The Musicians

Last Updated 31 March, 1998
[New information since previous update (on March 23) appears in blue.]

THE LATEST NEWS, BACKGROUND INFO, AND MORE

| Neil Finn | Paul Hester | Nick Seymour
| Tim Finn | Mark Hart | House Cleaning (tidbits) |

Activities of Band Members Past and Present

Neil Finn

Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have a name for the album. The name first crept our way a few weeks ago, but it was not confirmed by more certain sources until the last 48 hours: Neil Finn's debut solo album will be called Try Whistling This.

Energy is building around the release as the new material is unveiled. The first public ears to hear the tunes were those lucky enough to score tickets to two shows (each show limited to 100 tickets) at Tabac, a tiny bar in Auckland partially owned by Neil and fellow Kiwi songwriter Dave Dobbyn. It was perhaps a little surprising to see that Neil was backed by a drummer (Michael Barker), a keyboardist/guitarist (Noel, last name unknown), and a bassist (Robert, last name unknown) ... the exact same instrumentation as the last version of Crowded House! (We don't have the names of the backup musicians yet, but we'll get it up here eventually.) And most exciting was the set list, which included very little Crowdie material and a lot of new songs. The list was as follows:

The songs after "Suffer Never" were performed solo and were all requests from the audience.

According to one of our reporters, "... nothing ... was musically beyond the reach of Crowded House, but the vibe was *way* different... though this was the first public performance, and the vibe is only gonna get stronger."

Another reporter noted: "It was an incredible feeling to hear what must have been almost the entire solo album in one sitting, for the first time in the world, in such an intimate setting. Surrounded by familiar faces, it felt very much like we'd gatecrashed a private Finn party. Neil seemed anxious for everything to go well, and there were a few technical hitches, for which the poor roadie (who seemed a newbie) was generally fried (NF: "Did you *tune* this guitar, Kevin?"). But despite the obvious import of the occasion, Neil seemed very happy to be throwing off his cassock and getting on out there with his gothic psychedelic funk.

And paper airplanes? None were necessary at this show, as you were so close to the band you could practically whisper your requests in Neil's ear.

Joining our reporters in the crowd were Eddie Rayner, Emlyn Crowther, Mike Chunn, and Jordan Luck. Some of the luminaries showing up at the second night's show included Eddie Rayner (again) and All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick. The second night included a similar set list except that the all-request section was (naturally) different. Neil played "Four Seasons in One Day," "Distant Sun," "Fall at Your Feet," and a rather improvisedver sion of "Pineapple Head." (Hey, those are a lot of words to remember!)

Release dates for the record still stand at June 15th for EMI UK and EMI Australia, and New Zealand; and "sometime in the second half of June" on Sony/WORK in the North America. (Despite rumors from an errant Tower Records store in Canada, Try Whistling This will not be released to the Canucks in April.) Remember that these dates can change in the beat of a giant heartbeat. You have been warned.

Sources within EMI UK indicate that the first UK single will be "She Will Have Her Way," and should be on the street June 1st. In North America, the final decision on a single has not been made, though they are leaning towards "Sinner." A release date is not currently available for the North American single.

At this point, we only know of one other upcoming Neil appearance, and it is mentioned in the Paul update below. Neil was previously scheduled to appear at the Levi's Life Festival in Wellington on April 9th, but he has had to back out due to the fact that he'll be back in the States working on the record. But don't lose faith -- Neil has been replaced by none other than Tim Finn! Further Neil tour dates will be posted here as they become available.

Over the last several months we've heard acoustic versions of two contenders for spots on the album. And you can hear them too, thanks to the digitizing work of members of the Tongue in the Mail list.

"Truth" is a beautiful ballad (then again, Neil has said that all his songs start out as ballads) with a typical Neil Finn chord-twist that takes your breath away. Check out a version Neil performed on UK radio last year by clicking here (it's in WAV format and approx. 2.2Mb in size). Due to the quality of playback available from this format, don't expect to be over-wowed (hey, that just makes it more like a real bootleg!), but you can hear the song's potential.

