- Matt Moffitt
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Matt Moffitt 
Background information Birth name Matthew Moffitt Born 20 August 1956 Origin Sydney, Australia Died 13 August 2003 Genres Rock, post-punk, alternative rock Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter Instruments Vocals, guitar Years active 1972–2003 Labels Giant, CBS Records Australia, Mushroom, Alberts, Warners, Universal Associated acts Matt Finish Website Matt Finish website Notable instruments Telecaster Matt Moffitt (20 August 1956 – 13 August 2003) was an Australian singer-songwriter/guitarist, best known as the vocalist with rock band Matt Finish. From the late seventies until the mid-nineties, Matt Finish was one of Australia's most popular live bands.
Moffitt's best known song with Matt Finish, Short Note, peaked at #18 and has become a standard on Australian radio stations. It was featured in Triple M Network’s Best Songs of the Eighties poll in 2005, in the 2007 Australian feature film The Final Winter, appeared on Wendy Matthews' 2004 album Café Naturale, on numerous compilation albums including Sony BMG's The Essential Australian series released in April 2008, and on the Matt Finish albums Short Note (1981) and 1978-2008 (2008).
Moffitt's funeral was on 20 August 2003, on what would have been his 47th birthday.
Contents
Background
Moffitt spent much of his childhood in Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains of NSW. His parents were the late award-winning journalist and novelist Ian Moffitt and the journalist Betty Saunders. The family spent some of his formative years in New York.[1]
In the mid-seventies, Moffitt studied drama at The Ensemble Theatre with Hayes Gordon and music at the Sydney Conservatorium Of Music.
Moffitt's musical influences included blues and soul from Hell's Kitchen in New York, jazz, the Oz rock of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and he particularly loved the Jack Bruce solo song "Rope Ladder To The Moon".[1] Moffitt has been described as singing "...from his soul with the voice of a dark angel, going for instinct rather than structure." He was also regarded as a talented acoustic and electric guitarist.[1]
Rum Jungle
In his teens, Moffitt formed the Blue Mountains-based band Rum Jungle, playing rock covers.[1]
pre- Matt Finish
In late 1978 and early 1979 at The Observer Hotel in The Rocks, Sydney, Moffitt played in a funk band with Brian Alcorn on bass guitar and Tony Georgeson on drums. They often had additional guest musicians including Ken Francis and Chris Raggett.[2]
Matt Finish
In mid 1979, Moffitt formed Matt Finish,[3][4] They developed a reputation for high-quality song-writing and passionate, high energy performances, playing thousands of live shows to more than a million people including national tours with U2, Midnight Oil, INXS, The Ramones, Split Enz, XTC, Cold Chisel, Brian Ferry and The B-52's.
Matt Finish released Matt Finish Play Africa (single 1980), Short Note (album 1981), Fade Away (EP 1981), Matt Finish (EP 1983), Word Of Mouth (album 1983) and numerous singles.[5] The Short Note album was re-released on CD in 1989 and is still available from music stores.[6]
Solo
In 1985, Moffitt recorded his solo album As Little As A Look in London and Brussels with John Prior and producer Nicky Graham (David Bowie, CBS A&R Manager). The tracks Miss This Tonight and All That Stuff were released as singles.
'Miss This Tonight' reached number 17 on the Australian charts in 1986. It was his biggest hit single and is still heard today on the Triple M network.
Moffitt commuted between London and Sydney for a few years and then moved to the US for the last two years of the eighties. He drove around America, recorded at Supertramp's studio in LA, before settling into a recording studio on 14th street in the heart of the West Village, writing, playing and recording with the likes of Sean Pelton on drums, Mike Stanzilis on Bass, with guest appearances from some of the best New York City players in town. Matt Moffitt and Jennifer Barrett (background vocals and guitar) composed and recorded over two albums of currently unreleased original material; "ABC Love's a FreezeFrame", "Cool For Fun", and "Walking As My Heart Says Run" songs that exemplified his passionate experiences in New York. Eventually Matt invited John Prior the original drummer of Matt Finish to America to produce both Barrett and Moffitt.
