Crowded House - Woodface
Listen to full episode:
On this episode, we discuss Woodface, the critically acclaimed 1991album by Crowed House. Crowded House rose from the ashes of New Zealand progressive rock/new wavers Split Enz, a band that by the end of their career saw founding member Tim Finn supplanted by his younger brother Neil as the main songwriter and lead singer The transition from one brother to the other saw Split Enz releasing much more accessible (and as a result, commercial) music as the band began to reflect more of brother Neil’s pop sensibilities. When Split Enz called it a day, Neil decided to form a new band with the final Split Enz drummer Paul Hester that would truly be his band. Joined by bassist Nick Seymour, Crowded House debuted in 1986 with an album full of pristine pop hooks that went to number 1 in their home country of Australia and hit number 13 in the US.
Woodface was Crowded House’s third album. It was also a Split Enz reunion of sorts, in that Tim Finn joined the band for this outing, co-writing many of the songs, playing piano and guitar, and singing harmony vocals and lead vocals on one track. The result of this partnership speaks for itself. Woodface is a spectacularly produced album, full of infectious tunes, stellar musicianship, and some of the best harmony vocals any band at the time had to offer.
THINGS WE DISCUSSED ON THIS EPISODE
The Finn Brothers.
Here is a very young Neil, and a very hairy Tim performing together.
Watch Split Ends (notice the spelling) perform “New Faces” for their first TV appearance. The footage was shot by Tim Finn’s father Dick Finn pointing his Super 8 movie camera directly at the TV. This footage moment was immensely inspirational to a young Neil.
The original Split Enz lineup in all its bizarre finery. (L-R) Phil Judd, Malcolm Green, Tim Finn, Mike Chunn, Robert Gillies, Eddie Rayner, and Noel Crombie.
Here’s a very surreal video for “Sweet Dreams” from Split Enz second album Second Thoughts.
Tim’s younger brother, Neil replaced Phil Judd for Split Enz third LP Dizrythmia. Judd left after their second LP.
That’s Neil 3rd from the right.
Watch the video for “Bold as Brass” off of Dizrythmia. The band sound started moving towards a more new wave sound at this time.
The self-titled debut by Crowded House was a huge hit. Here’s the video for the fantastic “Something So Strong” off of the album.
Here’s Crowded House performing “Sister Madly” from their 2nd LP, Temple of Low Men on Late Night with David Letterman.
DO yourself a favor and watch this absolutely fantastic live performance of the four-pieceWoodface-era Crowded House on MTV Unplugged in 1990. This marks the first time Neil and Tim Finn, have appeared together on U.S. television since the break-up of Split Enz.
Neil Finn joined Fleetwood Mac in 2018. Here is Neil and Stevie Nicks performing “Don’t Dream Its Over” and “Landslide.”
