Crowded House/Split Enz Books
On this page:- biographical:-  - Book Enz  - Counting The Beat  - Discography  - House That Roared  - Mechanics of Popular Music  - Neil Finn : Once Removed  - Private Universe  - Seven Voices  - Something So Strong	- Stranded In Paradise  - Stranger Than Fiction  - Who's Who of Aus Rock lyrics:-  - Love This Life music:-  - Best of Crowded House  - Complete Crowded House  - Crowded House (album)  - Recurring Dream  - Temple Of Low Men  - Together Alone  - Try Whistling This  - Woodface	writers read by Enz/CH:_  - Blainey, Geoffrey  - Carey, Peter  - Hesse, Herman  - Ishiguro, Kazuo  - McEwan, Ian  - Peake, Mervyn  - Scott, Dick  - Tan, Amy	books mentioning CH:-  - Banks, Iain  - Bradley, Tom New Zealand writers  - Frame, Janet  - Hunt, Sam  - McCormick, Gary  - Morrieson, Ronald Hugh  - Sargeson, Frank sources

Biographical

• A photograph album - touring, making videos.

• Includes lyrics and chords for Time For A Change, I Hope I Never, Counting The Beat, Don't Dream It's Over, Weather With You. Neil and Tim Finn on how they write songs - separate sections. Also Phil Judd, including his work after Split Enz.

• Includes Split Enz, Crowded House, Tim Finn and related bands.

• In Crowded House [the album] Piano/Vocal music, Cherry Lane (details in music books)

• A guide to the music industry, as seen from New Zealand. One chapter consists of an interview with Neil Finn on his "Secrets Of Songwriting".
• Index (there isn't one in the book, this is one I compiled to get some idea of what is involved in book-indexing.)

• Words by Neil Finn, photos by Mark Smith. Photos taken during Neil's first solo world tour. The photos are intended to give an impression of life on the road, they're not postcard-style pictures of the places visited for the tour. Neil writes of his feelings about touring.

• "Unofficial" Crowded House Story. Opinions are divided on this one! Second edition includes an extra chapter and photos on Farewell to the World, Sydney, 24th November, 1996.

• An autobiography. Mike Chunn was inspired to write after reading the works of Dylan Thomas...who was a friend of Mervyn Peake's...

• New Zealand Music Scene - Suite 101 - Mike Chunn: The Seven Voices of Split Enz

• The "official" Crowded House story, with a web site at Something So Strong. The book is available from:- Something So Strong, Private Bag MBE P135, Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand. Credit card orders only. The price varies according to the exchange rate.

• Chapter titles include "Beginnings of the Enz", "Trooping The Colours", "True Colours", "Enz of and Era" about Split Enz and "The Swingers".

• The title says it all! The Split Enz book.

• There are more recent editions, also a CD-ROM..

• Unlike the original Who's Who, no biographies, hobbies etc.
• Lists:-
  • bands: dates, members, discography;
  • people: bands with dates, sessions, solo discography.
  • Entries for Crowded House, Mullanes, Split Enz, band members etc.

Green, Peter, Hussy, Rocket Pocket Books, 2001. ISBN 0-646-41308-2
Green, Peter, Bang!, Rocket Pocket Books, 2001. ISBN 0-9579712-0-6
Green, Peter, Glamour, Rocket Pocket Books, 2003 ISBN 0-9579712-1-4
Goulding, Mark and Green, Peter, Wing Off Flies, 25 Years of Rock Photography, Rocket Pocket Books, 2002 ISBN 0-9579712-2-2
Green, Peter, Letters to my Frenz, a Split Enz Book, Rocket Pocket Books, 2006 ISBN 0-9579712-3-0

Lyric Books

• True Colours to One Nil, and Mary of the South Seas, Dots On The Shells, Spirit Of The Stairs and others
• Lyrics only - no photos, music - as for a book of poetry.

Music Books

Best of Crowded House, The, I.M.P., 2001

• Guitar tabs for 14 songs.
• Cover same as Farewell To The World video

Complete Crowded House, The, I.M.P., 1999

• Short biography, discography, lyrics and music for album tracks up to Recurring Dream.

• US - Published by Cherry Lane Music Company, Inc., P. O. Box 430, Portchester, NY 10573-430. ISBN 0-89524-340-7
  • US edition (I haven't seen the UK version) contains a reprint of The House That Roared by Cary Darling from BAM, March 27, 1987, issue 254 (LA music magazine).
• UK - Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd / International Music Publications Ltd, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex 1G8 8HN, England; Order Ref: 14520; ISBN ?

Recurring Dream - Piano/Vocal/Guitar; 1996. Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd / International Music Publications Ltd, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex 1G8 8HN, England; Order Ref: 4508A; ISBN 1-85909-411-2

Temple Of Low Men - Piano/Vocal/Guitar. Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd / International Music Publications Ltd, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex 1G8 8HN, England; Order Ref: 14521; ISBN ?

Together Alone - Piano/Vocal/Guitar; Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd / International Music Publications Ltd, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex 1G8 8HN, England; Order Ref: 2093A; ISBN 1-85909-188-1.

