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Don't Dream It's Over: The Remarkable Life of Neil Finn
Don't Dream It's Over is the first biography to focus exclusively on Neil Finn, the man who wrote the timeless hits of Split Enz and Crowded House.
In early 1980, 21-year-old Neil Mullane Finn wrote 'I Got You', which became the signature song and biggest hit for the Kiwi band Split Enz, co-founded by Neil's big brother Tim several years earlier. Over the next four decades, Neil not only nurtured one of the finest heads of hair in music, but crafted hit after hit--'Don't Dream It's Over', 'Better Be Home Soon', 'One Step Ahead', 'Into Temptation' and more--for Split Enz, for his own chart-topping band Crowded House, and as a solo act. In 2018, he joined international superstars Fleetwood Mac, who added 'Don't Dream It's Over' to their sets. Neil is the most successful singer-songwriter of his generation from this end of the planet-and probably the most respected.
Neil has endured his share of challenges. There was massive conflict with his older brother, especially when Tim was briefly invited to join Crowded House in 1990; the tragic death of close friend and Crowded House bandmate Paul Hester; and his difficult early days in England with Split Enz, surviving, but only just, on the dole. Stir in his devout Catholic upbringing, a marriage to Sharon that has somehow lasted more than 40 years-a miracle in the world of entertainment-and the efforts of his sons, Liam and Elroy, to also pursue careers as musicians, and the result is one of the most inspiring musical sagas of recent times.
In early 1980, 21-year-old Neil Mullane Finn wrote 'I Got You', which became the signature song and biggest hit for the Kiwi band Split Enz, co-founded by Neil's big brother Tim several years earlier. Over the next four decades, Neil not only nurtured one of the finest heads of hair in music, but crafted hit after hit--'Don't Dream It's Over', 'Better Be Home Soon', 'One Step Ahead', 'Into Temptation' and more--for Split Enz, for his own chart-topping band Crowded House, and as a solo act. In 2018, he joined international superstars Fleetwood Mac, who added 'Don't Dream It's Over' to their sets. Neil is the most successful singer-songwriter of his generation from this end of the planet-and probably the most respected.
Neil has endured his share of challenges. There was massive conflict with his older brother, especially when Tim was briefly invited to join Crowded House in 1990; the tragic death of close friend and Crowded House bandmate Paul Hester; and his difficult early days in England with Split Enz, surviving, but only just, on the dole. Stir in his devout Catholic upbringing, a marriage to Sharon that has somehow lasted more than 40 years-a miracle in the world of entertainment-and the efforts of his sons, Liam and Elroy, to also pursue careers as musicians, and the result is one of the most inspiring musical sagas of recent times.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2023
10 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Apter
50 books50 followersJeff Apter is the author of more than 30 books, many dealing with the world of music. He has written biographies of Keith Urban, Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC, Jeff Buckley and the Bee Gees. As ghostwriter, he has worked with ARIA Hall of Famers Kasey Chambers and Richard Clapton, and AC/DC’s Mark Evans. He was also the creative consultant for the award–nominated live production A State of Grace: The Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley and spent four years on staff at Rolling Stone Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 2, 2023
Thank you Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy of this book for review.
I grew up listening to Crowded House. Reading this brought back so many memories. Loved the mention of other bands such as Pearl Jam and other 90's grunge music. I highly recommend to anyone who grew up in the 80/90's and loved Crowded House.
I grew up listening to Crowded House. Reading this brought back so many memories. Loved the mention of other bands such as Pearl Jam and other 90's grunge music. I highly recommend to anyone who grew up in the 80/90's and loved Crowded House.
November 13, 2023
What an amazing journey, this book celebrates the journey of Neil's successful career spans over 40+ years. As a fan of Neil, having grown up in NZ and listened to Crowded house as a kid and listened to my parents play Split Ends I was very familiar with his journey.
It was super nostalgic for me, in Neil's younger years talking about growing up in Auckland and the beginning of his music career. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, of course I broke out to Crowded House music as I read the book.
