[Review] Split Enz: True Colours (1980)

Everybody took them seriously after this album.

Kronomyth 5.0: The busiest men have the most laser.

The Beatles almost singlehandedly created a new product category, the pop group. I realize that we tend to see art and commerce as separate endeavors, but they don’t call it the music business for nothing. When The Beatles disbanded, they left a void in the market that was replaced, successively, by a long list of like-minded artists—Electric Light Orchestra, Squeeze, XTC, etc.—each of whom was touted as “the next Beatles” by someone or another. I mention this because True Colours is, for me, the first album where the Split Enz/Beatles comparison arises.

Until now, I would have told you Split Enz were a very clever pop band who were probably too silly and smart for their own good. The development of Neil Finn as a songwriter, however, tempered the band’s artier designs with awfully catchy melodies and a sincerity that was sometimes missing on their earlier works. It’s Neil’s contributions, particularly I Got You and What’s the Matter with You, that aligned them with musical acts like XTC and Squeeze. Not that Tim Finn wasn’t eminently capable of writing melodic pop songs (cf. Nobody Takes Me Seriously, How Can I Resist Her, I Wouldn’t Dream of It), but the addition of Neil as a viable second songwriter meant that some of Tim’s less-inspired moments (e.g., “Hermit McDermitt”) were left out of the picture. The result is a brilliant album from beginning to end.

It’s fair to say that “I Got You” made the band international stars. An early MTV video of the song received extensive airplay and exposed them to American audiences that were just beginning to develop a taste for new wave music. When the album arrived in stores, it had been cleverly packaged with anti-counterfeit laser etching on one side and released (less cleverly) in a variety of cover color variations (similar to Outlandos d’Amour). Consumers who purchased True Colours hoping to hear more songs like “I Got You” weren’t disappointed. The album brimmed over with melody and invention; even the two instrumentals (The Choral Sea, Double Happy) sparkle. Add a couple of midtempo, dreamy pop numbers (Poor Boy, Missing Person), the frenzied Shark Attack and one of the better torch songs this side of Bryan Ferry (I Hope I Never) and you’ve got a contender for the year’s best album—which, given that 1980 was a watershed moment for new music, is high praise indeed.

Original elpee version

A1. I Got You (Neil Finn) (3:24)
A2. Shark Attack (Tim Finn) (2:52)
A3. What’s the Matter with You (Neil Finn) (3:02)
A4. Double Happy (Eddie Rayner) (3:15)
A5. I Wouldn’t Dream of It (Tim Finn) (3:14)
A6. I Hope I Never (Tim Finn) (4:26)
B1. Nobody Takes Me Seriously (Tm Finn) (3:24)
B2. Missing Person (Neil Finn) (3:32)
B3. Poor Boy (Tim Finn) (3:19)
B4. How Can I Resist Her (Tim Finn) (3:26)
B5. The Choral Sea (Split Enz) (4:29)

40^th anniversary CD bonus tracks
12. Firedrill (live)
13. Hard Act to Follow (live)
14. I Walk Away (live)
15. Log Cabin Fever (live)
16. Lost for Words (live)
17. Ninnee Neez Up (live)
18. Wail (live)

The Players

Noel Crombie (percussion), Neil Finn (guitar, vocals), Tim Finn (vocals), Malcolm Green (drums), Nigel Griggs (bass guitar), Eddie Rayner (keyboards). Produced and engineered by David Tickle.

The Plastic

Released on laser-etched vinyl elpee, elpee and cassette in August 1980 in Australia (Mushroom, L42001, L/C 37167), the UK and the Netherlands (A&M, AMLH/CAM-64822), the US and Canada (A&M, SP-4822) and Japan (A&M, AMP-28018) with picture sleeve. Reached #42 on the UK charts and #40 on the US charts.

1. Re-issued on elpee in Australia (Polydor, ENZ1).
2. Re-issued on compact disc and cassette in the 1980s in the US (A&M, CD/CS-3235) [CD made in Japan].
3. Re-released on remastered compact disc on September 6, 2004 in Australia (Festival, 337982).
4. Re-released on 40^th anniversary remastered, expanded compact disc on June 10, 2022 in the US with 7 bonus tracks.