Weekend Rewind: Six Neil Finn greats

Neil Finn. Photo / Richard Robinson

Neil Finn is performing a one-off charity concert at the Auckland Town Hall tonight - a retrospective show featuring songs from right through his long career. NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner looks back at some of Finn’s great great musical moments.

I Got You

An enduring crowd favourite, 1980's I Got You was one of the first songs Neil Finn wrote for Split Enz, and he was still a relatively new addition to the band when it became a big hit at home and abroad, and a significant breakthrough in the band's quest for international success. The music video for the song was directed by fellow band member Noel Crombie.

You can see the I Got You music video here:

History Never Repeats

I Got You was from Split Enz' True Colours album. The follow-up album Waiata spawned another Neil Finn-penned hit in History Never Repeats. Once again the music video was directed by Noel Crombie - and it features his distinctive costume designs, the classic Split Enz makeup, as well as giant beach balls, a hula hoop and more. The video was one of the first (the 12th to be precise) to be broadcast on US MTV after it launched in August 1981.

Watch History Never Repeats here:

Message to My Girl

By 1984, Split Enz were in a time of transition. Tim Finn had just completed his first solo album and was soon to leave the band, while brother Neil's presence in Split Enz was strengthening. Either intentionally or perhaps just by accident, the music video for Neil's now classic Message to My Girl seems to foreshadow the changing of the guard, when the Finn brothers walk past each other in opposite directions.

View the Message to My Girl music video here:

Don't dream it's over

Two years later, Split Enz had broken up and Neil had his own band Crowded House - and his greatest hit Don't Dream it's Over was at number two on the US chart. Australian director Alex Proyas based the evocative music video on locations from the band members' childhoods. Don't Dream It's Over remains one of the biggest international hits by a New Zealand artist.

You can see the music video here:

Four Seasons in One Day

The first Crowded House music video to be made in New Zealand was Four Seasons in one Day, in 1992. Director Kerry Brown and producer Bruce Sheridan wanted to emphasise the surreal, fantasy elements of the song, using distinctly NZ imagery. Locations include the beaches and dense bush of the South Island's West Coast, the plains of Central Otago and the Victorian architecture of Oamaru. Scenes of an Anzac Day ceremony and marching girls also highlight the homeland setting.

Watch Four Seasons in One Day here:

Finn For A Day

Crowded House broke up in 1996 and Neil launched a successful solo career, though he has since re-formed Crowded House, and still sometimes works with his brother Tim as the Finn Brothers, not to mention a few other family combos. Back in 2001 he embarked on a solo tour of New Zealand, with a bit of a difference. He challenged his perfectionist instincts by playing with a changing local line-up at each gig: mostly unknown fans, offered a chance to play with their hero. The performers ranged from veterans to teen guitarist-singer Jon Hume (four years away from the Australian Top 20 with band Evermore). Producer/director Paul Casserly covered the tour in the documentary Finn For a Day.

Watch Finn For a Day here:

You can see a more comprehensive selection of Neil Finn material in this NZ On Screen Spotlight collection.