Thanks so much to the team at Allen and Unwin Australia for my copy of this book, I absolutely loved it.
It was super nostalgic for me, in Neil's younger years talking about growing up in Auckland and the beginning of his music career. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, of course I broke out to Crowded House music as I read the book.
Thanks so much to the team at Allen and Unwin Australia for my copy of this book, I absolutely loved it.
August 9, 2023
This happened, then this happened, then this happened. Limited source material makes it read like a 250-page Wikipedia entry.
July 11, 2024
I can't believe it took me 10 months and numerous times getting this out of the library to get through this book. I agree with the reviews that say this reads like a long ass wikipedia page.
This would be a great biography for someone who has no idea who Neil Finn is and therefore would be interested in learning about Finn's life. But for a kiwi who grew up during the height of his career - This was all stuff I pretty much knew. There was no insight, not personal take from Finn to give this a different spin on commonly know antidotes of his life.
This would be a great biography for someone who has no idea who Neil Finn is and therefore would be interested in learning about Finn's life. But for a kiwi who grew up during the height of his career - This was all stuff I pretty much knew. There was no insight, not personal take from Finn to give this a different spin on commonly know antidotes of his life.
March 9, 2024
Jeff Apter is Australia’s go-to-guy on music biographies. By some counts he’s done nearly 30 of them and had previously written a biography of the Finn brothers together back in 2011.
This one focuses on Neil alone, particularly his slow genesis into a world-respected songwriter - certainly, alongside Paul Kelly (who is more poet than anything) - the best songwriter that Australia and New Zealand has produced. His influence was most evident in how Split Enz were transformed from a fringe, Roxy Music/Genesis-wannabe art rock band to a ‘new wave’ power-pop force, thanks largely to his ear for a hook.
Being a keen (if amateur) musician myself, I tend to be a bit hard on music biographies that focus overwhelmingly on the prosaic ‘this happened, then that happened’ tales of album, tour, bust-up, reunion variety and not enough on the music itself or the historical and cultural milieu in which it was made. And I think ‘Don’t Dream, it’s Over’ falls into that category. There is little analysis, for instance, of the ‘too-young-for-Woodstock-too-old-for-punk’ generation to which Neil belonged and how that might have shaped his musical outlook. He was born the same year as Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Paul Weller, Kate Bush, Thurston Moore and many others - a rare vintage. Neither is there much of an appreciation of the particular Kiwi influence in Neil’s music and outlook, one that was echoed in dozens of great bands in Australia at the time.
I’m not sure of the background to the production of this work, but it reads to me like an archetypal unauthorised biography - not in the sense of airing the artist’s dirty linen (I very much doubt Neil has any), but in the sense of not really revealing anything about the subject that has not already been published. In fact, this book, as competently written as it is, reads like Apter just went to the library and copied and pasted snippets from all the interviews and articles over the years.
To be fair, it IS a useful overview and there were a few revelatory details for me - like Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera giving an 19-year-old Neil a crash course in playing electric guitar. (Up to joining Split Enz, he had only played acoustic). I also like Apter’s appreciation of Nick Seymour’s contribution to Crowded House as the creator of their look and as a steadying foil between Neil and the mercurial Hester.
But overall I thought with Neil’s full participation this could have been so much more, shedding more retrospective light on his musical evolution, his inheritance from McCartney, Ray Davies and others, and what he learnt from all the other musicians he encountered over the years.
As it is, ‘Don’t Dream, It’s Over’ really adds up to another respectful, decent but unremarkable rock bio that has been quickly turned around for the fans and which really tells you nothing you weren’t already aware of. For many people, that will be enough. But it all feels a little bland and underdone to me.
(On a personal note, I’ve always felt a bit like Neil’s under-achieving doppelgänger. We’re exactly the same vintage - 1958 - , both born in NZ, both of Irish ancestry and both educated by the Marist Brothers. I was in bands in Auckland around the same time. We both migrated to Australia with our Kiwi-born partners and had two kids. Some people even say I look like him.
