Matt Moffitt

Matthew David Moffitt (20 August 1956 – 12 August 2003) was an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He fronted the rock band, Matt Finish (1978–81, 1983–85, 1990–2003), and worked as a solo artist. Matt Finish were a popular live band, which had a top 20 hit on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart with "Short Note" (1981). It was written by Moffitt and became a standard on Australian radio. It was covered by Wendy Matthews on her album, Café Naturale (2004), listed on Triple M Network's Best Songs of the Eighties poll in 2005, and used in the 2007 Australian feature film, The Final Winter. It is compiled on numerous albums including Sony BMG's The Essential Australian (April 2008), and on the Matt Finish albums, Short Note (1981) and 1978–2008 (2008).

Matt Moffitt
With Matt Finish, 1984
Background information
Birth nameMatthew David Moffitt
Born(1956-08-20)20 August 1956
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died12 August 2003(2003-08-12) (aged 46)
Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • singer-songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1972–2003
Labels
  • Giant
  • CBS
  • Mushroom
  • Alberts
  • Warners
  • Universal
Associated acts

Moffit's solo album was As Little as a Look (1986), it provided the single, "Miss This Tonight", which reached the top 30 in June 1986. Matt Moffitt died "in his sleep, apparently from a stroke";[1] his funeral was held on 20 August 2003, on what would have been his 47th birthday.

Early years

Matt Moffitt (born 1956) was the oldest child of Ian Moffitt (1926–2000), a journalist and writer, and Elizabeth "Betty" Saunders, also a journalist.[1] He grew up with four siblings and spent his early childhood in Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains. The family relocated to New York City for a number of years.[1]

In his teens Moffitt formed a Blue Mountains-based band, Rum Jungle, which performed cover versions of rock musicians; their "gigs sometimes turned into bloodbaths."[1] In the mid-1970s Moffitt studied drama at The Ensemble Theatre with Hayes Gordon and music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. His musical influences included NYC-based blues, soul and jazz groups; the Australian rock of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs; and work by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin; and one of his inspirations was Jack Bruce's "Rope Ladder to the Moon".[1] By 1977 the line-up of Rum Jungle included James Black (ex-Tymepiece) on guitar, Phil Colson, Mark McDonald, Bruce Sandell and Joe Sudouskas.[2]

Matt Finish
Main article: Matt Finish

In late 1978 and early 1979 at The Observer Hotel in The Rocks, Sydney, Moffitt played in a short-term funk band, Matt Finnish, with Brian Alcorn on bass guitar and Tony Georgeson on drums. Guest musicians included Ken Francis and Chris Raggatt. In mid 1979 Moffitt and multi-instrumentalist John Prior formed Matt Finish as a rock group with Brian Alcorn on bass guitar.[2][3] Jeff Clayton soon replaced White on bass guitar and was replaced in turn by Rick Grossman in early 1980 (ex-Bleeding Hearts, Parachute, Eric Gradman: Man & Machine).[2][3]

Clayton rejoined by mid-1980 and the group issued their debut single, "Mancini Shuffle" in November via Peter Dawkins' label, Giant Records.[2][3] Their debut album, Short Note, followed in March 1981, which peaked at No. 14 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart.[4] It was produced by Dawkins and provided the group's second single, "Short Note", in February, which peaked at No. 18 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[3][4] The track was written by Moffitt and was later covered by Wendy Matthews.[5] Short Note was re-released on CD in 1989.[6]

Matt Finish released another album, Word of Mouth (1984), before Moffitt disbanded the group late in that year and travelled to London.[7][8] In July 1986 he explained to Pollyanna Sutton of The Canberra Times, why the group split, "Somewhere towards the end of 1984 I didn't feel that I was writing the best... it wasn't good enough for people in that band to be near enough, they wanted to do their own thing."[7]

Matt Finish had developed a reputation for high-quality song writing and passionate, high energy performances, including national tours supporting U2, Midnight Oil, INXS, Ramones, Split Enz, XTC, Cold Chisel, Brian Ferry and the B-52's. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "[they] played a melodic brand of guitar-based pub-rock that garnered critical acclaim and a wide fan base."[3]

Solo and Blue Max

In 1985 Moffitt recorded his first solo album, As Little as a Look (June 1986), in London and Brussels with Prior on drums and Pete Glenister on guitar (of the London Hit Men).[2][3][7] The album's producer, Nicky Graham (David Bowie, Peter Frampton, the Clash), also provided bass guitar and keyboards.[2][3][9] The album was a departure from his material with Matt Finish, attracting a different demographic. It was released on compact disc by CBS/Sony/JAPAN.[10] The Canberra Times' Lisa Wallace felt, "[he] has always had a talent that stood out in the crowd, from the gruff, at times gutteral [sic], drawl through to the tousled tawny hair, he walked and talked originality and elegance. And it's that originality that's missing from As Little as a Look."[10]

