Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members include Neil Finn's brother, Tim Finn and sons Liam and Elroy, as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, with Neil Finn and Seymour being the sole constant members.
Originally active from 1985 to 1996, Crowded House had consistent commercial and critical success in Australia and New Zealand. They achieved success in the United States with their self-titled debut album, which provided the Top Ten hits "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong". Further international success came in the UK, Europe, and South Africa in the early 1990s with their third and fourth albums (Woodface and Together Alone) and the compilation album Recurring Dream, which included the hits "Fall at Your Feet", "Weather with You", "Distant Sun", "Locked Out", "Instinct", and "Not the Girl You Think You Are". Neil and Tim Finn were each awarded an OBE in June 1993 for their contributions to the music of New Zealand.
Crowded House disbanded in 1996 following several farewell concerts that year, including the "Farewell to the World" concerts in Melbourne and Sydney. Hester died by suicide in 2005. A year later, the group re-formed with drummer Matt Sherrod and released two further albums (Time on Earth and Intriguer), each of which reached number one in Australia. The band went on another hiatus, and reunited in 2020 with a new line-up featuring Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, and Finn's sons Liam and Elroy. Their most recent album, Dreamers Are Waiting, was released in 2021.
As of 2021, Crowded House have sold over 15 million albums worldwide. In November 2016, the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
from this album in RP library
albums by Crowded House
I spent part of the summer of 2001 in Alaska, where I had hoped to be able to cleanse myself of all my bad habits (drinking, smoking and smoking) and boy was I naïve! Let's see....stuck in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of other 21ish year olds working 6 days/week minimum and heavily encouraged to work that 7th day...and never seeing darkness...yeah....I drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney and smoked like Cheech AND Chong.
I started a novel while I was there, entitled "My Private Wilderness" which was partly based on the feeling this song gave me. Too bad my on-again-off-again girlfriend (the unfaithful one) got assigned to my location and went OUT OF HER WAY to get drunk and sleep with any/everyone she could. It was so bad that I broke my contract and left after a mostly enjoyable (outside of the grueling GF situation) month in the middle-of-nowhere Alaska where even the internet didn't venture. So much fun and yet so much misery all in 5 weeks.
The main positives of leaving early were 1) being back in Seattle for the Mariners record 116 win season, Ichiro's "rookie" year and the All-Star game at Safeco and 2) not being stuck in Anchorage after the 9/11 attacks like my friends (and that bitch) did for days.
Anyways...I'll always think of that dark period in my life, the month of no-darkness in central AK, with something short of glee when I hear this song. In many ways the time I spent there was the turning point in my life, enduring pain (physical and emotional) and experiencing things that can't be done in the lower 48.
I started a novel while I was there, entitled "My Private Wilderness" which was partly based on the feeling this song gave me. Too bad my on-again-off-again girlfriend (the unfaithful one) got assigned to my location and went OUT OF HER WAY to get drunk and sleep with any/everyone she could. It was so bad that I broke my contract and left after a mostly enjoyable (outside of the grueling GF situation) month in the middle-of-nowhere Alaska where even the internet didn't venture. So much fun and yet so much misery all in 5 weeks.
The main positives of leaving early were 1) being back in Seattle for the Mariners record 116 win season, Ichiro's "rookie" year and the All-Star game at Safeco and 2) not being stuck in Anchorage after the 9/11 attacks like my friends (and that bitch) did for days.
Anyways...I'll always think of that dark period in my life, the month of no-darkness in central AK, with something short of glee when I hear this song. In many ways the time I spent there was the turning point in my life, enduring pain (physical and emotional) and experiencing things that can't be done in the lower 48.
Reading about your time spent in the middle of nowhere brought back fond memories of my own summer in Kenai: walking in streams so thick with salmon you could catch them with your bare hands; seeing the Northern Lights during a night fish; receiving a mix tape from a friend back in the lower 48 introducing me to "Jellyfish"; and my own romantic troubles. Worked out okay though as we've been married 20 years now. Thanks for sharing.
You might want to drink only half the bottle of cough syrup next time...
I'd shop in a supermarket that played this.
Neil Finn is one of the greatest song writers in popular music. Nuff Said.
I started a novel while I was there, entitled "My Private Wilderness" which was partly based on the feeling this song gave me. Too bad my on-again-off-again girlfriend (the unfaithful one) got assigned to my location and went OUT OF HER WAY to get drunk and sleep with any/everyone she could. It was so bad that I broke my contract and left after a mostly enjoyable (outside of the grueling GF situation) month in the middle-of-nowhere Alaska where even the internet didn't venture. So much fun and yet so much misery all in 5 weeks.
The main positives of leaving early were 1) being back in Seattle for the Mariners record 116 win season, Ichiro's "rookie" year and the All-Star game at Safeco and 2) not being stuck in Anchorage after the 9/11 attacks like my friends (and that bitch) did for days.
Anyways...I'll always think of that dark period in my life, the month of no-darkness in central AK, with something short of glee when I hear this song. In many ways the time I spent there was the turning point in my life, enduring pain (physical and emotional) and experiencing things that can't be done in the lower 48.
As an ex Alaskan, oh yeah, I get it. This song reminds me of the how I was getting ready to leave some soul-sucking misery behind myself. In Central Alaska. I left a year before you arrived, Lizard King. But that wilderness, that light, that air, those mountains and rivers...
I'd shop in a supermarket that played this.
Sydney Opera House forecourt after Crowded House was inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame. November 2016
Nice one, Bill. I see you played this same date 2 years back. Love RP
I was living in Oregon about a million years ago, and Neil Finn did a radio interview at KINK.FM in Portland. He was jet-lagged, had just finished a long tour, and was about half-nuts, but the interview he gave was wonderful. He divulged things I'm sure he wishes he could take back, but listening to him doing an acoustic version of a song he'd written long before Crowded House, I was an instant fan. Neil Finn is just amazing, in any incarnation. And the Finn Brothers are a double-whammy. If I can find some of their music, singularly or collectively, I'll try to upload them. After that, it'll be up to TPTB...
You don't actually. That is a delusion. You know of a person who may have been real (lets say he actually existed since historical record suggests that someone like him did) in a mostly fictional book who died nearly 2000 years ago. He is not your friend any more than Harry Potter is.
Hehehe