We salute Neil Mullane Finn, one of the pop world's great songwriters, who turns 65 today.
He was born in Te Awamutu, on the north island of New Zealand, on 27 May 1958. He grew up in a devout Irish-Catholic household (his mother, Mary, had moved from Ireland at the age of two), hero worshipping his older brother, Tim. He learned guitar and piano to be like Tim, and when Tim went off to boarding school, when Neil was 8, he started to use Tim's guitar. There were regular performances at his parents' legendary parties, where a young Neil would play such classics as Terry by Twinkle. He considers Ella Fitzgerald to be "probably my favourite singer ever" - someone he would have heard a lot in the house as a child. When Tim played Lara's Theme from Dr Zhivago, Neil figured out how to play it on the piano.
He performed throughout his school years, being heavily influenced by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but also later on by the likes of Bowie and Roxy Music. In 1976, he formed a band with Mike Hough and Geoff Chunn, called After Hours.
And In The Enz...
Not too long after they made their debut, he was invited to join Tim's band, Split Enz, in London (the Enz had been formed in 1972), who had just signed with Chrysalis records. And on 7 April 1977, an 18 year old Neil Finn arrived in the UK and became a professional musician.
Split Enz' third album, Dizrythmia, was recorded in June and July 1977, and on release reached number 18 in Australia, which wasn't enough for the band to avoid being cut by the label. The band were now struggling to survive, and it was only a welcome grant of £5,000 from back home, that kept their heads above water and allowed them to carry on.
Split Enz: Give It A Whirl - https://youtu.be/IQuRnQK7BcM
Give It A Whirl, from the fourth album Frenzy, was distinctive for several reasons - firstly it failed chart - but it was the first song written by one Neil Finn. It might have been a slow start, but it didn't foretell what was to come.
In 1980, True Colours came out. It was to be Split Enz most successful moment and provided the canvas for Neil to come to the fore as a songwriter. Mushroom Records didn't think that there was an obvious hit on the album. The Neil penned, I Got You, reached number one in Australia and New Zealand, 12 in the UK and 53 in the US! It is simply one of the best pop songs ever written - a simple, hook-laden ear worm, if ever there was one.
Split Enz: I Got You (live at the MCG) - https://youtu.be/lM2vIzqN928
The follow up was called Corroboree in Australasia, and Waiata everywhere else. That one contained even more classic Neil Finn pop, with One Step Ahead and History Never Repeats both storming into the Australian top five (the latter also just lurking outside the UK Top40). By the time See Ya Round came out in '84, Tim had already left, and the album, which turned out to be the last, was dominated by Neil's writing.
Entering the House
Finn's next project was initially called The Mullanes, after his middle name (and mother's maiden name). It included drummer Paul Hester, who had been in the last incarnation of the Enz, along with Nick Seymour on bass and second guitarist, Craig Hooper. Their first performance came in June of 1985 and with Finn's reputation, the band were soon signed to Capitol. They flew out to Los Angeles, minus Hooper who had left, and recorded their debut album with Mitchell Froom. The record company wanted a name change, and so taking inspiration from their cramped LA accommodation, Crowded House was born, along with an eponymously titled album.
Crowded House the record, came out in August 1986, but was given little promotion by Capitol. Single, Mean To Me, got to number 12 back in Australia and started to get some radio play in the US. Then came their defining moment - Don't Dream It's Over soared to second spot in the US (and top spot in Canada) - somewhat bizarrely, New Zealand radio didn't play it much until it became an international hit. The album made it all the way to 12 in the US charts.
Crowded House: Don't Dream It's Over (Glastonbury 22) - https://youtu.be/bXzis29vA6k
The follow up album is where I became interested in the story, hearing Better Be Home Soon on the radio in the UK, and buying the album as a result. Temple Of Low Men is a fantastic album, but was perhaps a bit more muted and low key than the first. It still made it to the top in Australia, and second in New Zealand, but only just scraped into the US Top 40.
After that tour had finished, Finn started doing some bits of recording with older brother Tim, although the results would end up differently than originally expected. When Finn's next set of Crowded House demos were mostly rejected by the label, he turned to Tim and the songs they had been working on. Tim joked that he could use them, if he could join the band - and he was in!
Woodface is the record that got them the recognition they deserved in the UK, but conversely struggled in the US. Released in July 1991, it went Top 10 in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, but only number 83 in the US. The third single from the record, Weather With You, was the UK smash of the late summer, and at number 7, marked their highest chart position there. Tim left during the UK leg of the tour.
Crowded House: Weather With You - https://youtu.be/ag8XcMG1EX4
On the beach
June 1993 saw both brothers receive the OBE for contributions to the music of New Zealand. By now, the band were working on album four - at a house by Karekare beach on the north island, with producer Youth (from Killing Joke). The result was an atmospheric and beautiful record, Together Alone, that kept momentum going in the UK, with singles like Locked Out and Distant Sun. But things took a turn for the worse, during the US tour, as Hester's mental health saw him missing home too much - and he quit midway through, being replaced by Peter Jones.
Neil also recorded several excellent albums with brother Tim, 1995's Finn and 2004's Everyone Is Here. The video quality is not great, but here is a lovely rendition of one of those tunes.
Finn Brothers: Only Talking Sense (Later With Jools) - https://youtu.be/MWXfdXMb-uU
When the band lined up in 1996 to announce their greatest hits album, Recurring Dream, it came with a twist - they were splitting up! They played a few select dates to celebrate the album launch and as a finale, but then felt bad that they'd done nothing much back in Australia. So, in November 1996 they walked out on stage in front of Sydney Opera House for their Farewell To The World - with Hester back behind the kit one more time. It was a free entry benefit concert for the Randwick Children's Hospital. An official headcount has never been made, but the low estimate was that it was a crowd of at least 120,000 (and quite possibly closer to 200,000).