Try Whistling This - music from the Neil Finn album. International Music Publications; ISBN: 1859095992

Woodface - Piano/Vocal/Guitar; Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd / International Music Publications Ltd, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex 1G8 8HN, England; Order Ref: 18705; ISBN 1-85909-075-3.

Make Music with Crowded House, I.M.P., 2002, ISBN 1903692377

Writers read by Split Enz/Crowded House

Blainey, Geoffrey

The Tyranny Of Distance, 1966.

Tim had been reading the book when he wrote Six Months In A Leaky Boat (Tim Finn & Split Enz)

Geoffrey Blainey, (b. 1930) was Professor of History at the University of Melbourne and Chancellor of the University of Ballarat. The theme of his book is that distance (from Britain, other parts of the world, within Australia) was the major factor in the direction and scope of Australia's development.

Article with a contribution by Geoffrey Blainey - DIPLOMATIC DIGEST: News and events defining Australian diplomatic practice: Australian values; the "fair go" What is "un-Australian"?

The Library of Congress has a copy of The Tyranny Of Distance - catalog search. (I don't know if it is possible to link directly to a catalogue entry.)

Carey, Peter

Bliss, 1981.

Neil has said that there are similarities between Locked Out and this book.

Peter Carey (b. 1943) is an Australian novelist and short story writer.
His works include:-

• The Fat Man In History (1974) (UK - Exotic Pleasures (1981)) - short stories
• War Crimes (1979) - short stories
• Bliss (1981)
• Illywhacker (1985)
• Oscar and Lucinda (1988) (won Booker Prize)
• The Tax Inspector (1991)

Hesse, Herman

(1877-1962), Swiss

Unterm Rad (1906) which has been translated as Under The Wheel and Beneath The Wheel

The Split Enz song Under The Wheel (Phil Judd, Tim Finn) is on Mental Notes, Oddz And Enz - live, and Enzso.

See Mervyn Peake.

SKIP NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE PLOT OF "UNDER THE WHEEL"!

Unterm Rad tells the story of Hans Giebenrath who is intellectually gifted, but cannot withstand the pressures of a father who does not understand and a school pushing him too hard. Eventually he leaves the school and becomes an artisan, but loses his way in the real world. He is found drowned - it is left to the reader to decide if it was accidental or intentional.

Herman Hesse. NOTE: The home page link at the bottom links to a page 347k in size.

Ishiguro, Kazuo

The Remains Of The Day.

In an interview at the Much Music studio in Toronto, Mark Hart recommended this book, though he didn't say why!

Kazuo Ishiguro (b. 1954, Nagasaki, Japan) has lived in Britain since 1960.
His works include:-

• Introduction 7: Stories By New Writers, 1981 (work included in.)
• A Pale View Of The Hills (1982)
• An Artist Of The Floating World (1986)
• The Remains Of The Day (1989) (won Booker Prize)

McEwan, Ian

The Child In Time

In an interview at the Much Music studio in Toronto Neil recommended this book to anyone who had children.

Ian McEwan (b. 1948) Novelist and short story writer.
His works include:-

• First Love, Last Rites (1975) (collection of stories)
• In Between The Sheets (1978) (collection of stories)
• The Cement Garden (1978)
• The Comfort Of Strangers (1981)
• The Child In Time (1987)
• The Innocent (1990)
• Black Dogs
• The Day Dreamer
• Enduring Love (1997)
• The Imitation Game (1981) (television play)
• Or Shall We Die? (libretto for oratorio by Michael Berkley)
• The Ploughman's Lunch (1983) (screenplay)
• Sour Sweet (film script)

When I read Enduring Love. I couldn't put it down! Won't give the plot away...

Peake, Mervyn

Gormenghast Trilogy

In Stranger Than Fiction Mike Chunn describes Phil Judd moving into Brian's (Tim Finn) flat in Patteson Avenue, Mission Bay, Auckland in 1972. He brought with him Herman Hesse novels, including Under The Wheel and Meryvn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone.

Also in Stranger Than Fiction are Phil Judd's original hand written lyrics for Titus, along with a sketch, which has similarities with Mervyn Peake's drawings for Titus Groan.

p52 Stranger Than Fiction "A spoken piece, culled from the flyleaf of a Mervyn Peake novel..."

"Stranger than fiction
Larger than life
Full of shades and echoes"

(Stranger Than Fiction)

" 'T is strange - but true; for truth is always strange;
 Stranger than fiction;"

{Canto XIV,ci} )

The poet, Dylan Thomas was a family friend. He would borrow clothes from Peake! Shirts would be found missing after his visits...
His works include:-

• Titus Groan (1946)
• Gormenghast (1950)
• Titus Alone (1959)
• The Glassblowers (1950) (poetry)
• The Rhyme Of The Flying Bomb (1962) (a ballad of the blitz)
• A Book Of Nonsense (1971)

• Hunting Of The Snark
• The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
• Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
• Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
• Treasure Island
• The Swiss Family Robinson
• Prayers And Graces

"As the earth was thrown from the sun, so from the earth the artist must fling out into space, complete from pole to pole, his own world which, whatsoever form it takes, is the colour of the globe it flew from, as the world is coloured by the sun".........Mervyn Peake, 1949

Mervyn Peake - life and works.

