Tim Finn

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Tim Finn
With Split Enz in 1979
With Split Enz in 1979
Background information
Birth name Brian Timothy Finn
Born June 25, 1952 (1952-06-25) (age 55)
Origin New Zealand
Genre(s) Pop, New Wave, Progressive Rock
Years active 1972-present

Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn OBE (born June 25, 1952) is a New Zealand born singer and songwriter. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in Crowded House and his joint effort with younger brother Neil Finn as the Finn Brothers.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Tim Finn was born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, Finn went to Sacred Heart College, Auckland, a Catholic boarding school, on a scholarship. In 1971 he went on to study Philosophy and Politics for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Auckland University. The music practice room 129 (later featured in one of the Split Enz hits) appealed to him, where he jammed with friends Mike Chunn, Robert Gillies, Philip Judd and Noel Crombie. Music soon became more important to Brian than his studies and in mid-1972 he quit university. A few months later, Phil and Tim (beginning to use his middle name as a stage name) formed a group called Split Ends (renamed Split Enz on the first trip to Australia a year later). The music style is best described as eclectic and wildly original, incorporating influences from art rock, vaudeville, swing, punk, rock and pop. Between 1972 and 1977 Tim shared leader duties with Judd; when Judd left the band for good, Tim's younger brother Neil Finn joined.

Tim recorded his debut solo album, Escapade, in 1983. This met with huge commercial success both in Australia and New Zealand. His success and his love affair with renowned actress Greta Scacchi, whom he had met on the set of independent film The Coca-Cola Kid, made him take the decision to leave Split Enz permanently for a solo career in June 1984. In early 1985, Tim moved to London and released the second album Big Canoe which failed to repeat the success of its predecessor. During his affair with Scacchi, Tim focussed on scoring films, and had a number of roles in a few of the movies he scored or that Scacchi would star in. Though his role in The Coca-Cola Kid was about five minutes long, he did score a larger role in the movie La Donna della Luna (The Moon Woman). Other than that he would be in the background or in quick “blink & you miss him” roles.

In late 1989, he was back living in Melbourne recording his eponymous third album, Tim Finn, for Capitol Records. In early 1990, he reconciled with his younger brother Neil to collaborate on a Finn Brothers record. Instead, Tim became a member of Crowded House, the group Neil had formed after Split Enz and appears on that band's third album Woodface. They later realised that Crowded House was not built to support two leading personalities and parted ways by mutual agreement and Tim continued with his solo career. Following the successful third album by Crowded House, Woodface, Tim's only album with the group, both Tim and Neil Finn were made OBE for services to New Zealand music in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Finn in Dublin, 2007
Finn in Dublin, 2007

The collaborative effort was repeated in 1995, and a low key album entitled Finn was released as a Finn Brothers release instead of a Crowded House release. In support of this album, the brothers toured Europe, Australia and the USA. Also in 1995, Finn collaborated with singers Andy White and Liam Ó Maonlaí, forming the band ALT (the name being the initial letters of their names). ALT toured in the UK and Australia and released the album Altitude.

June 5, 2000 was proclaimed “Tim Finn Day” by the mayor of Pittsburgh during Finn’s US tour that year. Finn also contributed a song to the soundtrack of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe entitled “Winter Light,” which later appeared on Finn's Imaginary Kingdom album. In 2004, the brothers released their second album together, Everyone Is Here. The album was originally to be produced by Tony Visconti but the final release shows most production credits going to long-time Finn producer Mitchell Froom.

[edit] Discography

This discography relates to releases by Tim Finn only. See Finn Brothers' discography, Crowded House discography and Split Enz discography for other related works.

Date Title Label Charted Country Catalog Number
Album
1983 Escapade Mushroom Records #161 U.S. D19230
1986 Big Canoe Virgin Records - - CDV-2369
1989 Tim Finn Capitol Records - - CDP7-48735-2
1993 Before & After Capitol Records - - CDP-594904
1999 Say It Is So - -
2001 Feeding The Gods Periscope Records - - 002
2006 Imaginary Kingdom - -
EPs
What You've Done - -
Collaborations
1987 The Les Patterson Long Player WEA Records - - 2547791
1991 Woodface
(with Crowded House)
Capitol Records #83 U.S. CDP-7-93559-2
1995 Altitude
(with ALT)
- -
1995 Finn
(with Neil Finn)
Discovery Records - - 77043
1998 Steel City CRS Records - - 5011402000
2000 Together in Concert: Live
(with Dave Dobbyn & Bic Runga)
- -
2004 Everyone Is Here
(with Neil Finn)
#1 AUS

[edit] Singles

Year Single Album Charted Certification
1983 "Fraction Too Much Friction" Escapade - -
1983 "In A Minor Key" Escapade - -
1983 "Staring At The Embers" Escapade - -
1983 "Made My Day" Escapade - -
1984 "Through The Years" Escapade - -
1985 "Home For My Heart" The Coca-Cola Kid Soundtrack - -
1986 "Carve You In Marble" Big Canoe - -
1986 "No Thunder No Fire No Rain" Big Canoe - -
1986 "Spiritual Hunger" Big Canoe - -
1989 "Parihaka"
(with Herbs)
#6 (NZ) -
1987 "You Saved The World" Les Patterson Saves The World - -
1987 "With You I'm Alive Les Patterson Saves The World - -
1989 "Crescendo" Tim Finn - -
1989 "How'm I Gonna Sleep" Tim Finn #27 (AUS) -
1989 "Not Even Close" Tim Finn - -
1990 "Long Hard Road" - -
1990 "Many's The Time" Tim Finn - -
1992 "Islands" - -
1993 "Hit The Ground Running" Before & After - -
1993 "Persuasion" Before & After - -
1994 "Runs In The Family" - -
1998 "Steel City" Steel City Soundtrack - -
1999 "Far Out" - -
1999 "Twinkle" Say It Is So - -
2006 "Couldn't Be Done" Imaginary Kingdom - -
2007 "Horizon" Imaginary Kingdom - -

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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