Moffitt co-wrote material with Glenister, including two album tracks, "Miss This Tonight" (June 1986) and "All That Stuff" (August), which were released as singles.[3][5] He described the collaboration to Sutton, "I saw that writing with somebody after a fairly insular environment had its own frustrations... [to] not let it degenerate into an 'us or them' situation. I felt a lot of pressure for that in the writing, you get tired and nationalism springs from the lips full blown."[7] "Miss This Tonight" reached number 17 in June.[3][4] Moffit's backing band for his tour comprised Glenister, Graham, Prior and Rob Fisher on keyboards.[2][3]

Moffitt commuted between London and Sydney for a few years and then moved to the United States in 1988. He recorded at Supertramp's studio in Los Angeles, before moving to West Village. Prior travelled to the US in 1989 to produce recordings with Moffitt and his then-domestic partner, Jennifer Barrett, who is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. In 1990 Moffitt returned to Sydney and formed a band, Blue Max, with Barrett on guitar and vocals, Christian Dunha, Bill Heckenberg on drums, and Glen Muirhead.[2]

Matt Finish again

In late 1990 and early 1991, Moffitt, Barrett and Prior reformed Matt Finish with Guy Le Claire on guitar (ex-Eurogliders, Ian Moss Band) and Lindsay Jehan on bass guitar (also ex-Eurogliders).[2][3] They started an Australian tour. In June 1992 the group were signed to Mushroom Records and released a single, "One Day at a Time", in that month, which was produced by Peter Blyton (The Radiators, Machinations).[2][3] A new line-up of Adrian Cannon on drums, Rohan Cannon on guitar and vocals, Bobby Christian on bass guitar and Paul Dawkins on keyboards, bass guitar, and drums recorded Matt Finish's next album, By Heart (September 1993).[2][3] It provided a CD-EP, Earthbound (July) and a single "Blue" (September).[3]

In May 1994 Matt Finish released a CD single, "Will I Ever Know?", with the line-up of Moffitt, Paul Dawkins on keyboards, Justin Leaf on drums, and Eliot Reynolds on guitar.[2][3] It was backed by "Short Note Live" and "In My Dreams" as B-sides. In the late 1990s Moffitt took part in The Boys Are Back in Town, for tours of Australia.

In 2000 Moffitt and Grossman (by then, ex-Hoodoo Gurus) reunited to work on new material as Fire Hand Ember and performed shows around inner Sydney.[11] They were joined by Joseph Calderazzo on guitar and Wayne Grech on drums and had a residency at the Iguana Bar in early January of the following year.[11] The group performed Matt Finish material.[11] For some gigs they used the alternate names Matt Finish or Matt Moffitt for the same line-up.[12]

Death

On 12 August 2003 Matt Moffitt died in Sydney in his sleep, "apparently from a stroke", at the age of 46.[1][13] His funeral on 20 August 2003 was attended by family, friends and key Australian music figures, including John Prior and 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 was survived by his mother, Betty, his four siblings and a fiancée.[1]

According to Annie Souter of The Sydney Morning Herald, he "sang from his soul with the voice of a dark angel, going for instinct rather than structure." She found, "he was a talented acoustic and electric guitarist."[1] Souter and Moffitt were childhood friends.[1] McFarlane observed, "[he] was hailed as a fine songwriter of considerable insight and potential."[3]

Discography

Albums

Extended plays
  • 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 #27 AU
  • 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
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References
General
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 11 April 2012. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
Specific
  1. Souter, Annie (10 September 2003). "Wild One with a Dark Angel's Voice". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  2. Entries at the Australian Rock Database:
    • Matt Finish (1979-81, 1983-85, 1990-2003): Holmgren, Magnus; Reynolds, Eliot. "Matt Finish". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
    • Matt Moffitt: Holmgren, Magnus. "Matt Moffitt". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2018. Note: this entry lists Rum Jungle as being in 1984.
    • James Black: Holmgren, Magnus. "James Black". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2018. Note: this entry lists Rum Jungle as being in 1977.
    • Bill Heckenberg: Holmgren, Magnus. "Bill Heckenberg". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  3. McFarlane, 'Matt Finish' entry. Archived from the original on 15 June 2004. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  5. "'Short Note' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 5 April 2018. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  6. "Red Eye Records – Answer Page". Redeye.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  7. Sutton, Pollyanna (3 July 1986). "Matt's Going It Alone". The Canberra Times. The Good Times. 60 (18, 537). p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. Mark Gibson (24 September 2007). "Matt Finish – Australian Music History". Australianmusichistory.com. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  9. David. "Matt Finish". Nostalgia Central. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  10. Wallace, Lisa (13 July 1986). "Gutteral, Elegant, yet Almost Sleazy Sound". The Canberra Times. 60 (18, 547). p. 15. Retrieved 6 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Fire Hand Ember". Cafe Iguana. Archived from the original on 1 July 2002. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  12. ""Lowtide" – Fire Hand Ember (acoustic)". NME. IPC Media (Time Inc.). Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  13. "The Ryerson Index". Ryerson Index Inc. Retrieved 6 April 2018. Note: User must add 'Moffitt' into the Surname search parameter and 'Matt' or 'Ian' into the Any Given Name(s) parameter.
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