Aug 7, 2022
— Phil Judd in the music video for Whisper
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— Phil Judd in the music video for Whisper
The Swingers - "Practical Joker" (1981)
"Hey, killjoy! Do you remember the time your cigarette stuck in the gap in your front teeth and I put it out with a fire extinguisher and a cup of hot coffee?"
“Writing letters to my friends, Telling them all about split ends”
↳ Early Split Enz Footage circa. 1975
favourite bands [2/?] - split enz
“how would you describe your music?” “neoclassicosmoidalcosmeticmental rock.”
Split Enz
I know I already mentioned Split Enz in some previous posts, including a video clip and etc., but I wanted to talk more about them because they were so influential to me.
As related, I discovered the Enz in 1980, was smitten, and immediately set out to learn as much as possible about the band and etc. In the pre-Internet days, this research consisted mostly of looking up magazine articles in the library and that kind of thing. So I eventually learned that they’d been around as a band for a while, since the 70s; had had many different lineups over these years; and were originally from New Zealand, among other factoids.
Back in those days, I thought being a good fan of a band included having every album and knowing every song by that band, so now I had to hunt down the early records (the records released before “True Colours”). Over time I managed to track down all of them at used record shops and let me tell you, if I thought “I Got You” was awesome, I can’t even tell you what I thought about this early stuff. It was seriously life-altering.
The early Enz are best experienced through visual media, so here is one of my fave Enz songs ever, “Sweet Dreams:”
Keep in mind this was 1976, predating MTV and computer effects. It’s not goth, but this type of arty music and visuals definitely influenced the future punk, new wave, and ultimately goth aesthetics.
Side note: the “bald” man singing in this video is Phil Judd, who left the band too early. While I will always have a soft spot for the 1980s Enz music because that’s how I first knew them, the early/70s Enz stuff that Phil was involved with is definitely far superior in overall songwriting quality. Phil went on to form the Swingers, who had a big hit with “Counting the Beat” and were in the movie “Stardust,” and later Schnell Fenster, and he continues to release incredible solo music to this day (check out his website at philjudd [dot] com). He also appears to still have a full head of hair, now that he’s not shaving it off and painting his head white, ha ha.
Phil Judd, guitarist and front man from the lands down under, has turned 64 yesterday! 💐 His great skills and his unstoppable creativity helped his friend Tim Finn develop his own abilities, and the two gave birth to Split Enz together, making it the most influential NZ art-rock act. Now here's the Sparkle's gift to him, with a wish for his birthday. I hope he and his friends get back together, so that his life may change for the better. ⭐⭐ Thanks to the bright @matineeidyll for having reminded me of this date.
Split Enz - ‘Spellbound’ - 1975
Live on Grunt Machine, with this early lineup:
Philip Judd: Vocals/Guitar Timothy Finn: Piano Jonathan Michael Chunn: Bass Wally Wilkinson: Lead Guitar Eddie Rayner: Keyboards Noel Crombie: Percussion Emlyn Crowther: Drums
The Swingers photographed by Peter Tocher, 1979