Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn
, OBE (born 25 June 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.
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TIM FINN TICKETS
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Biography
Tim Finn was born in
Te Awamutu,
New Zealand. He went to
Sacred Heart College, Auckland, a
Catholic boarding school. 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,
glam rock,
rock and
pop. Between 1972 and 1977 Tim and Judd alternated as
frontman for the band. Once Judd permanently left the band, Tim Finn's younger brother
Neil Finn took his place.
Finn was married to English dancer Liz Malam in January 1981, but the marriage fell apart on October that year (providing material for
Six Months In A Leaky Boat).
[1]
For much of the 1980s Finn was very publicly romantically involved with
Italian-born,
Australian actress
Greta Scacchi, who in 1989 married American actor
Vincent D'Onofrio.
[2]
Finn is currently married to television presenter Marie Azcona, formerly of
MTV and
TVNZ One's
Music Week,
[3] who shares a talent for songwriting. They have collaborated together on several songs, some of which are featured on
Steel City
, the
soundtrack that Finn wrote and co-wrote on two tracks with Azcona, and collaborated on one more with
Mike Chunn. Finn and Azcona have two children; a son, Harper, and a daughter, Elliott.
Solo
Finn 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
indy film The Coca-Cola Kid
, brought about a decision to leave Split Enz permanently to focus on a solo career in June 1984. In early 1985, Tim moved to London and released his second album
Big Canoe
, which failed to repeat the success of its predecessor. During his affair with Scacchi, Finn's focus turned to scoring films, and he had a few roles in movies that either he had 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 his contributions to film consisted primarily of that of stand-in roles, and those without lines.
Return to Australia
Crowded House
In late 1989, he was back living in Melbourne recording his
eponymous third album,
Tim Finn,
with a contract with
Capitol Records. In early 1990, he reconciled with his younger brother Neil, intending a collaboration on a Finn brothers record. Instead, he found his brother had formed a promising band on his own, and joined as an additional member of
Crowded House, the group Neil had formed after Split Enz dissolved. He performed with the band and recorded on the band's album
Woodface
, but both realised that Crowded House was not built to support two leading personalities and parted ways amicably, with Tim Finn returning to pursue his solo career. Riding on their past achievements, and Crowded House's successful third album,
Woodface
, both Tim Finn and Neil Finn were made
OBE for services to New Zealand music in the
1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
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, New Zealand and Australia and released the album
Altitude
.
5 June 2000 was proclaimed “Tim Finn Day” by the Mayor of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the USA during Finn’s tour of the United States 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 2000, the album
Together in Concert: Live
was recorded featuring Finn,
Bic Runga, and
Dave Dobbyn. Recorded in the months of August and September 2000 in venues around New Zealand, the three performers are each eqitably showcased. Both the concerts and album feature all three performers providing vocal and instrumental backing on each other's songs. The album was not released in the UK until the 29th of May, 2007. Unfortunately,
iTunes lists Tim Finn's as "Tim Funn".
In 2004, the Finn brothers released their second album together, titled,
Everyone Is Here
. The album originally was intended to be produced by
Tony Visconti but the final release shows most production credits going to long-time Finn producer
Mitchell Froom.
Finn has also guested recently on
Peter Gabriel's song "Whole Thing" from the 2008 album
Big Blue Ball
.
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
| -
| -
| CDP-594904
|
| 1999
| Say It Is So
| Sonny's Pop Records
| -
| -
|
|
| 2001
| Feeding the Gods
| Periscope Records
| -
| -
| 002
|
| 2006
| Imaginary Kingdom
| Sonny's Pop Records
| -
| -
|
|
| 2008
| The Conversation
| EMI Records
| -
| -
|
|
| EPs
|
| 2001
| What You've Done
| EMI Records
| -
| -
|
|
| Collaborations
|
| 1987
| The Les Patterson Long Player
| WEA
| -
| -
| 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)
|
| 2
| AUS
|
|
Singles
| Year
| Single
| Album
| Charted
| Certification
|
| 1983
| "Fraction Too Much Friction"
| Escapade
| #1 (NZ)
| -
|
| 1983
| "In A Minor Key"
| Escapade
| -
| -
|
| 1983
| "Staring At The Embers"
| Escapade
| #10 (NZ)
| -
|
| 1983
| "Made My Day"
| Escapade
| -
| -
|
| 1984
| "Through The Years"
| Escapade
| #34 (CAN)
| -
|
| 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
| #24 (NZ)
| -
|
| 1986
| "Spiritual Hunger"
| Big Canoe
| -
| -
|
| 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), #77 (CAN), #1 (NZ)
| -
|
| 1989
| "Not Even Close"
| Tim Finn
| #91 (CAN), #12 (NZ)
| -
|
| 1989
| "Parihaka"
(with Herbs)
|
| #6 (NZ)
| -
|
| 1990
| "Long Hard Road"
|
| -
| -
|
| 1990
| "Many's The Time"
| Tim Finn
| -
| -
|
| 1992
| "Islands"
|
| -
| -
|
| 1993
| "Hit The Ground Running"
| Before & After
| -
| -
|
| 1993
| "Persuasion"
| Before & After
| #1 (NZ)
| -
|
| 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
| -
| -
|
| 2008
| "Out Of This World"
| The Conversation
| -
| -
|
References
- http://www.milesago.com/artists/enz.htm
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0278178/bio
- http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=159499