Blue Max
In 1990, Moffitt eager to return to Sydney to showcase his new material, Matt formed the band Blue Max with Jennifer Barrett, Christian Dunha, Bill Heckenberg and Glen Muirhead performing countless shows that included Moffits' new material that he had written in London and with Barrett in America. They performed the entire East Coast of Australia including Southern Adelaide and Melbourne to much critical acclaim.
Matt Finish Tour
In late 1990 an early 1991, Moffitt and Prior reformed Matt Finish and embarked on a sold-out 50-date Australian tour with former Eurogliders members Guy Le Claire (guitar) and Lindsay Jehan (bass) and Barrett (guitar).
Matt Finish Tour 2
In September 1991 Moffitt formed the Matt Moffit Band with Michael O'Grady (bass), Paul DC de Como (guitar) - two Sydney based musicians formerly of The Shelterman.
Solo 2
In June 1992, Moffitt re-signed with producer Peter Dawkins and using the name Matt Finish, which was owned by John Prior, they released the single One Day at a Time, the album By Heart and EP Earthbound featuring Adrian Cannon (drums), Rohan Cannon (guitar/vocals), Bobby Christian (bass guitar) and Paul Dawkins (keyboards).
In 1993, Moffitt and Dawkins released the singles Blue and Will I Ever Know? featuring Eliot Reynolds (guitar) and Justin Leaf (drums).
In the late nineties, Moffitt performed on the The Boys Are Back In Town Australian tours.
Fire Hand Ember
In 2000, Moffitt and Rick Grossman reunited to work on new material and perform shows around inner Sydney with Joseph Calderazzo (guitar) and Wayne Grech (drums).[7]
Conclusion
On 13 August 2003, Matt Moffitt died in Sydney in his sleep at the age of 46.[1] His funeral was on 20 August 2003.
Family, friends and many Australian music industry greats attended the funeral on 20 August 2003 to farewell him including Rick Grossman from Matt Finish, Don Walker (Cold Chisel), Doc Neeson (The Angels), Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil), John Swan (Swanee), Bernie Cannon (producer of GTK on ABC TV) and Rob Scott (Triple J).[1]
Moffitt is survived by his mother Betty, his sisters Annabel, Frances, Sophie and brother Dominic.[1]
Discography
Albums
- 1981 Short Note
- 1984 Word of Mouth
- 1985 As Little As A Look
- 1993 By Heart
EPs
- 1981 Fade Away
- 1983 Matt Finish
- 1992 Euroka
- 1993 Earthbound
Singles
- 1980 "Matt Finish Play Africa": "CIA" / "Mancini Shuffle"
- 1981 "Short Note" / "Layman's Day"
- 1984 "Words and Wars" / "Still Roads (I Need It)" / "Come on Over"
- 1984 "Always Another" / "Forecast"
- 1986 Miss This Tonight
- 1986 All That Stuff
- 1992 "One Day at a Time" / "Augustine"
- 1993 "Blue" / "Layman's Day" / "Camden Town"
- 1994 "Will I Ever Know" / "Short Note" / "In My Dreams"
DVD
- 2009 Matt Finish Live at the Musicians Club 1981
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Sydney Morning Herald article
- ^ Matt Finish at Australian Rock Database by Magnus Holmgren]
- ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Matt Finish'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. http://web.archive.org/web/20040615182743/www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=471. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
- ^ "Matt Finish". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/m/mattfinish.html. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Fire Hand Ember MySpace site
External links
- Matt Finish official MySpace
- Matt Finish at Australian Rock Database by Magnus Holmgren
- Fire Hand Ember MySpace site
- SMH article
- Photos of Matt
- Hotsource article
- Australian Music History database
- Inner City Sound archive
Categories:- 1956 births
- 2003 deaths
- Australian rock singers
- English-language singers
- Australian male singers
- People from Sydney
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