Last week, we launched into Split Enz with the telling of how I personally came across the band. Now, let's take a step back and review the inception of Split Enz itself.
The group was formed in 1972 by founding members Tim Finn, and Phil Judd, who would both share vocal duties, with Judd also filling the roll as lead guitarist. The original lineup would be completed by Mike Chunn (bass), Miles Golding (violin) and Mike Howard (flute). They would make their first appearance the last month of the year, being joined by drummer Div Vercoe. However, within the early months of the new year, only Finn, Judd, and Chunn would remain. New members Wally Wilkinson (guitar), Eddie Rayner (keyboards), Rob Gillies (saxophone), and brother Geoff Chunn (drums) would be added to fill the gaps. During this time, the band would also adopt their name, Split Enz, with the NZ referring to their native land of New Zealand.
While they would record a few singles, these wouldn't see release until later in the bands career. Additionally, Geoff Chunn, and Rob Gillies would leave the band, being replaced by Emlyn Crowther, and Noel Crombie, respectfully. They would all relocate to Australia, where recording of their 1975 debut album, Mental Notes, would occur. Its release would garner them great success in New Zealand, reaching number 7, and Australia where it reached 35. This was aided by their unique theater style shows which were labeled them as an adventurous, flamboyant art-rock band. Shortly after its release, Wally Wilkinson would leave, and Rob Gillies would rejoin.
The band would move to New England to record their follow-up, Second Thoughts. However, while touring in promotion for it, Emlyn Crowther would leave, and be replaced by Malcolm Green. What's odd about the group's sophomore album is that it would retitled to Mental Notes for its Europe and North America releases. The cover would even be an alternate version of the original Mental notes which replaced Wally Wilkinson with Robert Gillis, and showcased the new shaved sides haircut of Tim Finn, and bald head of Phil Judd. Though once again popular in New Zealand and Australia, the album would not make much waves beyond those borders.
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| Mental Notes (left) and alternate cover Mental Notes (AKA Second Thoughts) (right) |
We'll detour from the history of Enz, stepping over their remaining 1970's albums, and previous Retro Spin, 1980's True Colours, and jump into their 1982 released Waiata. The album title was derived from its Māori term for song. The idea of the band was that each country would adopt its own album title based on this, thus in Australia, the album was released as Corroboree. However, this concept would be an expensive one, and rather than proceed, the rest of the world was issued the original New Zealand title, Waiata. This unto itself was unique because the album under this title has never been released on CD. The only discs which exist are those released in Australia, and again, that title is Corroboree.
Listening to it, it stays the course of new wave / pop rock, and though it's enjoyable, it definitely doesn't (for me) pack the punch as their prior album. Though I initially was considering adding many more songs to my shuffle list, truthfully, by the time I got around to it, the songs were forgotten. As such, I deemed them not as good as I originally thought they were. Instead, I focused on adding the two which remained stuck in my head, History Never Repeats Itself and Walking Through The Ruins.
Overall, it was enjoyable, much like the last, though with fewer picking in terms of noteworthy, or I suppose better stated, memorable tunes. It certainly didn't deter me from wanting to hear more, and I did just that diving into their 1982 Time And Tide. However, that's definitely our discussion for next week.
Prior to closing out the year, Split Enz would release their platinum greatest hits album, Enz Of An Era. However, this album would only focus on singles and hits released between 1977 and 1981. There was a reason for this, and that story will come next time as we continue through the history of Enz.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS May 19, 1984 |
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