Rocktrospectiva: The Finest And Succesfully "Crowded House" Turns 40

Released on 1 August 1986 "Crowded House" was the debut studio album by Australian/New Zealand rock band Crowded House, produced by Mitchell Froom, it includes the international hit single "Don't Dream It's Over", as well as the singles "Mean to Me", "World Where You Live", "Now We're Getting Somewhere", and "Something So Strong".

After the breakup of Split Enz in 1984, Neil Finn and drummer Paul Hester decided to form a new band. Bass player Nick Seymour approached Finn during the after party for the Melbourne show of the Split Enz farewell tour and asked if he could try out for the new band. Former Swingers and soon-to-be Midnight Oil bass player Bones Hillman was also a candidate, but it was Seymour's playing on the demo for "That's What I Call Love" that earned him the spot. The group, then named The Mullanes, also included the Reels guitarist Craig Hooper, who left the band before they signed with Capitol Records. 

Capitol rejected the name "The Mullanes", as well as alternatives such as "Largest Living Things". The name "Crowded House" was adopted after the trio flew to Los Angeles to record the album and were provided with a very cramped apartment to live in. Four decades later, the album remained as a breakers moment in Antipodes music history, but while Split Enz had enjoyed major success in Australia and New Zealand, the band’s commercial breakthrough into the United States remained elusive, something this band managed to changed that trajectory. 

Talking about history, we have to go back with Split Enz's final studio album "See Ya 'Round" which arrived in November 1984 following the departure of founding member Tim Finn. Neil Finn suddenly found himself leading a group that had largely been defined by his older brother’s presence. By his own account, he felt uncertain about carrying the band forward. The resulting album was assembled from a limited collection of Neil Finn songs and supplemented by material from other band members. Yet buried within demos from that period were early versions of songs that would eventually become cornerstones of Crowded House. Primitive versions of Something So Strong, I Walk Away and Can’t Carry On were already taking shape as Neil Finn began moving beyond the Split Enz framework.

Recording sessions took place primarily at Capitol Recording Studios and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. Producer Mitchell Froom helped shape a sound that retained the melodic sophistication of Split Enz while stripping away many of its theatrical elements. The album's clean arrangements and emphasis on songcraft proved crucial to its appeal. Neil Finn’s songwriting sat at the centre, supported by Seymour’s melodic bass playing and Hester’s dynamic drumming. The breakthrough came with the classic "Don’t Dream It's Over." Released as a single in late 1986, the song reached No. 2 in the United States and became one of the most recognised songs ever written by an Australian or New Zealand artist. "Something So Strong" followed as another major international hit, while "Mean To Me" and "World Where You Live" further established the band’s identity.

The album also carried traces of its Split Enz heritage. I Walk Away, originally the lead single from See Ya ‘Round, was re-recorded for international editions of the album after Capitol recognised that US audiences had never been exposed to the earlier version. The revised recording helped bridge the gap between Finn’s past and future, symbolising the transition from one era to another.

Crowded House was just more than a successful debut and well-received by critics and audiences like-same, it also represented a rare example of a band successfully emerging from the shadow of a beloved predecessor and creating something with an even broader global reach. 

 

Crowded House Track List:  

 

1. Mean To Me

2. World Where You Live

3. Now We're Getting Somewhere

4. Don't Dream It's Over

5. Love You 'Til The Day I Die

6. Something So Strong

7. Hole In The River

8. Can't Carry On

9. I Walk Away

10. Tombstone

11. That's What I Call Love  

The Anniversary: MTV's Twin Channel M2 Was Launched 30 Years Ago.

On this date 30 years ago, MTV officially expanded its music video empire thanks to a commercial-free, second channel: M2 later know as MTV2, the network was created as an all-music-video spin-off to offset its parent channel's shift toward general and reality programming. 

So by 1996, several indie rock and pop outfits were finding their way onto MTV, but ghess what?, it was the days in which the original network started to changed music videos for reality shows. So why launch a second channel focused solely on music videos when the original was seemingly getting the job done?.

The reality shows were already springing up across MTV in the early/mid '90s, and the company wanted to keep fans satisfied with non-stop music videos, decided to go with this new network named at the time M2 -- which would later be rebranded as MTV2 in 1999 -- attempted to reach that goal, and was also used as an opportunity to feature a higher diversity of music videos than MTV was doing at the time. The channel launched via satellite with Beck's "Where It's At", the network inaugural VJs where the 120 Minutes host "Matt Pinfield", Rolling Stones' Jancee Dunn &  radio-industry veteran Kris Kosach, targetting viewers around 23/25 age to up.

Even when we know that MTV betrayed its music video roots for all its reality programming, 30 years ago, believe it or not, critics were having very similar conversations back in the mid-'90s. In fact, when M2 launched in '96, music writer Sean Piccoli wrote "MTV has" put some truth back into the promise of their title: Music Television. And they’ve made it harder to dislike them for all the dreck they pass off as programming on the original channel. Watching the foundling M2, whose start up and first hour were simulcast this week by MTV, it was stunning to see in this new venture how far the parent network has strayed from its roots."

