Trivia / Crowded House

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• Breakup Breakout: Crowded House was this for Neil who was previously second in command in Split Enz.
• B-Side: Plenty through their single releases. Many were collected on Afterglow. Many other B-sides were live performances of songs from Neil's previous band, Split Enz.
  • A rare B-side was a cover of "Throw Your Arms Around Me" by fellow Australian band Hunters & Collectors, fronted by Nick Seymour's brother, Mark.
• Creator Backlash: Neil and Nick have both criticized the B-Side, "Dr. Livingston", the B-side of "Four Seasons in One Day" which saw wide-release on Afterglow.
• Creator Breakdown: Time On Earth is a largely a tribute to fallen comrade Paul Hester. Needless to say, Tear Jerkers abound.
• The Pete Best: Craig Hooper, the band's original guitarist/keyboardist. He left the band before they moved to the US and changed their name into Crowded House.
• Two-Hit Wonder: In the U.S., where "Don't Dream It's Over" peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and their follow-up single "Something So Strong" hit #7. The band would never again chart inside the top 40, though the band had more hits on alternative radio. ("Better Be Home Soon", the first single from sophomore album "Temple of Low Men" barely fell short, peaking at #42.)
• What Could Have Been:
  • Bones Hillman was in the running for the role of bassist.
  • Woodface (and Tim's joining the band for that record) grew out of work on songs originally written by Neil and Tim Finn as a follow-up to their first record as a duo, Finn. They finally got around to making that second record in 2004.
  • After Tim left, Neil considered inviting Johnny Marr to join as the fourth member. Marr later said that he would have joined if he was asked.
  • Time On Earth and Crowded House's reformation grew out of songs Neil Finn & Nick Seymour were working on for what had planned to be Neil's third solo album. Neil finally released a third solo record, with help from his son Liam and members of Pajama Club, six years later.

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