Being a Completist is a never ending task but I am attempting to put together a 3CD collection of all Neil Finn related Rarities (studio songs in which Neil sings or plays a large part). Some are obvious choices and some are less obvious. I am wondering if anyone can indentify things I've left off of the following track listings:

Volume 1 (1980-1992) est 73min
1. Things - From Oddz & Enz
2. Your Inspiration - From Rear Enz
3. Serge (Late in Rome) - From Rear Enz
4. Love & Success - From Rear Enz
5. Recurring Dream (1987) - Tequilla Sunrise ver
6. Don't Dream It's Over (extended mix) - released only on vinyl single
7. World Where You Live (extended mix)
8. She's Not There - The Crossing soundtrack
9. My Legs Are Gone - I Like It Rare I
10. Dr. Livingston (first mix) - Only Natural single
11. Weather With You (radio edit)
12. Weather With You (radio edit edit)
13. Four Seasons In One Day (radio edit)
14. Weather With You (dance mix)
15. Weather With You (dance mix without tim)
16. Weather With You (neil's edit)
17. Weather With You (no breakdown)
18. Burglar Song / Around the UK Medly

Volume 2 (1993-1998) est 70min
1. Zen Roxy
2. Distant Sun (remix)
3. Private Universe (remix)
4. Dots on the Shell
5. Don't Dream It's Over (remix)
6. Instinct (remix)
7. Mary of the South Seas
8. Don't Dream It's Over (diana tribute)
9. Fish Hook
10. Sinner (first mix)
11. Twisty Bass (first mix)
12. Spirit of the Stairs
13. Tokyo
14. Family Ties
15. She Comes Scattered
16. Identical Twin
17. 808 Song
18. Log Drums

Volume 3 (1998-2003) est 64.5min
1. Acoustic Instrumental - from guitar magazine CD
2. I Can See Clearly Now
3. Can You Hear Us?
5. The Neville the Enchanted Rug
6. The Girl From Godknowswhere
7. Dream Girl
8. Exquisite Stereo
9. Underesitmated
10. Now I Get It
11. Too Many People
12. Two of Us
13. Human Kindness (remix)
14. Sweet Secret Peace
15. Way Back Down
16. Land Torments the Sea
17. Be My Guest (With Rob Hirst, Kirk Pengilly and Rob Grossman)
18. Billie Jean (acoustic studio cover)
19. Sexual Healing (acoustic studio cover)
20. Throw Your Arms Around Me (acoustic studio cover)

Any thoughts?

One that you may have missed is the extended version of I Walk Away.
I assume you haven't included anything from the Rain soundtrack because they're not rarities.
It's a good set though, almost 3.5 hours of Neil that you can't easily find! :-)

I had no idea there was an extended version of I Walk Away! We're talking the CH versino right? I Walk Away wasn't even a single! What was it a b-side to?

The extended version of I walk away was the Split enz version, released on a 12" in 1984.

Some of the songs you mentioned are unknown to me, could you tell me about these songs please?

1. Acoustic Instrumental - from guitar magazine CD
5. The Neville the Enchanted Rug
6. The Girl From Godknowswhere
7. Dream Girl
13. Human Kindness (remix)

Where did you find them, are they original songs? Studio? Live?

What about the Finn brothers demo's from 1989? They would fit in with the rest IMHO...?

The Finn Brothers Demos are a CD unto themselves. A nice 10 track collection. I decided not to include demos on my 3CD collection because of the varying quality of available demos. The Finn Demos are high quality but then there are the original CH demos which are very very low quality. However Prodigal Son is a tempting addition ... but it's a slippery slope!

1. Acoustic Instrumental - came with a guitar magazine in which Neil was interviewed about his choice of guitars. There was a CD featuring guitar only performances from various artists that had been interviewed and Neil was one of them.

2. Neville the Enchanted Rug
3. The Girl From Godknowswhere
4. Dream Girl
- These are all from the CD that comes with the children's book "Underwater Melon Man" The lyrics are taken from the short children's poems in the book. Tim Finn and Bic Runga also contributed

13. Human Kindness (remix) - Released in the US only to radio stations. It's both a remix and an edit. I prefer this version of the song. It captures the energy better than the album version ... I think because it does not include the instrumental drop out and re-build up that is in the album version arrangement.

There was a UNICEF or something-or-other tv special in '89/'90 in Australia that Neil was on to promote the organization and, specifically, the 40 hr famine. Over the closing credits there is a studio version of Neil on accoustic doing Irish Heartbeat (the Van Morisson song). So somewhere there's a studio version of it. I say "studio" - it was probably just something he did on his own setup or the tv studio's. Alas, the tv presenter interrupted to let us know that Dynasty or something like that was coming up next!!

