Having first joined his huge brother Tim’s band Cut up Enz on the tender age of 18, Neil Finn shortly made his mark on the worldwide stage, penning the Kiwi rockers’ first world hit, “I Got You,” in 1979.
Neil went on to put in writing an additional clutch of hits for Cut up Enz, together with “One Step Ahead,” “History Never Repeats” and “Message To My Girl,” however by the tip of 1984 the band had known as it quits, with Tim Finn having already launched his first solo LP, Escapades.
Throughout their ultimate Enz With A Bang tour of late ’84, Neil and Cut up Enz’s latter-day drummer, Australian-born Paul Hester, determined to kind a brand new group. Basing themselves in Hester’s hometown, Melbourne, this fledgling outfit – initially dubbed The Mullanes – took form early in ’85, by which era bassist Nick Seymour (brother of Mark Seymour, frontman with cult Aussie rockers Hunters & Collectors) and guitarist Craig Hooper (previously of The Reels) had additionally been recruited.
The Mullanes began gigging in the summertime of ’85 and shortly secured a take care of Capitol, although Hooper stop earlier than the remaining trio moved to the US to document their self-titled debut LP in LA. Additional modifications occurred after the band touched down in California. Capitol have been sad with the identify The Mullanes, however they agreed to the band’s mooted different, Crowded Home, which derived from the cramped residence the label supplied for the three musicians within the Hollywood Hills.
Apart from the purposeful “Can’t Carry On” (produced by ex-Cut up Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner), the majority of the band’s extremely accessible eponymous debut was recorded at two plush LA studios, Capitol Recording and Sundown Sound, the place engineer Tchad Blake and Elvis Costello/Sheryl Crow producer Mitchell Froom manned the console, and the latter added the document’s refined, however decisive organ and piano components.
Commercially, Crowded Home was a slow-burner. Regardless of being trailed by a trio of very good, radio-friendly singles courtesy of the rousing, horn-assisted “Mean To Me,” the stylish, harmony-laden “World Where You Live” and the swaggering “Now We’re Getting Somewhere,” Capitol granted the LP solely low-key promotion within the US. Certainly, the band solely gained a foothold internationally after the album’s fourth single – Finn’s craving, anthemic “Don’t Dream It’s Over” – swept to No.2 on the US Billboard Scorching 100 in April ’87.
On the again of this evergreen single’s seismic chart efficiency, the world finally wakened when Crowded Home reached No.1 in Australia and peaked at No.12 on the US Billboard 200 a full 12 months after its preliminary launch in June ’86. Additional boosted by its spirited fifth single – “Something So Strong” – once more broaching the US High 10, the LP finally earned its creators platinum discs in Australia, Canada, and North America. Its deluxe Thirtieth-anniversary reissue (which contains a raft of B-sides, demos, and rarities as bonus tracks) reveals that this most glowing of debuts has misplaced none of its unique luster.
Purchase Crowded Home’s music on vinyl or CD now.