But there, unfortunately, the similarities end. I was never more than an amateur musician, but instead gravitated to journalism and am now relegated, in semi-retirement, to writing Good Reads reviews of the great and famous).
This one focuses on Neil alone, particularly his slow genesis into a world-respected songwriter - certainly, alongside Paul Kelly (who is more poet than anything) - the best songwriter that Australia and New Zealand has produced. His influence was most evident in how Split Enz were transformed from a fringe, Roxy Music/Genesis-wannabe art rock band to a ‘new wave’ power-pop force, thanks largely to his ear for a hook.
Being a keen (if amateur) musician myself, I tend to be a bit hard on music biographies that focus overwhelmingly on the prosaic ‘this happened, then that happened’ tales of album, tour, bust-up, reunion variety and not enough on the music itself or the historical and cultural milieu in which it was made. And I think ‘Don’t Dream, it’s Over’ falls into that category. There is little analysis, for instance, of the ‘too-young-for-Woodstock-too-old-for-punk’ generation to which Neil belonged and how that might have shaped his musical outlook. He was born the same year as Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Paul Weller, Kate Bush, Thurston Moore and many others - a rare vintage. Neither is there much of an appreciation of the particular Kiwi influence in Neil’s music and outlook, one that was echoed in dozens of great bands in Australia at the time.
I’m not sure of the background to the production of this work, but it reads to me like an archetypal unauthorised biography - not in the sense of airing the artist’s dirty linen (I very much doubt Neil has any), but in the sense of not really revealing anything about the subject that has not already been published. In fact, this book, as competently written as it is, reads like Apter just went to the library and copied and pasted snippets from all the interviews and articles over the years.
To be fair, it IS a useful overview and there were a few revelatory details for me - like Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera giving an 19-year-old Neil a crash course in playing electric guitar. (Up to joining Split Enz, he had only played acoustic). I also like Apter’s appreciation of Nick Seymour’s contribution to Crowded House as the creator of their look and as a steadying foil between Neil and the mercurial Hester.
But overall I thought with Neil’s full participation this could have been so much more, shedding more retrospective light on his musical evolution, his inheritance from McCartney, Ray Davies and others, and what he learnt from all the other musicians he encountered over the years.
As it is, ‘Don’t Dream, It’s Over’ really adds up to another respectful, decent but unremarkable rock bio that has been quickly turned around for the fans and which really tells you nothing you weren’t already aware of. For many people, that will be enough. But it all feels a little bland and underdone to me.
(On a personal note, I’ve always felt a bit like Neil’s under-achieving doppelgänger. We’re exactly the same vintage - 1958 - , both born in NZ, both of Irish ancestry and both educated by the Marist Brothers. I was in bands in Auckland around the same time. We both migrated to Australia with our Kiwi-born partners and had two kids. Some people even say I look like him.
But there, unfortunately, the similarities end. I was never more than an amateur musician, but instead gravitated to journalism and am now relegated, in semi-retirement, to writing Good Reads reviews of the great and famous).
December 15, 2025
Firstly, I am honoured, grateful and forever blessed that my parents raised me on outstanding and timeless music.
Reading this reminded me just how small NZ is, furthermore how small the music circle is.
It's crazy that I read this right after seeing Elliot Finn playing in Elliot & Vincent at the Powerstation, reading this with my next read being Shayne Carters Dead People I Have Known which was mentioned, and also mentioned was Sly Stone who was recently inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame which I happened to watch last night. So a timely read to say the least!
But absolutely in awe of the work and talent of Neil Finn but also the Finns as a unit. Massive influence here in Aotearoa and beyond. What an incredible haul of collaborations with insaine musicans.
I was definitely geeking out the entire time. I enjoyed that the book was written from an outside perspective which provided interesting insight. A wonderful read that has incredible moments and heartbreaking moments. Really just makes me so so incredibly grateful for music.
As said by Mr White at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame 2025:
Great music has no expiration date.
Reading this reminded me just how small NZ is, furthermore how small the music circle is.
