Crowded House is an Australian rock band formed in 1985. Their music is a mixture of new rave, jangle pop, pop and soft rock, as well as alt rock. Since its inception, the band has been collaborating with the Capitol Records label. The band's frontman is Neil Finn.
The history of the creation of the team
Neil Finn and his older brother Tim were members of the New Zealand band Split Enz. Tim was the founder of the group, and Neill acted as the author of most of the songs. The first years since its founding, the group spent in Australia and then moved to the UK.
The Split Enz also included drummer Paul Hester, who previously played with Deckchairs Overboard and The Cheks. Bassist Nick Seymour joined the band after playing in the Marionettes, The Horla and Bang.
Education and name change
The Split Enz farewell tour took place in 1984, which was called "Enz with a Bang". Already at that time, Neil Finn and Paul Hester decided to form a new musical group. At an after-party in Melbourne, Nick Seymour approached Finn and asked if he could audition for a new band. Later, the former member of The Reels, guitarist Craig Hooper, joined this trio.
In Melbourne, the guys founded a new group in 85, which was called The Mullanes. The first performance took place on June 11. In 1986, the team managed to get a lucrative contract with the recording studio Capitol Records.
The band was supposed to travel to Los Angeles to record their debut album. However, guitarist Craig Hooper decided to leave the band. Finn, Seymour and Hester went to the USA. Upon arrival in Los Angeles, the musicians were placed in a small house in the Hollywood Hills.
The band was asked by Capitol Records to change their name. Musicians, oddly enough, found inspiration in cramped living conditions. Thus, The Mullanes became Crowded House. The first album of the group received the same name.
During the recording of the song "Can't Carry On" from the debut album, former Split Enz member keyboardist Eddie Rayner acted as a producer. He was asked to join the band and Reiner even toured with the guys in 1988. However, he subsequently had to leave the group for family reasons.
The first success of Crowded House
Thanks to their close association with Split Enz, the new band already had an established fan base in Australia. The first performances of Crowded House took place within the framework of various festivals in their homeland and in New Zealand. The debut album of the same name was released in August 1986, but it did not bring popularity to the band.
The management of Capitol Records at first doubted the commercial success of Crowded House. Because of this, the group received very modest promotion. In order to attract attention, the musicians had to perform in small venues.
The composition "Mean to Me" from the debut album was able to win the 30th position in the Australian chart in June. Although the single failed to chart in the US, moderate airplay still introduced Crowded House to US listeners.
The breakthrough came when the band released "Don't Dream It's Over" in October 1986. The single managed to reach number two on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as number one on the Canadian music charts.
Initially, radio stations in New Zealand did not pay much attention to composition. But she turned her gaze after she became a worldwide hit a couple of months after the release. Gradually, the single managed to achieve a leading position in the New Zealand music charts. This song to this day remains the most commercially successful of all the band's compositions.
First awards
In March 1987, Crowded House received three awards at once at the first ARIA Music Awards - "Song of the Year", "Best New Talent" and "Best Video". All this was due to the success of the composition "Don't Dream It's Over". An award from the MTV Video Music Award was added to the piggy bank.
The band later released a new single called "Something So Strong". The composition managed to become another global success, taking a leading position in the music charts in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. The next two songs "Now We Getting Somewhere" and "World Where You Live" also had a good success.
Follow-up Crowded House
The band's second album was titled "Temple of Low Men". It was released in June 1988. The album is dark. However, many fans of Crowded House still consider it one of the band's most atmospheric works. In the US, "Temple of Low Men" failed to replicate the success of their debut album, but achieved recognition in Australia.
After the departure of keyboardist Eddie Rayner, Mark Hart became a full member of the band in 1989. Nick Seymour was fired by Finn after a musical tour. This incident was widely discussed in the media. Some sources claimed that Seymour managed to cause a creative block in Neil. However, Nick soon returned to the team.
In 1990 Neil's older brother Tim Finn joined the group. With his participation, the album "Woodface" was recorded, which did not become commercially successful. After the release of the album, Tim Finn left the band. The Crowded House tour went already with Mark Hart.
Disbandment and resumption of the group
The last studio album, called "Together Alone", was recorded in 1993. Three years later, the team decided to suspend activities. Before disbanding, the group prepared a parting gift for their fans in the form of a collection of the best songs. The farewell concert in Sydney took place on 24 November.
In 2006, after the suicide of Paul Hester, the members decided to reunite. Year of hard work give the world the album "Time on Earth", and in 2010 "Intriguer". After 6 years, the group gave four concerts, and in 2020 a new single "Whatever You Want" was released.
