STACK #200 Jun 2021

MUSIC FEATURE

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SPLIT ENZ TRUE COLOURS Bryget Chrisfield explores the creation, impact, and astonishing legacy of her favourite classic records.This month, it’s the breakout album from Neil Finn’s first band (before the house got crowded), Split Enz’ True Colours .

“I f music be the food of love, Split Enz is the silverware!” Split Enz founder and frontman Tim Finn bigs-up during the final song intro of the excellent (and kind of accidentally hilarious) Split Enz 30th Anniversary Holmes special. Their fierce originality made Split Enz frustratingly obscure for less adventurous ears, which sadly limited their commercial appeal to begin with; the world wasn’t ready for their Dr. Seuss-level fabulosity. Split Enz’ early live shows are the stuff of legend. For their 1974 Buck-A-Head tour, sponsored by a radio station, the group opted to perform in theatres and concert halls that would better suit their theatrical presentation,

which was often punctuated by ‘happenings’. Keyboardist Eddie Rayner’s aunty was invited on stage to perform an impromptu tap dance during one song at an early concert, but although her act was a huge success, the band decided against taking her on tour, instead substituting percussionist/ stylist Noel Crombie to play a spoon solo. After catching Split Enz live – being booed while supporting Skyhooks and AC/DC, no less – Michael Gudinski immediately wanted to sign the group to his fledgling Mushroom label, but recalled several people tried to talk him out of it. “I’d always look for bands that were unique, ahead of their time, individual and eccentric,” Gudinski pointed out during an interview, “and

Year 1980

Split Enz were every bit of that.” The year of True Colours ’ release – the band’s fifth album – Neil Finn told Keri Philips: “With this one, we were determined to keep it simple – really streamline it so everybody could understand it.” “It was a make or break record in a way,” Tim told Dan Condon. “We were able to survive and we were pulling good houses – we were playing a lot of gigs – but we really, really wanted to get on the radio and fulfil that kind of destiny of reaching a wider audience. “It felt like we had the momentum at last, and all the pieces [in place].” Prior to True Colours , Split Enz spent a enormous amount of time in the UK, where they perfected their live show and developed a cult following. “It was huge,” Crombie has said of the group’s UK adventure. “We arrived in ‘76 and landed in the middle of the punk revolution, which was really interesting. It divided audiences, obviously, but it was inspiring as well. There was so much happening.” (Suddenly the punk-fuelled Shark Attack , which opens True Colours , makes a hellavu lot more sense.) Kate Bush was laying down her debut album The Kick Inside (which contained Wuthering Heights !) at London’s AIR Studios around the same time Split Enz were recording Dizrythmia (1977), of which Rayner recounted, “We used to talk in the corridor and I took [Kate] for a coffee a couple of times downstairs to the Angus Steakhouse in Oxford Circus. She was just this little girl, 17 years old, and we used to hear her overdubbing her vocals. We thought it was quite a funny little sound, but then she became Kate Bush! She was a really nice

14 JUNE 2021

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