Song Of The Day 1/30/2014: Tim Finn - "Fraction Too Much Friction"

Remembering KPOP: Tim and Neil Finn are brothers from New Zealand. Neil was the most amenable front man for Split Enz and later Crowded House. Tim was also in Split Enz, and also in Crowded House a little. Neil sang lead on Split Enz's one big crossover hit, "I Got You." But Tim sang one of their most poignant songs, "Six Months On a Leaky Boat," which the BBC banned because they thought it was about the Falklands invasion, although it was recorded well before that rather overbearing military movement happened. Later on Tim Finn recorded a version of the song with Australian kiddie music titans The Wiggles, briefly panicking the Teletubbies into building bomb shelters. There were no casualties, unless you count the live rabbits, who weren't adding all that much to the Teletubbies anyway.

Tim made a solo album called Escapade, and KPOP loved "Fraction Too Much Friction." Sort of echoes Roxy Music's "Avalon," sped up a little and fed through "The Banana Boat Song." Very engaging. Romantic disillusionment and the compromise of will and valor are the themes of this song. It came with a pretty foolproof hook, but back in those days mainstream rock radio also needed fishing lures and domestic beer sponsorships to put something on their playlists.

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