true colours

Split Enz crested with the teasing melodic frenzy of this new wave shark attack.  The New Zealand musical collective had gone through myriad changes since their formation in 1972 by students at Auckland University.  Their sound developed from the theatrical progressive rock of Mental Notes and Second Thoughts to a more melodic pop sound with a new lineup that saw founding members Mike Chunn and Phil Judd being replaced by Nigel Griggs and Neil Finn.  Neil was the younger brother of founder and new bandleader Tim Finn and his relative inexperience led the group to simplify their arrangements for Dizrythmia and Frenzy.

Tim would explain:  "We concentrated on the music, not the theatrics: skimmed off the fat and left the bare bones of it. What we've got now is simpler and more effective. I got sick of looking like a parrot, singing love songs."

Neil would reflect:   "We never consciously sat down and said 'Let's be commercial.' Maybe there was a subconscious desire to sell records, but we were writing deliberately simple songs because we were sick of 'clever' arrangements."

'True Colours' features Tim Finn on vocals and acoustic guitar;  Neil Finn on vocals and guitar;  Noel Crombie on vocals and percussion;  Malcolm Green on drums;  Nigel Griggs on bass guitar;  and Eddie Rayner on keyboards.  The sessions were produced and engineered by David Tickle with assistant engineer Scott Hemmings at Armstrongs in Melbourne.  It was the first Split Enz album to feature Neil's songs.  

'True Colours'  charted at number forty in the US, thirty-eight in the UK, and number one on Australia and New Zealand.  The US version featured lazer etched vinyl with shapes and colors that could catch the light and was released in several different color configurations.






http://www.frenz.com/







"I Got You" became a smash hit for the group and broke them around the world, going to fifty-three in the US, thirteen in Canada, twelve in the UK, and number one in Australia and New Zealand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmQlBfxh4Us


I got you, that's all I want
I won't forget, that's a whole lot
I don't go out, now that you're in
Sometimes we shout, but that's no problem

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lyin'

Look at you, you're a pageant
You're everything, that I've imagined
Something's wrong, I feel uneasy
You show me, tell me you're not teasin'

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lyin'

There's no doubt, not when I'm with you
When I'm without, I stay in my room
Where do you go, I get no answer
You're always out, it gets on my nerves

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes you can tell that I'm not lying
I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lyin'
I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icBL4ahIWTU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8rejFCjzE0






"I Hope I Never" hit thirty-three in New Zealand and eighteen in Australia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABXcIsmyLJk






"Poor Boy"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-iLqOEd5Y






'True Colours' 
full album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLnjju8zeVI


All songs written and composed by Tim Finn unless noted.

Side A
1. "Shark Attack"   2:52
2. "I Got You" (Neil Finn) 3:24
3. "What's the Matter with You" (N. Finn) 3:02
4. "Double Happy" (Eddie Rayner) 3:15
5. "I Wouldn't Dream of It"   3:14
6. "I Hope I Never"   3:24
Side B
7. "Nobody Takes Me Seriously"   3:32
8. "Missing Person" (N. Finn) 3:32
9. "Poor Boy"   3:19
10. "How Can I Resist Her"   3:26
11. "The Choral Sea" (T. Finn, N. Finn, Rayner, Noel Crombie, Malcolm Green, Nigel Griggs) 4:29

Tim Finn interview 1980
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O518dfxZkP8




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZCxjmkYUPw