Split Enz followed the next logical step and travelled to Australia in 1974. The country was a revelation for the Enz, but it was their subsequent time in England which would prove to be the most interesting. Eddie remembers: "There were fantastic gigs, and once we all streaked across the stage - stark naked."
The Enz' unique sound and strange presentation garnered a lot of British press coverage, and the attention of some notable fledgling punks. "I remember playing in London and seeing Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten sitting in the front row. They used to come to our inner London gigs and they'd look at us quite quizzically, and they ripped off our haircuts!"
The band between making records and tours also found time for entertainment with one particularly incident noted in Mike Chunn's new book, Seven Voices. Somehow he and Eddie managed to attend a concert of Australian band Sherbet wearing drag. Eddie's account goes like this: "For some reason we had this harebrained idea that we could go in dressed in drag- I guess that's just because we were young and stupid- and it was really good fun as it turned out."
After the UK, Split Enz embarked on a US tour which saw the departure of Phil Judd. In a state of chaos the band had to plan their next move. Mike came home to recruit a new guitarist. While not immediately obvious the idea soon dawned on him that Neil Finn (Tim's little brother) would be the perfect candidate, and so the next era of the Enz began.
In England the band was at its most creative. While the band was playing great music, however, dire financial straits forced them to return to Australia.
The band's shift in residence coincided with the emergence of Neil Finn as a true songwriting talent. In 1980, the band scored big in Britain and Australasia with Neil's I Got You and the album True Colours. The next few years would see the band constantly at the top in both New Zealand and Australia and making inroads into North America with hits in the Top 5 in Canada.