He also highlighted some of the channel's additional programming: “M2’s only nonmusical programming, per se, came in a pair of minute-long segments featuring artists talking about things they love. In the first piece, Porno For Pyros frontman Perry Farrell, grinning like a dope against a backdrop of animated wallpaper, talked about getting hold of a bootleg tape with 20 versions of a little-known Jimi Hendrix song, "Gypsy Boy." In the second piece, Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton reminisced about the heyday of urban break-dancing.” As he noted, M2 played 15 music videos in its first hour of broadcast, including clips from PJ Harvey, Hayden, Gary Young and A Tribe Called Quest,  then M2 is doing part of its job."

M2/MTV2 spent its first decade playing uninterrupted blocks of alternative, rock, and classic music videos, then gradually introduced lifestyle and comedy shows, eventually dropping music videos entirely around 2017.

Today, MTV2 -- much like its predecessor -- is unrecognizable from what it was when it first launched. Reality TV, comedy programs and game shows have taken hold of the channel, with a few music videos sprinkled in for good measure.

The Anniversary: When MTV Launched A New Era In Music 45 Years Ago.

It was exactly on 1 August, 1981, when Music Television—known as MTV—launched its first broadcast with The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star,"  ushering in a new era of pop music. It was the best of TV combined with the best of radio, video jockey Mark Goodman told the audience in the wee hours of the night. 

The nerwork turned out to be a potent mix, with video becoming as important as the music itself. Among the first videos shown on MTV were Pat Benetar’s “You Better Run,” Rod Stewart’s "She Won’t Dance with Me," and The Who's "You Better You Bet."

 Although MTV wasn't the pioneer of the music video concept—its origins can be traced back to the 1960s with The Beatles and The Monkeys—and in the late 1970s a show emerged that many consider the direct ancestor of MTV: the famous "PopClips" on Nickelodeon, conceived by former Monkeys member Michael Nesmith. It only lasted one season, but its brief contribution was fundamental to the arrival of MTV. 

Of course, every beginning has its challenges, even for MTV. The debut couldn't even be seen in New York, and many of the producers recount traveling to New Jersey to watch the launch in a bar. There were other places where it was available from the very beginning. The truth is, it's not known for sure who actually saw the channel's debut on August 1, 1981. Many of us remember it and were able to watch it because VH1, for its 30th anniversary, dedicated the first 24 hours to its broadcast, and today at least the first two hours are available on YouTube. After the first clip, everything went silent for a few moments, then Pat Benatar appeared, followed by a brief description of the evolution of human sound, and then more videos, which were scarce at the time, many of them from years earlier. There was even a Rod Stewart video from 1976. 

In those first few hours, viewers could watch REO Speedwagon, The Who, Blondie, Styx, The Pretenders, Robin Lane & The Chartbusters, Split Enz, and April. Wine, among others, and then the official presentation of the first VJs: the great Mark Goodman, J.J. Jackson, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, and Nina Blackwood. It's curious how Goodman comments on how quickly time has passed since the channel's launch, and now it reaches its 45 anniversary, unfortunately with more sorrow than glory. 

The network gradually took off until the "I Want My MTV" campaign, promoted by luminaries like Hall & Oates, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Billy Idol, The Police, and others, aimed to get cable distributors to include it in their programming. Little by little, its influence became omnipresent, with virtually no competition. Although programs like "Night Tracks" appeared on NBC over time, it wasn't the same. MTV's success made music videos essential for established artists and newcomers aspiring to success, benefiting the music industry by giving space to Black artists like Michael Jackson. This was also due to pressure from other artists, since initially there were hardly any Black artists on the programming. Then came "Thriller," and everything changed. The massive success of this video, which many consider the best in MTV history (for me, it's "Take On Me"), encouraged the creation of the VMAs in 1984, whose first ceremony was simple yet successful. Setting the course, and then, even though they continue to be delivered, their influence or value is worthless. 

Obviously the network evolved, delivering memorable moments and programs. For example, the famous "The Basement Tapes," the support for indie music in "120 Minutes," the metal in "Head Bangers Ball," the rap segment "Yo MTV Raps," the "Top 20 Countdown," the Spring Break specials, and the famous "MTV Unplugged," which began with XTC's performance and spawned memorable moments like those with Nirvana and R.E.M. Then came the creation of its younger sibling, VH1, MTV Europe, followed by MTV Latino, Alternative Nation, and AMP. Just as the channel was beginning to decline in the mid-90s, MTV2 breathed new life into the channel, recapturing its golden age and remaining on the air until its cancellation in 2003, leaving us with nothing. There were key moments like the famous "Unplugged," whose idea originated from an acoustic show with XTC, but it was Eric who truly made it happen. Clapton, Paul McCartney, R.E.M., and Nirvana showed that the format would reach massive heights. And what can be said about the VMAs, which after 1985 evolved into something unmissable? I remember the ceremony being considered a massive and unmissable event, until it stopped being innovative and enjoyable from the late 90s onwards. 

Unfortunately, little by little, the network content began to fade and replace music videos with trash reality TV, first was "Real World" back in 1992, and from then on it wouldn't stop, without knowing it, we were witnessing the beginning of the end, until everything became unbearable. Unfortunately over the decades, MTV went through many different phases before ultimately fading as cable TV was replaced by the internet—but not without forever leaving its mark on music.