Introduction ‘The Finn Brothers’ are a musical duo, consisting of brothers Neil and Tim Finn. They are internationally known for their roles in bands ‘Split Enz’ and ‘Crowded House’, and in 1993, both brothers were awarded, for their contribution to the arts, an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from the Queen. The Brothers Beginning Brian Timothy ‘Tim’ Finn was born on 25th June, 1952 in Te Awamutu (Waikato, New Zealand). Six years later on May 27th, 1958, parents Dick and Mary had Cornelius ‘Neil’ Mullane Finn. Both boys went to the local St Patrick’s Primary School, where ten-year-old Tim took piano lessons from a jazz player, Chuck Fowler. This was said to have had a major impact on him as it opened his eyes to why each genre is special, …show more content…
That December, they played at Auckland’s ‘Wynyard Hotel’ as their first professional gig, then again at the ‘Great Ngaruawahia Festival’. They also took the opportunity to open for heavy metal band, ‘Black Sabbath’, where they got booed from the stage. However, they were not discouraged, instead working to improve their music, and image. In 1975, they changed their band name to ‘Split Enz’, also changing their names to their middle names – Brian became …show more content…
Tim founded ‘Split Enz’, and they were becoming very popular by turning away from the art-rock genre and towards new wave. After leaving school, Neil began working at a local Te Awamutu record store. He started becoming interested in how well Tim and ‘Split Enz’ were doing, and decided to study up-and-coming singer/songwriters, such as Elton John, David Bowie, and Cat Stevens. In 1976, he left for London to join up with his brother and his band ‘Split Enz’, who were starting to become known in England. Tim then allowed Neil to perform as a supporting solo act, liking what he had heard of Neil’s mix of his own songs with covers - demonstrating Neil’s (compositional) talent