, and his mother’s maiden name) with the Australian pairing of final Enz drummer Paul Hester and bass player Nick Seymour, who Neil had met on the last Enz tour (and who also had an influential older brother in Mark Seymour of Hunters & Collectors). They were joined by second guitarist, Craig Hooper formerly of The Reels.

It had started out with Finn and Hester pulling together some demos, 34 to be precise, and handing them out to prospective bass players. Seymour grabbed their attention, “because he threw out a different style of playing.”

The Mullanes: Now We're Getting Somewhere (audio only - proto- Crowded House live in Sydney, 1985)

The Legacy (Part One):

And it's not just me who will wax lyrical over him, there are so many fellow musicians who think Neil Finn is the real deal as a top songwriter, that I am going to share them with you spread over this and the subsequent piece that will follow at some point.

Eddie Vedder, the singer and main lyricist of grunge heroes Pearl Jam considers Finn to be songwriting royalty. They have become good friends over the last few decades, built around mutual admiration, and have shared a stage on many occasions. He called Finn’s work a “positive force" and will often recall how Split Enz were a key part of the soundtrack of his teenage years.

Neil Finn & Eddie Vedder: Throw Your Arms Around Me (2014 live version of the Hunters & Collectors song that both Crowded House and Pearl Jam have included in live sets)

Ed O’Brien, the Radiohead guitarist, who has also played with Finn a few times, believes him to be “popular music’s most prolific writer of great songs.” He would refer to Crowded House as being the Beatles of New Zealand pop. Radiohead's drummer Phil Selway is also a big fan, and also gives much gratitude to Finn for giving him the confidence to launch his solo career.

Smiths legend Johnny Marr is another huge fan of Finn’s work, and frequent collaborator with him. He once referred to his “God given gift for melody” - this was something that Elvis Costello agreed with; they were once stood together, watching him soundcheck at the Concert for Linda in 1999, and Elvis apparently lent in and said to Marr, “imagine being that good”. They have played together and recorded together numerous times over the last 25 years, with Marr contributing to several songs on Time On Earth, and appearing on stage together in venues from London to Auckland.