Even though our copy of "Try Whistling This" is a simple acoustic guitar-and-vocal rendition, you can close your eyes and imagine the possibilities of grander production on the finished version. It will be interesting to see how the song ends up in its final treatment. You can hear a low-bandwidth version (1.3Mb) or a high-bandwidth version (2.7Mb), both in WAV format.

In what might at first seem an unlikely team, drummer Yuval Gabay of Soul Coughing joined Neil in the studio on a few tracks; Sebastian Steinberg, Soul Coughing's bassist, ended up playing on most of the record. The musical connection between Soul Coughing and Neil Finn? Tchad Blake, who produced the debut Soul Coughing record Ruby Vroom and has had some production involvement on Neil's album (though how much is still unclear). Word from Sebastian about the recording sessions was that while he may have been a bit wary of musical compatibility between Neil and the Soul Coughing rhythm section at first, the results of these sessions were surprising and exciting.

Neil, efficient fellow that he is, has not been wasting all of his time in recording studios. Earlier this year he and songwriter Mark Seymour slipped off to Vietnam for several days of benefit concerts, raising money for the work of the Fred Hollows Foundation. An article in the Australian edition of Woman's Day reported that "they visited remote villages where they saw medical miracles... In one, a grandmother after having glaucoma treated saw her grandchildren for the first time. Neil and Mark also performed their own little miracle when they put on a show for 3,000 fans in Ho-Chi-Minh City. They even jammed with a Vietnamese band which had worked on every song of Crowded House and Hunters & Collectors, hoping to make the show perfect. According to all present, it was."

Neil also found time to slip behind the board and produce the new record from Moana and the Moahunters. You can read an interview with Moana and her thoughts on Neil as a producer in the online article at the Suite 101 site.

Paul Hester

Hessie's Shed is returning! Coming in April, Paul Hester's very popular musical "variety show" will once again take over the Esplanade Hotel in St. Kilda. The shows, as usual, will feature Paul's band Largest Living Things as well as many special guests. How special? Can you say "Neil Finn?" He is expected to appear on stage at the April 10th show. (For a list of other special guests, check out the LLT site.)

Paul is also trying his hand as an interviewer as he prepares a show for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation called Showbiz. Not to stray too far from his element, Paul will tackle Jimmy Barnes and Neil Finn among his first interview subjects. The viewers will have to hope they can keep up with all the inside jokes that Neil and Paul will undoubtedly toss back and forth between each other.

Many people attending Midnight Oil shows down under in February were probably surprised to see a stranger on the skins. Yes, that was our Paul, who was asked to step in for regular Oils drummer Rob Hirst after Rob took ill. Reportedly, Paul had practically no notice (a fax allegedly arrived for Paul the day of a show with the words "Midnight Oil, Adelaide tonight, be there"), but the shows were still spectacular, and his drumming was especially noted on the Oils' classic "The Power and the Passion." The opportunity fulfilled a lifelong ambition of Paul's to play with this legendary Australian band.

Paul also continues to pop up on the Martin/Molloy radio program broadcast over several Australian radio stations. The show is also broadcast on the Web over RealAudio, so if you get the time change right, you can listen to the show anywhere in the world ... and you might just catch Hessie clowning around on the air.

Nick Seymour

Nick has been a bit of a globetrotter himself.

He spent quite a bit of time recently on tour in Australia with his brother in support of Mark's first solo effort, King Without A Clue. (Nick also participated in the recording of the record.) The tour was a great success, according to all list members who witnessed shows. Back from another jaunt to Dublin (his "second home"), Nick arrived back in Melbourne this week and reportedly mentioned that there will be another tour with the Seymour brothers soon, though sources are unsure as to whether this will be a duo tour or a full-band tour.

Interspersed with the earlier tour were trips to Los Angeles, where Nick was involved with poet Jo Frank on a spoken-word project. We haven't heard when that project will come to fruition, but we'll let you know when we know.

