MAKING ENZ MEET
Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner first encountered each other at high school. The then-Brian Finn, a boarder from Te Awamutu, was halfback in the Sacred Heart 1st XV with a lovely singing voice. The then-Tony Rayner was a day boy from Howick, who in his single year at the private Catholic boys’ school excelled at high jump – he became Auckland champion – and playing piano.
They didn’t have much to do with each other. A few years later, they were in a band together, one in which the early members adopted their middle names as an act of solidarity. Brian and Tony became Tim and Eddie. Split Enz became New Zealand’s biggest group.
“Whilst we couldn’t see any particular advantage to the band in having a high jumper … we didn’t care because he came in and played the piano solo in a song and blew our minds, basically,” remembers Finn about Rayner’s audition.
