Crowded House - Biography
By Marcus Kagler
Deceptively prolific, incessantly catchy, and distinctively prominent within the rock pop canon, Crowded House took the long and bumpy road to worldwide success. Adored in their native Australia and criminally ignored in the U.S, the band has cultivated a rabid cult following in their more than twenty year career. Bursting onto the scene in the mid-‘80s, Crowded House raised the bar for pop musicians by masking existential themes of human crisis with hook-laden emotion, displaying a manically surreal sense of humor and an experimental sonic pallet. Each of the band’s five albums is radically different in tone, pace, and structure yet early on Crowded House developed a sound so characteristically their own no other band has come close to emulating them. Lead by singer/songwriter Neil Finn, the group rose from the ashes of New Wave stalwarts Split Enz to become one of the premiere pop rock acts of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Their undeniable genius has spread throughout the globe with members of Radiohead and Pearl Jam citing the band as a major influence on their sound. Despite critical accolades and obsessive fan adulation, the Crowded House story is filled with profound loss, commercial disappointments, and turbulent inter-band relationships that resulted in a decade long hiatus only to be brought back together by the redemption of friendship.
Neil Finn has come a long way from playing guitar with his older Tim as children in their home town of Te Awamuta, New Zealand. As his older brother’s band Split Enz slowly gained popularity throughout the ‘70s, Neil intently studied the songwriting styles of the Beatles, Elton John, and David Bowie and began writing his own songs as a teenager. His first big break came just before his 19th birthday when Tim asked Neil to become the full-time lead guitarist of Split Enz even though Finn had only a rudimentary knowledge of the instrument. Neil’s natural songwriting capability helped catapult Split Enz into superstar status in Australia, Canada and New Zealand but the band came to an abrupt halt in 1985 when Tim left the group and Split Enz disbanded. Eager to make a name for himself outside of Tim’s shadow, the younger Finn immediately formed his own band with fellow Enz drummer Paul Hester and guitarist Craig Hooper. Finn christened the band The Mullanes (after his own middle name) and the band soon took on art student Nick Seymour (younger brother of Hunters & Collectors’ Mark Seymour) on bass. Rather than mine the New Wave art rock of Split Enz the group went back to basics with a raw stripped down pop sound reminiscent of Finn’s favorite band, The Beatles.
In order to secure a recording contract the Mullanes moved halfway across the world to West Hollywood in the summer of 1985 and soon landed a deal Capitol Records with only one stipulation: they had to change their band name. The group chose the name “Crowded House” as allusion to their cramped living quarters and soon began recording their debut album with then unknown producer/musician Mitchell Froom. Shortly before sessions began Hooper left the band, leaving Crowded House a trio (with Froom filling in on keyboards and guitars). As an unknown band with very little label support, the band took a DIY aesthetic toward crafting their debut and even gave Seymour the charge of designing the albums’ layout and cover art, which he still does to this day.
Receiving almost no marketing or publicity from Capitol, the band’s eponymous debut, Crowded House (1986 Capitol) was almost dead in the water as soon as it was released. Undaunted, the band took a grassroots promotional approach by playing free concerts for record stores, restaurants, and industry showcases. Crowded House’s manic, spontaneous live shows garnered strong word of mouth throughout North America and the radio friendly pop single, “Something So Strong” soon received heavy airplay. The gorgeous and infectiously catchy ballad, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” quickly became a Top 10 worldwide hit and earned the band an MTV Music Award for Best New Artist in 1987. It wasn’t long before Crowded House was a household name, although the success of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” would not come without consequences.