THE PEAKE OF IMAGINATION - includes a description of the characters in the Gormenghast Trilogy, and has some links to related pages.

BBC's production of Gormenghast.

Scott, Dick

Ask That Mountain

"In the late 1980s, Tim's older sister Carolyn gave him Dick Scott's book Ask That Mountain, which she had just read, and told him to write a song about it. Not one to disobey a directive from a sibling, Tim came through with the song 'Parihaka'."

Parihaka CD - A legacy in words and music (Morrison Music Trust) -
Track 21:- Parihaka - Tim Finn & Herbs
 

Tan, Amy

The Kitchen God's Wife

Paul Hester recommended this book in a fan club newsletter (#34, January 1994) '...be kind to your mothers (READ "THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE...BY AMY TAN")...'

Amy Tan (b. 1952, Oakland California) was born two and a half years after her parents emigrated from China.
Her works include:-

• The Joy Luck Club (1989) (made into a film)
• The Kitchen God's Wife (1991)
• The Hundred Secret Senses (1996)

Books mentioning Crowded House

Banks, Iain

In Complicity, p134 in the paperback edition, is the line:-

"Nirvana, Michelle Shocked, Crowded House and Carter USM provided the soundtrack" as the main character is driving to the Isle of Skye.

I've looked through this book, but as with Bliss, the strong language and explicit descriptions aren't to my taste.

Bradley, Tom

Crowded House, Angus and Robertson, 1995. First published in Australia in 1995.

This is a children's book I discovered when I entered "Crowded House" in the library catalogue! Having children of the right age to read it, I borrowed it, but there aren't any obvious references to the band.

The Crowded House, David Lewis, Scripture Union, 1977, ISBN 0854215131

Crowded house, Katharine Ball Ripley, Doubleday, Doran & company, inc. 1936.

New Zealand Writers

When I first wrote this page there was very little on the Internet about New Zealand writers, except for a list of names. There are now some comprehensive sites, so I am not going to expand this section.; The writers listed here have connections with topics on this site.

Links:-

Frame, Janet

(Born 1924, Dunedin)

• The Lagoon (1951) (story collection)
• Owls Do Cry (1957) (novel)
• Faces In The Water (1961) (novel)
• The Edge Of The Alphabet (1962) (novel)
• Scented Gardens For The Blind (1963) (novel)
• The Adaptable Man (1965) (novel)
• Intensive Care (1970) (novel)
• Living In The Maniototo (1979) (novel)
• A State Of Siege (1982) (novel)
• The Carpathians (1988) (novel)
• You Are Now Entering The Human Heart (story collection)
• To The Is-Land (1982) (autobiography)
• An Angel At My Table (1984) (autobiography)
• The Envoy From Mirror City (1985) (autobiography)
• The three volumes of autobiography were filmed as An Angel At My Table - music by Don McGlashan of the Muttonbirds.

Janet Frame links.

Hunt, Sam

(Born 4th July, 1946, Auckland)

Poet. Taught Noel (then known as Geoffrey) Crombie in 1967, for a short time, at Mana College, Porirua, near Wellington. Supported three Split Enz shows (without Tim) in 1983. Did TV interview with Tim in 1983. Part of ENZSO, 1996. ENZSO 2, 1998.

Sam Hunt links.

McCormick, Gary

The poet in Mean To Me.

Now has his own television show. Press release: 27 August 1996 : Look Out For McCormick and His OB Van! Gary McCormick will be let on the loose around New Zealand with his own personalised mini OB van (outside broadcast van) in a new style chat show, funded by NZ On Air...

Morrieson, Ronald Hugh

(1922-72)

Mentioned by Neil in the Guardian, 24th September, 1998. See Frank Sargeson.

Lived all his life in Harewa, North Island, where he was a music teacher, apart from one very brief trip to Auckland.

His works include:-

• The Scarecrow (1963)
• Came A Hot Friday (1964)
• Predicament (1974)
• Pallet On The Floor (1976)

Descriptions of his work include the words "vulgarity", "delightfully voyeuristic" and "perverse"!

Sargeson, Frank

(1903-82)

Mentioned by Neil in The Final Interview...? promo CD, - saying you don't have to travel to experience life, but you do need to keep you eyes open. But in the Guardian, (24th September, 1998) Neil says the same thing of Ronald Hugh Morrieson! From what I've found out, I think he meant the latter on The Final Interview.... I make similar mistakes, so I'm not going to comment :-)

Frank Sargeson was an influence on Janet Frame's writing.

His works include:-

• I Saw In My Dream (1946)
• I For One... (1954)
• Memoirs Of A Peon (1965)
• The Hangover (1967)
• Joy Of The Worm (1969)
• Sunset Village (1976)
• That Summer (1946) (novella)
• Collected Short Stories (1965)

Sources of information

frenz; TiTM

Page compiled by carolyn
Last updated 17th June, 2006.