www.nickhodge.com

In 1978 Split Enz were stuck in the UK, between albums, man­agers and record­ing labels.

For many years, hard core Split Enz fans heard the odd song from this period: Serge (Once in Rome), Next Exit. Semi Detached. Some songs were released as B-sides. Oth­ers just made it onto other albums over time.

Fans heard from vari­ous sources of the exist­ence of the Rootin’ Tootin’ Luton Tapes. The tapes from a stu­dio ses­sions. Some said these tapes never exis­ted. Oth­ers said that they were lost for ever. Yet oth­ers said that they were so bad, they would never see the light of day.

Earlier this year, the Frenz of the Enz fan club announced that Eddie Rayner had found the mas­ter tapes, and was re-mastering for release.

I am listen­ing to them now. Wow. You have to be a major Split Enz fan to under­stand the tim­ing and for­give the raw­ness. Upon closer listen­ing, I can hear why Frenzy was such a crap album. They just chose the wrong songs.

Rootin’ Tootin’ for sure.