Crowded House at the ARIAs

The Trans-Tasman icons have been nominated for 36 ARIAs across their stellar career.

Over more than 30 years and six studio albums, Crowded House have positioned themselves in a very special place in the hearts of music fans on both sides of the Tasman.
 
The band was formed in Melbourne in 1985 after singer-songwriter Neil Finn and drummer Paul Hester decided to continue working together following the break-up of their previous band, New Zealand icons Split Enz. Joined by bassist Nick Seymour, the group was originally known as The Mullanes before changing to their more well-known moniker while recording their debut album in Los Angeles, at the behest of their record company.
 
Crowded House made their first appearance on the ARIA Charts when they released the single ‘Mean To Me’ (#26 Aug. ’86). Their self-titled debut album was released in August 1986, but it wasn’t until June of 1987 that it took out its first and only week at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album also spawned the singles ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ (#8 Mar. ’87), ‘World Where You Live’ (#43 Apr. ’87) and ‘Something So Strong’ (#18 Jul. ’87). Crowded House went on to be accredited 6x Platinum.
 
At the very first ARIA Awards, held on 2 March 1987, the band were nominated for seven awards. They won three categories: Best New Talent, Song Of The Year and Best Video.
 
The next year, at the second ARIAs, Crowded House won Best Group.
 
Temple Of Low Men, the band’s second album, debuted at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in July 1988. It contained their biggest hit on the ARIA Singles Chart, ‘Better Be Home Soon’ (#2 Jul. ’88), as well as ‘When You Come’ (#27 Oct. ’88). Being accredited 3x Platinum, Temple Of Low Men and its singles received nine ARIAs nominations. The band took out four awards, the biggest being Album Of The Year.
 
After a break, Crowded House returned in mid-1991, this time with the addition of Neil’s brother Tim to the line-up. Much of the material that would appear on Woodface was originally written by the Finn brothers for an intended album together. Tim allowed Neil to use the songs for Crowded House as long as he became a member of the band. The album debuted at #2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, eventually going Platinum.
 
Woodface featured five singles that charted in the ARIA Top 50: ‘Chocolate Cake’ (#20 Jun. ’91), ‘Fall At Your Feet’ (#31 Oct. ’91), ‘It’s Only Natural’ (#15 Mar. ’92), ‘Weather With You’ (#27 Jun. ’92) and ‘Four Seasons’ In One Day’ (#47 Jul. ’92).
 
Nominated for five awards at the first ever televised ARIAs in 1992, the band won Best Video for ‘Chocolate Cake’. They also provided the show with one of its most memorable performances.

At the 1993 ARIAs, Crowded House were nominated Single Of The Year and Best Group for ‘Weather With You’, winning the latter and also performing the track at the ceremony.

Released in October 1993, Together Alone became their second straight album to debut at #2 on the ARIA Charts. The album contained the singles ‘Distant Sun’ (#23 Nov. ’93), ‘Nails In My Feet’ (#34 Feb. ’94) and ‘Private Universe’ (#46 Jan. ’95). It received a Platinum accreditation. Across the 1994 and 1995 ARIAs, the album and its singles received five nominations.
 
In June 1996, Crowded House announced they were going to split up. The next month, they released the hits collection Recurring Dream. Containing four songs from each of their studio albums and three new tracks, the album spent ten weeks at #1 in Australia and was accredited 13x Platinum. Two of the new tracks also charted: ‘Everything Is Good For You’ (#10 Jun. ’96) and ‘Not The Girl You Think You Are’ (#37 Sept. ’96).
 
The first iteration of Crowded House played their final live show on 24 November 1996 on the steps on the Sydney Opera House. It was later released as the live album Farewell To The World (#43 Dec. ’06).
 
At the 1997 ARIAs, the band won Highest Selling Album and helped to inducted Paul Kelly into the ARIA Hall Of Fame with a version of his song ‘Leaps And Bounds’.