Tim Finn

Congratulations, Tim and Marie! In late 1997, Tim was married to Marie Azcona, an MTV Europe VJ, on September 29, 1997, in Sydney. And on February 24, Tim and Marie had a baby boy, which they have tentatively (?) named Harper Finn. The family is doing well, and Richard and Mary Finn are looking forward to paying their first visit to their grandchild in Sydney very soon.

Musically, Tim has a single out in Australia as part of the soundtrack to Steel City, a live tap-dance show playing at the Sydney Casino. (No word to this point on the show touring.) "Steel City" (Columbia 665483-2) is available in Australian record stores (you can also buy it at the show), and includes three songs, two of them instrumental.

Tim has agreed to help out brother Neil and step in in Neil's place on April 9th at the Levi's Life Festival in Wellington, New Zealand. Neil had to back out due to commitments around his upcoming solo debut.

Mark Hart

Where has he gone? What is he doing? Well, musically we're not at all sure, though we do know that he recently had a baby girl, whose picture you will find at Hart Beat, the Mark Hart site. And he continues to work with Supertramp, though they have been pretty quiet since getting off the road in October 1997.

If anyone has further info on Mark, we'd love to hear it!

HOUSE CLEANING
(discovered news tidbits in the Crowdie world)

A New York Native? Neil Finn? This rumor seems pretty specious, yet the Sydney Daily Telegraph ran with a story that Neil's friends had reported he was considering relocating his whole family to The Big Apple. Since then, Neil's manager Grant Thomas has completely quashed the rumors. And it sounds pretty doubtful to us too: If you were trying to avoid the ever-present comparisons to the Beatles, would you move to the same city that John Lennon last called "home?"

Many Crowded House fans are wondering about this "Essentials" CD that keeps showing up on different industry release lists. The Essentials series is coming from EMI, celebrating its 100th year as a recording company. The series intends to release collections of rare and hard-to-find tracks by EMI recording artists. After much back-and-forth between Neil Finn and the record company, Neil finally decided to go ahead with a Crowded House Essentials CD. Unfortunately, we have no information on the contents of the CD, or a true release date. (Industry newsletters are indicating an April 1998 release, but no one within the Crowded House camp can confirm this.) When we get more info on this, we'll let you know ...

The 1998 Grammy-nominated band Radiohead is planning the follow-up to their stupendous record OK Computer. One of the sites they're considering? The same New Zealand house where Crowded House recorded Together Alone. The band visited Kare Kare several weeks ago, scouting out the possibilities. Apparently one of the big issues is the problem of carting all the equipment into the home. Looks like Radiohead isn't as willing to build a bridge as the Crowdies did when they worked there in 1994 ...

Shawn Colvin is easily Crowded House's biggest celebrity fan. She is constantly extolling the virtues of the band in her concerts, and for the last several years she invariably drops a CH tune into her own sets. At times, she has even espoused her desire to have Neil Finn's love-child. (But let's not cause rumors to spread: her current expected baby was conceived with her husband. :-) In October of last year, during an Antipodean tour, Shawn was able to fulfill a dream of performing with Neil at @Luna. In an online article at Suite 101, the owner of @Luna described the event: "[Neil] got up and did some songs and she sang all the harmonies with him and that was really awesome. It was a packed house and no one expected Neil, it was really a big bonus and big surprise." For those who haven't heard, Shawn also co-wrote a song with Neil called "That's What I'm Paid For," which appears on the European release of A Few Small Repairs and the US release of the single "Sunny Came Home."

That's all we know, we swear! If you have further information, send it to Marck.

Special thanks to the following folks for making this update possible: Helena de Bres, Julia de Bres, Anne-Marie de Bruin, Nicole Ellis, Shane Fearnley, Matthew Giller, Matt Grainger, Peter Green, Jon-Paul Hansen, Helen Lilley, David Lusman, Tom McDermott, Darren McLean, Holly Murdock, Darryl White, Kelly Wood, and the folks at Sony/WORK and EMI UK.

ch-adm@listproc.wsu.edu (Crowded House List administrators)
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