Matt Finish

Matt Finish are an Australian rock band formed in mid-1979 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Matt Moffitt (1956–2003) and drummer, composer and producer John Prior. The 1981 line-up of Moffitt, Prior, Richard Grossman on bass guitar and Jeff Clayton on rhythm guitar recorded their debut album, Short Note, which peaked at No. 14 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The title song, "Short Note", peaked at No. 33 on the related Singles Chart and became a standard on Australian radio stations. Grossman was later a member of Divinyls and Hoodoo Gurus. On 13 August 2003 Moffit died in his sleep, aged 46. From 2006 Prior has continued Matt Finish with various line-ups. In 2004 "Short Note" was covered by Wendy Matthews and appeared on her album Café Naturale. It was listed in Triple M's 2005 Best Songs of the Eighties poll, it appeared in the 2007 Australian feature film The Final Winter and on numerous compilation albums including Sony BMG's Essential Australian Rock released in April 2008; and a new recording of the track appears on Matt Finish's 2008 anthology album 1978-2008. Matt Finish's formation developed from an earlier, similarly named group, Matt Finnish. The latter were a briefly existing Australian funk band formed in early 1978 in Sydney by singer-songwriter and guitarist Matt Moffitt (1956–2003), bass guitarist Brian Alcorn and drummer Tony Georgeson. They performed for several months, including shows at The Observer Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney, before disbanding in early 1979. In the early 1990s, Georgeson formed the Dukes, with Sean Kelly, before joining Sydney jazz band the Jive Bombers. In August 1979, Alcorn and Moffitt teamed up with drummer, composer and producer John Prior to form Matt Finish, as a rock band. On 20 August 1979 New Zealanders Jeff Clayton (bass guitar and vocals) and Glen White (guitar) completed the band's early line-up. From 1979 to 1980, like their contemporaries Midnight Oil, Flowers/Icehouse and INXS, Matt Finish played regular residencies in clubs and pubs around Sydney most nights of the week, often double-gigging on weekends. In November 1979, radio station 2JJ broadcast Matt Finish live-to-air from the Civic Hotel in Pitt Street, Sydney and continued to broadcast the raw live performances for a year. In 2009 these recordings appeared in the Flight Case box set collection. In January 1980, Matt Finish's line-up changed when Clayton contracted hepatitis and was replaced on bass guitar by Rick Grossman (ex-Eric Gradman's Man and Machine) who had attended Sydney Boys High School with Prior. In February they undertook a month-long tour of Queensland tour, the band recorded at Music Farm Studios near Byron Bay and radio stations around Australia added these recordings to their regular play-lists. Upon returning to Sydney in March, Glen White left the band. Moffitt, Prior and Grossman performed live as a three-piece while auditioning over fifty guitarists until in May Clayton rejoined on rhythm guitar. In mid-1980, Matt Finish recorded at ABC Sydney Studio 221, from which radio station 2JJ also broadcast, with the songs "Indicator" and "Red Lights" becoming underground hits. The band was touring interstate regularly and attendances at live performances increased. Matt Finish signed to Peter Dawkins-owned, The Giant Recording Company, which on-signed its rights to CBS Records International. In November 1980, released their debut double A-sided single, "Matt Finish Play Africa" with the tracks "C.I.A." and "Mancini Shuffle". Radio stations around Australia broadcast on high rotation. On 18 January 1981, Matt Finish performed at the Last Double Jay Concert to an audience of 40,000 at Parramatta Park with the concert broadcast live-to-air. That same week, the group performed at the Sydney Musicians Club, which was filmed and, in 2009, was released on a DVD, Matt Finish Live at the Musicians Club 1981. In February 1981 Matt Finish released their first album, Short Note, on Giant/CBS Records, it was produced by Dawkins (Finch, Mi-Sex). It peaked at No. 14 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The title song, "Short Note", peaked at No. 18 on the related Singles Chart. The newly established Triple J (successor to Double Jay) FM radio network played tracks from Short Note nationally, followed by the commercial networks. In July that year, Matt Finish recorded a live five-track extended play, Fade Away at PACT Theatre in the old Corn Exchange building in Sussex Street, Sydney. The EP was released in October 1981. Original copies are now considered collector's items.[citation needed] Due to Moffitt's declining health, the band split up at the end of 1981. Grossman joined Divinyls for six years (1982–1987) and later was a member of Hoodoo Gurus. In May 1983, Matt Finish reconvened with Moffitt, Prior and Clayton – they recommenced touring and recording with a variety of musicians including Bertie Dorset (bass guitar and guitar), Anthony Smith (keyboards), Jim Cox (percussion), Ken Francis (guitar), Rob Riley (guitar), Doug Ironside (guitar), Dave Leslie (guitar) and Russell Nelson (guitar). In November 1983, Clayton, Prior and Moffitt released the EP Matt Finish which was followed in May 1984 by their second album, Word of Mouth – co-produced by the band and Colin Freeman. The following September, Matt Finish performed 15 shows on U2's Under Australian Skies Tour, including five sold-out shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. In November 1984, Moffitt and Prior recorded 16 songs at ATA Studios in Glebe to secure Moffitt's solo recording deal with CBS Records Australia. By early 1985 Moffitt had disbanded Matt Finish and pursued his solo career. In March 1985, Moffitt and Prior travelled to London and Belgium to record Moffitt's first solo album As Little as a Look. It was recorded by UK producer Nicky Graham with session musicians Pete Glennister, Felix Krish, Simon Climie and Rob Fisher. "Miss This Tonight", the first single from album, reached No. 17. The song was played on FM rock stations in Australia. Matt Finish remained inactive from 1986 to 1989 while Moffitt and Prior pursued other projects, Prior produced recordings in New York with Moffitt in 1989 but the tracks were never released. At about this time Moffitt toured outside Australia with a group called Blue Max. In 1990 Matt Finish was reformed by Moffitt and Prior with former Eurogliders members Guy Le Claire (guitar) and Lindsay Jehan (bass), and New Yorker Jennifer Barrett (guitar, vocals, ex-Blue Max). Managed and promoted by Prior, the band completed a tour of 50 performances around Australia. The band recorded four songs produced by Peter Blyton at Studios 301 and Bondi Road Studios which were never released. In 1991 Matt was joined by Michael O'Grady (bass), Paul Di Como (guitar) and Kevin Watzisname (drums) to play shows from November to April in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. Venues included The Manzil room, Moby's at Whale Beach, Manly Boatshed and others. In April 1992, Moffitt released a limited edition solo acoustic CD EP Euroka, produced by Blyton. In June that year, Moffitt re-signed with producer Peter Dawkins and using the name Matt Finish (with permission of Prior – his company Mammal Music owns the Matt Finish trademark) released the single "One Day at a Time". The album, By Heart (September 1993), and an EP Earthbound (July) featured a line-up of Moffitt with Adrian Cannon (drums), Rohan Cannon (guitar and vocals) and Bobby Christian (bass guitar) with Paul Dawkins (son of Peter Dawkins) on keyboards. The line-up of Moffitt and Paul Dawkins with Eliot Reynolds (guitar) and Justin Leef (drums) released the singles "Blue" (September 1993) and "Will I Ever Know?" (May 1994). Early 1996 to late 1997, Matt Finish reformed as a live touring act and embarked on a substantial touring schedule (The Boys Are Back In Town tour, Back To The Beach tour, plus dozens of hotel and club dates) featuring Matt Moffitt guitar and