Crowded House

[Dave78]

I like Crowded House for their radio hits, but haven't heard any one album of theirs.

Same goes for Split Enz, though I really like this biggie hit of theirs that hasn' been mentioned yet:

 

[LG]

I recognized that one on the first note Dave78...

 

[CP/M User]

You know if you want to stick Split Enz songs in a Crowded House thread - I'm going to start talking about how Split Enz are a far greater group than Crowded House. Oh Sure Crowded House were perhaps more successful and popular worldwide, though personally to me they only had one or two great songs. Split Enz were better in that they did everything and anything, a couple of their songs are really Bizarre (e.g. "Mental Notes") and others absolute crackers from their early days with Phil Judd (e.g. Maybe, Matinee Idyll (129), Titus, Sweet Dreams). Neil Finn arrived in 1977 for the Dizrythmia replacing Phil Judd - which went into another band which had a hit song (can't think of the band or the song - it was around the early 80s I think this hit came though). Split Enz seemed to do better with Neil Finn on board cause that was when the bulk of their hits came from. I read somewhere that Split Enz were in a significant amount of debt until the early 80s because the group was spending lots of money on fashion as well as travelling - their second album "Second Thoughts" in 1976 which has the band all in makeup and costume:

And the album was recorded in the UK! I don't think it was until they had a few hits under their sleeve and their huge hit in "I Got You" in 1981 which brought the group out of the red and into the black. But what puzzles me is how did the group keep on going for so long - those boys must of had a second job! Split Enz actually had quite a few members in it's life - 13 in all, and perhaps the only reason I prefer Split Enz over Crowded House is mainly because I got into their music just when they were about to call it a day. So I have good childhood memories of "Years Go By" and "I Walk Away" which were on their last album in 1984. Their later songs with Neil more at the helm are perhaps more in the trait of Crowded House - dropping some of the silliness and wackiness out and doing songs like "I Got You", "Message To My Girl","Six Months In a Leaky Boat", "I Hope I Never". The Music of Split Enz has also been subjected to Orchestration with a classical backing with performers who were from the Split Enz band and others performing it to good effect and releasing albums "EnzSo" and "EnzSo2" albums which I reckon makes for great listening. Not Sure you could take a Crowded House song and do the same thing - I guess only time will tell! But it's interesting listening to a song with a chaotic sound to it in Orchestration - I couldn't imagine it being easy either!

 

[LG]

Very nice post CP/M, I hope Feldy appreciates the love for Split Enz.(I don't see a problem they are linked historically).

I didn't know they were in debt for that long, and for clothes and make-up that is rather funny to me...

Oh and back to Crowded House, Feldy I have the debut album now...I'll squeeze it in sometime over the next couple of days and get back to you, thanks for the recommendation.

 

[CP/M User]

Lord Grendel wrote:

Very nice post CP/M, I hope Feldy appreciates the love for Split Enz.(I don't see a problem they are linked historically).

I didn't know they were in debt for that long, and for clothes and make-up that is rather funny to me...

Well I'm not sure I thought that was what I heard mainly because they only had minor hits in the 70s, "I See Red" and "My Mistake" are perhaps their more famous songs from the 70s. Incidentally I forgot to mention that Split Enz formed in 1972 and were initially called Split Ends - the name change came in 1974 after some of the original members left and some replacements came on board. From what I can gather their debt was building up around 1978 - from a lot of touring, though my book suggests that the first time the band was out of Debt was after the single "I Hope I Never" came out in 1980. But between 1978 & 1980 the band were without a manager & record deal even though they managed to make an album and singles. True Colours was their real breakthrough though in 1980. But what suprised me was Split Enz made "Second Thoughts", "Dizrythmia" & "Frenzy" in the UK!

 

[TheFeldster]

Very nice Split Enz essay there CP/M

As LG said, I don't mind any of the other Finn brothers work in this thread, it's all linked anyway

And, LG, wow, that was quick. I'm pleasantly surprised that Crowded House are so accessible at your end of the world

 

[CP/M User]

Okay in that case here's some Split Enz Songs which have been given the EnzSo treatment with some interviews!







Don't know why Neil Finn was so concerned about doing the project cause at that point of time cause Orchestration and Rock had been well used. I guess what sets the EnzSo album differently is the fact it's Split Enz songs, but with a strong Orchestration. Other Rock bands - Deep Purple, The Moody Blues, Jimmy Webb used Rock elements with Orchestration, which in the case of EnzSo, it doesn't. Strange though how Neil Finn just lost it at the end of "Stuff N' Nonsense" and pulled the pin. Obviously though the Album goes with that Big Ending that Neil was so concerned about cause to him it was just a simple song written in no time! Though personally for myself I enjoyed the ending!

 

[LG]

Very nice Split Enz essay there CP/M

As LG said, I don't mind any of the other Finn brothers work in this thread, it's all linked anyway

And, LG, wow, that was quick. I'm pleasantly surprised that Crowded House are so accessible at your end of the world

I saw almost every album by both Crowded House and Split Enz Feldy, but I figured I would just start with the one you rec'd.

 

[TheFeldster]

Just a massive bump here to say that if any Aussies stumble across this thread in the next hour or so (or less if you're in the Eastern states), Crowded House will be performing some brand new songs on that staple of Wednesday night television, Hey Hey It's Saturday tonight

For those that can't access "Hey Hey" due to being in the wrong timezone (or are just lazy Aussies ), I'll go hunting for videos of their performance after I watch the program

 

[Astrid Kirchherr65]

WOW a blast from my past !

thanks for this

Going to sift through these videos now lol !

Love these guys !


And I'm going to show the' Message To My Girl ' video to my boy /who starts playing flute in the middle school band next fall/good encouragement for him;re rock music/classical blend !

He wants to rock lol...