Tim Finn
Template:Infobox musical artist 2 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.
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, 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.
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.
5 June 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.
He is married to television presenter Marie Azcona. They have a son Harper and daughter Elliott.
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) |
#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 | - | - |
| 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 | - | - |
| 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) #1 (NZ) | - |
| 1989 | "Not Even Close" | Tim Finn | - #12 (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 | - | - |
References
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (February 2008) |
- Chunn, Mike (1992). Stranger Than Fiction: The Life and Times of Split Enz. Wellington, N.Z.: GP Publications. ISBN 1-86956-050-7. OCLC 31240332.
- Bourke, Chris (1997). Something So Strong. South Melbourne: Macmillan. ISBN 0-7329-0886-8. OCLC 38406050.
- Doole, Kerry (1996). Crowded House: Private Universe. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4816-X. OCLC 35527434.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Dix, John (2005). Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock and Roll, 1955 to the Modern Era. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-14-301953-8. OCLC 63692850.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help)
External links
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.