Crowded House: Better Be Home Soon - https://youtu.be/hpc5Tb7QdKU
Going solo
After a brief pause, Finn embarked on solo projects, beginning with 1998s Try Whistling This, which continued his Crowded House success in the usual markets (number one in Australia and NZ, 5 in the UK). Single She Will Have Her Way got him into the UK Top 30.
Second solo effort, One Nil, included contributions from Sheryl Crowe and also Wendy (Melvoin) and Lisa (Coleman), who were both famously a part of Prince's backing band, The Revolution.
Neil Finn & Friends: Driving Me Mad - https://youtu.be/RVoNbOJpIYU
Back in the House
Nick Seymour came in to work on Neil's next studio album in 2006, but it ended up morphing into a new Crowded House record. It was a year since Hester had been found dead in a Melbourne park - with Finn later saying, "When we lost Paul it was like someone pulled the rug out from underneath everything, a terrible jolt out of the dark blue. He was the best drummer I had ever played with and for many years, my closest friend."
The reformation was made official the following January, and in February Matt Sherrod, who had worked with Beck, became the next Crowded House drummer. Time On Earth, came out later in 2007, hitting the top in New Zealand and making the Top 3 in Australia and the UK.
Two years later the band were back in Neil's Roundhouse Studio in Auckland, working on album six, Intriguer, which came out in in June 2010. After that, they went on an indefinite hiatus.
Crowded House: Amsterdam - https://youtu.be/qd0nA2F5NRo
In 2011, Neil and wife Sharon, suffering from empty nest syndrome (with sons Liam and Elroy now out of the house), teamed up on a different project - Pajama Club - with Sharon on bass duties. There were two more solo albums - 2014's Dizzy Heights and 2017's Out Of Silence; with Sharon and the boys backing him on the first, and Tim also joining for the latter. There was also time, in 2018, to roll out another family based album, Lightsleeper was a Neil and Liam record.
Neil Finn: More Than One Of You - https://youtu.be/1jdyTtCy-zg
Getting the band back together
2018 saw a surprise change of direction for Finn, with him getting the call, along with ex-Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, to join up with Fleetwood Mac for their world tour, after the somewhat heated departure of Lindsey Buckingham.
Then, the Crowded House hiatus ended in 2019, with an announcement that the band was getting back together with some new music. Former fourth member, Mark Hart, was not to be involved, and Finn and Seymour were to be joined by Liam and Elroy Finn, along with former Crowdies producer Mitchell Froom.
Crowded House: To The Island - https://youtu.be/-HGjvQxGxNQ
Finn told Forbes, "I found a sense of occasion looming. And also a realisation that there was this amazing line-up that was super connected to Crowded House from birth, in some cases.... And coming back off the Fleetwood Mac tour, I think I had a new appreciation for the way that classic bands can reinvent and reimagine themselves."
He went on to say, when reflecting back on the older songs in the catalogue, "I feel my voice is stronger than it was when I was in my 20s, which I'm very grateful for. They've [Liam, Elroy and Mitchell] brought back some of these nice little ideas, arrangement ideas, that were just delightful on stage."
And so, amidst a global pandemic, Whatever You Want became the first Crowded House single in a decade, and the album, Dreamers Are Waiting came out in June 2021. The world tour took some hesitant, Covid impacted steps, and continues as I write this - with the North American leg finally underway after a few delays.
Neil on his lyrics
In the Forbes interview, Neil talked about his lyrics and the writing process.
"Well, I've learnt over the years to trust that process because it does seem to spark transformative moments for people that do get my music and people that often connect with lines that weren't consciously created."
When asked what his own personal favourite written song was, he said, "Across The Universe [The Beatles] maybe."
Others on Neil
Neil Finn's influence on other musicians is huge. You only have to look at the line up of fans he pulled together for his Seven Worlds Collide concerts in 2001 - that band included top session bassist Sebastian Steinberg, singer-songwriter Lisa Germano, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway from Radiohead and did I mention, Johnny 'flippin' Marr! Oh, and Eddie Vedder was there too....
Neil Finn & Friends: History Never Repeats
(Eddie Vedder singing, Liam's Betchadoopa backing) - https://youtu.be/dOolANjV-0k
But there are others out there who also have a lot of time for Finn - some more surprising than others. Noel and Liam Gallagher have both been seen at Finn related gigs over the years. Matchbox 20 often covered Better Be Home Soon when on tour in Australia and NEw Zealand, with Rob Thomas noting on one occasion, "thank you guys for giving us Neil Finn."
Then there is hair metal legend, Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), who said, "I know Neil and know Tim, and I told them that I really dug their music and they were pretty surprised." Meanwhile, none other than Bono said in one interview, "I think it's fair to say that Crowded House changed the landscape of songwriting. This guy is, you know ,a genius who walks amongst us and we doff our hat to him."
But perhaps we'll leave the last word to Simon Neil of Scottish alt-rockers Biffy Clyro, who were on the Isle Of Wight Festival bill with Crowded House in 2010.
"Crowded House are one of our favourite bands. They're not cool but they wrote some of the best songs in the world. We used to actually always sing Crowded House to warm up before going on stage. They have a special place in our hearts, so we're looking forward to seeing them."
Neil Finn is undoubtedly in the top echelon of songwriters - and deserves to be in the same breath as a McCartney, Ray Davies or Elton John. He is also an incredible musician. The work he has done across these various bands and solo projects has covered so much ground, and he is always exploring new genres, but never loses the touch of melody and restraint.
One of my all-time favourites!
Happy 65th Birthday Neil!!
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