After takling to some neighbors and friends I've decided to make it a four CD anthology including demos and acoustic radio performances. Here's what I think a complete Neil Finn Anthology of rarities should look like:

Neil Finn Anthology Volume One (1975-1989)
1. Snake Charmer - tha ninnies
2. Leaving - tha ninnies
3. Outter Mongolia - the ninnies
4. Things
5. Your Inspiration
6. Serge (Late in Rome)
7. Love & Success
8. That's What I Call Love (demo)
9. Can't Carry On (demo)
10. Walking on the Spot (demo)
11. Hole in the River (demo)
12. Recurring Dream (demo)
13. Now We're Getting Somewhere (demo)
14. Don't Dream It's Over (demo)
15. recurring Dream (1987)
16. Don't Dream It's Over (extended mix)
17. World Where You Live (extended mix)
18. She's Not There
19. Sister Madly (acoustic radio performance)
20. Into Temptation (acoustic radio performance)
21. World Where You Live (acoustic radio performance)
22. When You Come (acoustic radio performance)
23. Better Be Home Soon (acoustic radio performance)

Neil Finn Anthology Volune Two (1990-1993)
1. Weather With You (demo)
2. In Love With It All (demo)
3. It's Only Natural (demo)
4. Chocolate Cake (demo)
5. Strangeness and Charm (demo)
6. Prodigal Son (demo)
7. Four Seasons In One Day (demo)
8. There Goes God (demo)
9. Catherine Wheels (demo)
10. How Will You go (demo)
11. My Legs Are Gone
12. Dr. Livingston (first mix)
13. Weather With You (radio edit)
14. Weather With You (radio edit edit)
15. Four Seasons In One Day (radio edit)
16. Weather With You (dance mix)
17. Weather With You (neil's edit)
18. Weather With You (no breakdown)
19. Burglar Song / Around the UK Medly
20. Zen Roxy

Neil Finn Anthology Volume 3 (1994-1998)
1. Distant Sun (remix)
2. Private Universe (radio edit)
3. Locked Out (acoustic radio performance)
4. Pineapple Head (acoustic radio performance)
5. Black & White Boy (acoustic radio performance)
6. In My Command (acoustic radio performance)
7. Nails In My Feet (acoustic radio performance)
8. Dots on the Shell
9. Don't Dream It's Over (remix)
10. Instinct (remix)
11. Mary of the South Seas
12. Only Talking Sense (acoustic radio performance)
13. Angles Heap (acoustic radio performance)
14. Don't Dream It's Over (diana tribute)
15. Fish Hook
16. Sinner (first mix)
17. Twisty Bass (first mix)
18. Spirit of the Stairs
19. Billie Jean (acoustic studio cover)
20. Sexual Healing (acoustic studio cover)
21. Throw Your Arms Around Me (acoustic studio cover)

Neil Finn Anthology Volume 4 (1999-2004)
1. Tokyo
2. Family Ties
3. She Comes Scattered
4. Identical Twin
5. 808 Song
6. Log Drums
7. Acoustic Instrumental
8. I Can See Clearly Now
9. Can You Hear Us?
10. Neville the Enchanted Rug
11. The Girl From Godknowswhere
12. Dream Girl
13. Exquisite Stereo
14. Underesitmated
15. Now I Get It
16. Too Many People
17. Two of Us
18. Human Kindness (remix)
19. Sweet Secret Peace
20. Way Back Down
21. Land Torments the Sea
22. Be My Guest (With Rob Hirst, Kirk Pengilly and Rob Grossman)

-maybe i'm nuts but I know lots of your out there have made your own collections like this one. I would love to know what you have included or not included and why.
-Adam

Almost 85% of them where unknown to me. I was gonna add the 'Locked Out acoustic version,' but viola, there you are!!!

Maybe 'How Soon is Now'? Although that's a cover, and then you'd have to add '8 Miles High', 'Mr Tmabourine Man' and 'So you Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Superstar'.

Is 'Snake Charmer' the same as the 'Snake Charm Boogie of the Chicken'?, cause that's a rare song!!

If you ever burn this I'll be very much interested in getting a copy. I'll send you the CDs, cause there are too many songs I can't get "the legal way" aka buying.

I decided not to include live covers because there are too many to count so that's why I left off the Byrdhouse tracks. "Snake Charmer" along with the oher ninnies tracks are basically neil and tim playing with two cassette players and recording short versions of somewhat silly songs. i think they use kitchen pans for percussion. At any rate, Snake Charmer is a bizzarre instrumental piece (maybe 60 seconds long) and it was feature on Nilfun.net a couple years ago.

Wow......what a great compilation that would be to have.........