After a prolonged supporting tour, Crowded House reconvened with producer Mitchell Froom for a follow-up. Burdened by their one-hit wonder status the pressure was on Neil Finn to produce an even better sophomore album. Aesthetically, Temple of Low Men (1988 Capitol) showcased a clear progression in Finn’s songwriting but the album was a far darker and moodier affair than its predecessor, which didn’t go over well with the mainstream public. Once again Capitol Records failed to give Crowded House proper promotional support and it wasn’t long before Temple of Low Men became a distant memory. Due to weak sales the band cancelled their North American tour and focused on their headlining Australian and Canadian dates. After touring, bad luck struck again when Finn abruptly fired Seymour in 1989 citing artistic differences. Crowded House had effectively broken up but after a month long hiatus, Finn and Seymour reconciled –although the band held off going into the studio to record another album. In the interim, Neil reconnected with his older brother Tim and the two began work on a Finn Brothers album. The duo quickly penned 14 songs but put off finishing the album as Neil had yet to begin work on new Crowded House material. The record company was dissatisfied with some of the songs and Neil scrapped the album, turning to Tim to ask if he could borrow a few songs from The Finn Brothers sessions to jump start work on the third Crowded House release. Tim consented on the condition he be made a full time member of the band. Tim later stated he meant the proviso as a joke but Neil agreed and Crowded House soon began working on new material as a four piece.
Woodface (1991 Capitol) became the band’s most successful album worldwide, although due to the anti-American overtones of the first single, “Chocolate Cake” the album was practically nonexistent in the U.S. market. Filled with lush orchestration, off-the-wall sound effects, a celebratory tone and Neil and Tim’s remarkable harmonies; Woodface was drastically different from anything Crowded House had released before. Under the strength of the popular singles, “Weather With You” and “It’s Only Natural,” the album was a massive success in Europe and Australia cementing the band’s status as international superstars. As integral as Tim was to the writing of the album, he would serve a relatively small role during the subsequent tour and halfway through exited the band permanently. Crowded House replaced him with touring guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart who soon became the official fourth member of band. In 1993 both Neil and Tim were bestowed OBEs from the Queen of England for their contributions to the musical arts of New Zealand.
Seeking to pursue another musical direction the band replaced producer Mitchell Froom with Youth for their fourth full-length –recorded in the beachfront town of Karekare, New Zealand. Together Alone (1993 EMI/Capitol) was the darkest and least radio friendly album of the Crowded House canon. An introspective album with heavy atmospheric textures, Together Alone proved to be the band’s most experimental album often utilizing numerous ambient guitar tones and Māori rhythms and backing vocalists on several tracks. Although it did little to improve their U.S. audience, the album was another hit in Australia and Europe with the singles “Distant Sun” and “Locked Out” charting highly. The subsequent world tour would be rife with problems that eventually would spell the end of the band. Before embarking on an American tour, drummer Paul Hester abruptly left the band to spend more time with his family. Crowded House finished the tour with a last minute replacement drummer but went on hiatus after returning to Australia. After scrapping material for a fifth album, Neil Finn announced the official breakup of the band in the summer of 1996. Neil Finn reconvened the original lineup (including Hester) a final time on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in front of over 100,000 fans for a farewell show on November 24, 1996 as a benefit for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Fund.
Neil Finn wasted no time in pursuing a successful solo career as well as recording albums with his brother Tim as The Finn Brothers. Hester became a successful Australian talk show host, Seymour moved to Ireland and began work as a producer while Hart joined Ringo Starr’s band as lead guitarist. During this time the band released a greatest hits package, Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House (1996 Capitol), with two bonus tracks and three songs from their scrapped fifth album. The B-side compilation, Afterglow (1999 Capitol), featured previously unreleased rarities and demos. In 2005, drummer Paul Hester committed suicide near his home in Australia after years of battling chronic depression. Although the individual members of Crowded House had not played together in almost a decade; Finn, Seymour and Hart were devastated. After the release of Farewell to the World (2006 EMI/Parlophone), a live CD/DVD of the band’s final concert at the Sydney Opera House, Finn began work on his third solo album.
Seeking to reconnect with the other members of his old band to heal the wounds left by Hester’s death, Finn invited former bandmates Nick Seymour and Mark Hart to join in on the sessions. It soon became apparent that the trio was recording as a band again and Finn soon announced the reformation of Crowded House with former Beck drummer Matt Sherrod replacing Hester. Time On Earth (2007 EMI/Parlaphone) was released to unanimously positive reviews and found the band rejuvenated after an almost ten year hiatus. Crowded House embarked on a successful worldwide tour throughout the remainder of 2007 and has announced plans to record another album for a 2009 release.