Matt Moffitt

Matt Moffitt
Background information
Birth name Matthew David Moffitt
Born (1956-08-20)20 August 1956
Origin Sydney, Australia
Died 13 August 2003(2003-08-13) (aged 46)
Genres Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 1972–2003
Labels Giant, CBS Records Australia, Mushroom, Alberts, Warners, Universal
Associated acts Matt Finish
Website www.myspace.com/mattfinishband
Notable instruments
Fender Telecaster

Matthew David 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 No. 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.

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. Guest musicians included Ken Francis and Chris Raggatt.[2]

Matt Finish

In mid 1979, Moffitt formed Matt Finish with multi-instrumentalist and composer John Prior,[2][3] Along with a string of supporting musicians, they developed a reputation for high-quality songwriting 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.[4] The Short Note album was re-released on CD in 1989 and is still available from music stores. All Matt Finish albums are still available via the Matt Finish website http://www.mattfinish.net/[5]

Solo

In 1985, Moffitt recorded his first solo album As Little as a Look in London and Brussels with John Prior and producer Nicky Graham (David Bowie, CBS A&R Manager) and the tracks Miss This Tonight and All That Stuff were released as singles. The record was a departure from Matt Finish, attracting a different demograhic. It was released on compact disc by CBS/Sony/JAPAN. 'Miss This Tonight' reached number 17 on the Australian charts. Its highest chart success was on the FM104 rock chart in Brisbane, reaching number 10 in July 1986.

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 and recorded at Supertramp's studio in LA, before moving to West Village. John Prior also traveled to America to produce recordings with Matt and Jennifer Barrett.

Blue Max

In 1990 Moffitt returned to Sydney and formed the band Blue Max with Jennifer Barrett, Christian Dunha, Bill Heckenberg and Glen Muirhead.

Matt Finish Tour

In late 1990 and early 1991, Moffitt and Prior reformed Matt Finish and embarked on a sold-out 50-date Australian tour with Barrett (guitar/vocals) and former Eurogliders Guy Le Claire (guitar) and Lindsay Jehan (bass).

By Heart

In June 1992, Moffitt re-signed with producer Peter Dawkins (label Giant, distributed via BMG), and formed a new line-up. They released - under the name Matt Finish - the single Blue, the album By Heart and EP Earthbound featuring Adrian Cannon (drums), Rohan Cannon (guitar/vocals), Bobby Christian (bass guitar) and Paul Dawkins (keyboards, bass, and drums).

In 1994, Matt Finish released the CD single Will I Ever Know? (catalogue number 74321201762) featuring Eliot Reynolds (guitar) and Justin Leaf (drums), and Paul Dawkins (Keyboards) BMG. It was backed by "Short Note Live" and "In My Dreams" as B-sides.

In the late 1990s, 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 http://www.josephcalderazzo.com (guitar) and Wayne Grech (drums).[6]

Death

On 13 August 2003, Matt Moffitt died in Sydney in his sleep at the age of 46.[1]

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 is survived by his mother Betty, his sisters Annabel, Frances, Sophie and brother Dominic.[1]

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

DVD

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Wild one with a dark angel's voice". www.smh.com.au. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  2. 1 2 Holmgren, Magnus; Reynolds, Eliot. "Matt Finish". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  3. ↑ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Matt Finish'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  4. ↑ Mark Gibson (24 September 2007). "Matt Finish – Australian Music History". Australianmusichistory.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  5. ↑ "Red Eye Records – Answer Page". Redeye.com.au. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  6. ↑ "Featured Content on Myspace". Profile.myspace.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
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