Ok, I think I've really got it this time! I've added late nigth TV performances from the Woodface era and Neil's performance of What I Get Paid For with Shawn Colvin. I had to take out a lot of acoustic performances of album tracks for time reasons ... I really don't want to run on to a fifth CD at this point in time.

Neil Finn Anthology Volume 1
1. Snake Charmer - Tha Ninnies
2. Leaving - Tha Ninnies
3. Outer Mongolia - Tha Ninnies
4. Things - Split Enz
5. Love and Success - Split Enz
6. Serge (Late in Rome) - Split Enz
7. Your Inspiration - Split Enz
8. Love You Till the Day I Die (demo) - The Mullanes
9. Walking on the Spot (demo) - The Mullanes
10. Can't Carry On (demo) - The Mullanes
11. That's What I Call Love (demo) - The Mullanes
12. Hole in the River (demo) - The Mullanes
13. Recurring Dream (demo) - The Mullanes
14. Now We're Getting Somewhere (demo) - The Mullanes
15. Don't Dream It's Over (demo) - The Mullanes
16. Recurring Dream (1987 version) - Crowded House
17. Don't Dream It's Over (extended mix) - Crowded House
18. World Where You Live (extended mix) - Crowded House
19. She's Not There - Crowded House
20. Sister Madly (WNEW-FM, 31-8-88) - Crowded House
21. Into Temptation (WNEW-FM, 31-8-88) - Crowded House
22. World Where You Live (WNEW-FM, 31-8-88) - Crowded House
23. When You Come (WNEW-FM, 31-8-88) - Crowded House
24. Better Be Home Soon (WNEW-FM, 31-8-88) - Crowded House

Neil Finn Anthology Volume 2
1. Weather With You (demo) - Finn Brothers
2. In Love With It All (demo) - Finn Brothers
3. It's Only Natural (demo) - Finn Brothers
4. Chocolate Cake (demo) - Finn Brothers
5. Strangeness and Charm (demo) - Finn Brothers
6. Prodigal Son (demo) - Finn Brothers
7. Four Seasons In One Day (demo) - Finn Brothers
8. There Goes God (demo) - Finn Brothers
9. Catherine Wheels (demo) - Finn Brothers
10. How Will You Go (demo) - Finn Brothers
11. Dr. Livingston (first mix) - Crowded House
12. My Legs Are Gone - Crowded House
13. Chocolate Cake (letterman) - Crowded House
14. It's Only Natural (carson) - Crowded House
15. Fall At Your Feet (carson) - Crowded House
16. Weather With You (radio edit one) - Crowded House
17. Weather With You (radio edit two) - Crowded House
18. Four Seasons In One Day (radio edit) - Crowded House
19. The Burglar's Song (medley) - Crowded House
20. Weather With You (dance mix) - Crowded House
21. Weather With You (neil's edit) - Crowded House

Neil Finn Anthology Volume 3
1. Zen Roxy (Instrumental)- Crowded House
2. Distant Sun (remix)- Crowded House
3. Private Universe (remix) - Crowded House
4. Dots On the Shells - Neil Finn and Yothu Yindi
5. Don't Dream It's Over (remix) - Crowded House
6. Instinct (Alternative Mix) - Crowded House
7. Mary of the South Seas - Finn Brothers
8. Don't Dream It's Over (diana tribute) - Neil Finn
9. What I Get Paid For - Neil Finn and Shawn Colvin
10. Be My Guest - Neil Finn with Rob Hirst, Kirk Pengilly and Rob Grossman
11. Acoustic Instrumental - Neil Finn
12. I Can See Clearly Now - Neil Finn
13. The Spirit of the Stairs - Neil Finn
14. Fish Hook - Neil Finn
15. Tokyo - Neil Finn
16. Family Ties - Neil Finn
17. She Comes Scattered - Neil Finn
18. Identical Twin - Neil Finn
19. 808 Song - Neil Finn
20. Log Drums - Neil Finn

Neil Finn Anthology Volume 4
1. Sinner (early mix) - Neil Finn
2. Twisty Bass (early mix) - Neil Finn
3. Can You Hear Us - Finn Brothers
4. Neville the Enchanted Rug - Neil Finn
5. The Girl From Godknowswhere - Neil Finn
6. Dream Girl - Neil Finn
7. Exquisite Stereo - Neil Finn and Deborah Conway
8. Underestimated - Neil Finn
9. Now I Get It - Neil Finn
10. Too Many People - Finn Brothers
11. Two of Us - Neil and Liam Finn
12. Human Kindness (remix) - Neil Finn
13. Sweet Secret Peace - Neil Finn
14. Time On Earth (webcast) - Neil Finn
15. Love Is All That Remains (webcast) - Neil Finn
16. The Land Torments the Sea - Finn Brothers
17. Way Back Down - Finn Brothers
18. Billie Jean (acoustic studio performance) - Neil Finn
19. Sexual Healing (acoustic studio performance) - Neil Finn
20. Throw Your Arms Around Me (acoustic studio performance) - Neil Finn

What about adding "You I Know" sung by Jenny Morris? It's not widely available (at least in Europe) and it sounds very much like the younger Finn in the 80s...