It's crazy that I read this right after seeing Elliot Finn playing in Elliot & Vincent at the Powerstation, reading this with my next read being Shayne Carters Dead People I Have Known which was mentioned, and also mentioned was Sly Stone who was recently inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame which I happened to watch last night. So a timely read to say the least!
But absolutely in awe of the work and talent of Neil Finn but also the Finns as a unit. Massive influence here in Aotearoa and beyond. What an incredible haul of collaborations with insaine musicans.
I was definitely geeking out the entire time. I enjoyed that the book was written from an outside perspective which provided interesting insight. A wonderful read that has incredible moments and heartbreaking moments. Really just makes me so so incredibly grateful for music.
As said by Mr White at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame 2025:
Great music has no expiration date.
August 18, 2023
I agree with the guy who said it’s a bit like a Wikipedia entry. It reads like a shortened version of the longer “Something so strong” from decades ago. The author is obviously a fan to the point of no critique or criticism (basically) raising its ugly head.
O.K but a little disappointing.
O.K but a little disappointing.
December 29, 2023
A good overview of Neil Finn’s life and career which shares some interesting behind the scenes stories. I was a teen in the mid to late 90’s so this book brought back memories and also gave me some context that I was not aware of at the time.
December 7, 2024
Crowded House is a great band, but this book really raises an interesting question: what if the band was actually called Crowded Gay Bathhouse? And what if all their songs were filled with gay sexual innuendos?
It really makes you think.
It really makes you think.
September 2, 2023
Boring.
September 4, 2023
Enjoyable mostly for fans but better than many celebrity biographies.
September 11, 2023
As a big Neil Finn fan, and a lover of his song writing, I thoroughly enjoyed this journey through Neil's life to date.
September 19, 2023
A useful record of Neil's musical activities. Good to read in conjunction with Spotify or Youtube whenever any specific songs or videos are referenced.
September 22, 2023
A very readable and enjoyable look back on Neil Finn's musical life thus far. Over 40 years of music, bands, family and great tales.
January 12, 2024
Enjoyable read for every fan of music. A fascinating insight into the life and music of an extraordinary artist.
You can tell that the author is in awe of the talented Finn family.
You can tell that the author is in awe of the talented Finn family.
Read
May 24, 2024My interview with Apter discussing the book here:
https://umfm.com/programming/broadcas...
https://umfm.com/programming/broadcas...
January 7, 2025
Not written by Neil himself
But a good biography otherwise
But a good biography otherwise
January 17, 2025
Insight view into the life of the split enzer and crowded house resident. Interesting to rread what he did during the fallow years when the music output seemed quite low.
May 7, 2025
Neil Finn is a musical maestro. This well written book captures the soundtrack of a generation.
October 11, 2025
I enjoyed maybe the first three quarters of the book, then I found it a bit slow.
July 6, 2024
I have always been curious about the origins of Neil Finn, and this book extensively filled in his backstory. I may not have been around back in the day when Crowded House was in its prime, but this book managed to take me back anyway.
Whilst a bit hard to follow at times, with all the names of people involved and the comings and going’s of members of the band (I never realised how cold Neil could be, to just drop people from the band like that 😂), it was still thoroughly enjoyable.
I loved the inclusion of the many songs that inspired Neil’s music, and those that were topping the charts in those times. I’ve been adding every song that was mentioned onto a playlist and it’s significantly broadened my daily listening horizons.
An informative book about a significant man in Aussie/Kiwi music history.
Whilst a bit hard to follow at times, with all the names of people involved and the comings and going’s of members of the band (I never realised how cold Neil could be, to just drop people from the band like that 😂), it was still thoroughly enjoyable.
I loved the inclusion of the many songs that inspired Neil’s music, and those that were topping the charts in those times. I’ve been adding every song that was mentioned onto a playlist and it’s significantly broadened my daily listening horizons.
An informative book about a significant man in Aussie/Kiwi music history.
January 11, 2024
He did this, then this, then this and so on. Didn't learn anything much new about him. Lacking grit. Neil is a living legend.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews