Finn Brothers

All Music Guide:

Neil Finn has consistently proven his knack for crafting high-quality songs that combine irresistible melodies with meticulous lyrical detail, from his beginnings as the precocious junior member of Split Enz, through his leadership of Crowded House, and, finally, in his distinguished solo career. He has also earned considerable international commercial success, respect from his peers, praise from critics, and a devoted fan base that hangs on his every release.

Born Neil Mullane Finn, on May 27, 1958, in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, Finn cut his musical teeth as a child by performing for family friends, harmonizing with elder brother Tim. Neil took to piano early on, learning his favorite Beatles tunes and eventually writing his own songs, the first of which was putting music to a poem enclosed in a Donovan album. In the early '70s, Finn intently studied emerging singer/songwriters like Elton John, Neil Young, David Bowie, and Cat Stevens, while watching his brother Tim's band, Split Enz, become a force in the Australian music scene. Neil secured a few supporting slots for the Enz as a solo act, mixing his own originals with some well-chosen covers, accompanying himself on piano, guitar, and mandolin. By 1976, he'd formed his own combo, the After Hours, with lyricist/drummer Mark Hough and guitarist Geoff Chunn. Hough departed shortly thereafter, and Alan Brown was recruited for bass duties. The group showed a great deal of promise, but came to a relatively quick end when Phil Judd left Split Enz and brother Tim offered the slot to Neil. Just before his 19th birthday, even though he'd never played electric guitar before, Neil joined Split Enz as lead guitarist.

Neil stayed in the background for the first two albums of his membership -- 1977's Dizrhythmia and 1978's Frenzy -- but emerged with the infectious "I Got You" for True Colours. The single was an immediate hit, saving the band from obscurity and, most likely, from imminent breakup. Split Enz enjoyed moderate international success for the next several years until disbanding in 1985. Neil formed an early version of Crowded House the same year, under a variety of names like the Mullanes and the Largest Living Things, with drummer Paul Hester and bassist Nick Seymour (another guitarist, Craig Hooper, was also in the earliest incarnation of the band). Over the next ten years, the combo eclipsed the success of Split Enz, finding both critical acclaim and massive commercial success internationally, including a number two single in the U.S., "Don't Dream It's Over." In 1996, at the height of their success, following a Finn Brothers side project, Neil decided to dissolve the band in favor of a solo career.

He spent most of 1997 writing music and painting in his New Zealand home studio. In 1998, he released his first solo album, the critically acclaimed Try Whistling This. That same year, he contributed a cover of "I Can See Clearly Now" to the animated feature Antz and, in mid-1999, he released the charity single, "Can You Hear Us?," a tribute to New Zealand's rugby team the All Blacks. He rounded out 1999 by mining the Crowded House vaults for a rarities release, Afterglow, and by participating in a Split Enz reunion/millennium concert in New Zealand. Finn wrapped up work on his second solo album in 2000. One Nil was released in March 2001. A live album, 7 Worlds Collide, was issued in February 2002 and a reworked version of One Nil (titled One All) was issued in the U.S. in May 2002. A second Finn Brothers album followed in 2004. Finn reactivated Crowded House, releasing Time on Earth in 2007 and Intriguer in 2010.

Wikipedia:

The Finn Brothers are a New Zealand Rock musical duo consisting of brothers Neil and Tim Finn. In June 1993 both members were awarded the OBE for their contribution to music.

The brothers started off making music together from a very young age, and Neil joined his big brother Tim in Split Enz at the age of eighteen. Both brothers have been involved in complicated music careers after Split Enz was disbanded in 1984. Neil started his own band, Crowded House and subsequently recorded two solo albums after Crowded House split in 1996. He reformed Crowded House in 2007 with a subsequent album and tour. Tim started a solo-career in 1983 before Split Enz disbanded and temporarily joined Crowded House for the Woodface album in 1991.

History

Woodface and Finn

Tim and Neil intended to start the Finn brothers project after a three week song writing spree in 1990. However most of the songs written during this time were deemed suitable for inclusion on a Crowded House album and they appeared on Woodface which was released in 1991 and led to Tim joining Crowded House. Many of the original demo recordings from these sessions were eventually released as b-sides on Finn Brothers singles. Tim left Crowded House while they were touring Europe in support of the Woodface album.

Tim and Neil reconvened with the Finn brothers project in 1995, and a lo-fi album simply called Finn was released. In the UK the duo changed both their name and the album name to Finn Brothers to avoid confusion with a band going under the moniker Fin. This title was kept for all future brothers collaborations, however re-releases of the original album in Australia and New Zealand still go by the original title Finn.

Everyone is Here

Their second album, Everyone Is Here was released in 2004. It was recorded twice, once in upstate New York with Bowie producer Tony Visconti, bassist Bones Hillman and Ross Burge on drums, then again six months later in Los Angeles with Crowded House producer Mitchell Froom and different session musicians. Some of the songs from the first recording session were kept as B sides and later appeared on a special edition of the album. The album featured the would be Split Enz song "Edible Flowers" for which a music video was filmed. The music video features two people in a donkey suit, however its wearers cannot be seen. In the 2005 tour, Neil and Tim Finn wore a donkey suit onto stage for many performances also.

Following the Boxing Day Tsunami, The Finn Brothers appeared at the Wave Aid fundraising concert in Sydney to help raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster affected areas. As well as their own material, they performed a cover of Hunters and Collectors' "Throw Your Arms Around Me."

Television

Their song, Anything Can Happen was used in the first episode of Scrubs' fifth season, My Intern's Eyes. The song was used when we first meet Keith Dudemeister (albeit through his eyes) as he walks into his first day at Sacred Heart.

This song was also used on the final session of the last day of the 2005 England vs. Australia Ashes cricket series on Channel 4 Television, at the end of the last day of cricket being shown on British terrestrial television.

The song Anything Can Happen was also featured in the movie Aurora Borealis

Their song "Luckiest Man Alive" was played during the closing credits of the television broadcast of the 2005 Indianapolis 500.