I passed on "You I Know" because eventhough it was written by Neil he has nothing to do with the performance. I'm not sure how much Neil had to do with the writing of it. Did he just write lyrics to go along with the music or did he sit down with his acoustic guitar and write the whole the song?

Looks good, but what about 'New Dress' by Jonatha Brooke in which Neil sings harmony or even the Dave Dobbyn song 'Beside You' where Neil again sings harmony. I know he didn't write them, but I think his contribution vocally is important to these songs.

Off the top of my head, theres also some stuff he did live with Sheryl Crow (Home & WWY) or even 'Every Day Is A Winding Road' where he sings backing vocals, although this is not overly apparent.

I have not heard the Jonatha Brooke or Dave Dobbyn songs you are reffering to but I'm certainly interested in checking them out. The Sheryl Crow stuff won't be included because I'm leaving off live performances (that's a whole nother CD collection). I think Neil's performances in Winding Road is pretty worthless ... five words ... two notes ... way back in the mix ... such a waste ... It is interesting to note that parts of that song were written about Paul Hester leaving Crowded House but that require too much explination to make it worth putting on this anthology.

Well the Jonatha Brooke song 'New Dress' is from her album 'Steady Pull', she mentions working with Neil on her website here
It's a great song and Neil sings quite a prominent harmony in the choruses.

I'm not sure which album Dave Dobbyn's 'Beside You' appeared on originally but its on 'Overnight Success'. Dave and Neil played this song during the webcast from Neil's basement and they talked about how Neil had co-produced the song as well as singing harmony.

I think I have to draw the line somewhere on Neil Finn guest apperances. So, in order to include a track i think Neil should fulfill either A OR B:

A. Neil has atleast co-written the track and sings atleast harmonies.

B. Neil sings lead vocals for a chorus, verse, or bridge.

I think that way the Neil Finn Anthology collection stays more purely Neil oriented.

I guess you do have to draw the line somewhere but NEW DRESS is a great song and he's right up there in the chorus...really adds extra zip

Here's my collection. I've just added non album tracks that Neil has sung. I've left off live versions and remixes. I think these are more listenable collections, as personally, I'm not interested sitting through 6 versions of Weather with you in a row. Basically if they are not on any Split Enz album, Crowded House album, or Neil Finn solo album, then they'll be here. I'll be taking off the live versions of Edible Flowers, and Part of me, part of you when 'Everyone is here' is released, and hopefully adding the studio version of 'The land torments the sea' and 'Way back down' when they're released as b-sides. Vol 4 is incomplete. Any suggestions welcome. I've included Neil tracks from Rain and Enzso as they are more rare and personally I don't listen to them as much as I do his solo albums. Incidentally the Enzso tracks here are the only ones I have added that have appeared in different forms on Neil albums. I just love these versions and they are so different from the originals that they merited an inclusion. I've put a choice for tracks 3 and 5 on Vol 1. I've both One Nil and One all, but some people just have one or the other, so this collection would keep the people who didn't want to buy a whole new album for 2 songs happy. (I've just noticed a couple more exceptions to my own rule....Crowded house live versions of One Step Ahead, Serge and This is Massive...ah well, they are great versions, especially This is Massive, when the Crowdies make the song their own....the best instrumental break ever bar none....though you had to see it live

Vol I (Neil Finn)
1.spirit of the stairs (try whistling this out-take)
2.identical twin (b-side to she will have her way)
3.human kindness (one all new track)
or
3.Don't ask Why (One Nil track left off One all)
4.sweet secret peace (from maybe this christmas compilation
5.lullaby requiem (one all new track)
or
5.Elastic Heart(One Nil track left off One all)
6.808 song(b-side to she will have her way)
7.can you hear us (one off single)
8.dots on the shell (w/yothu yindi) (one off single)
9.underestimated (b-side to wherever you are)
10.you don't know(from rain soundtrack)
11.now i get it (b-side to wherever you are)
12.tokyo (b-side to sinner)
13.orange and blue (from rain soundtrack)
14.i can see clearly (b-side to last man standing)
15.she comes scattered (b-side to sinner)
16.fish hook (from I like it rare 2 compilation)
17.two of us (w/Liam finn) (from I am sam soundtrack)
18.drive home (w/edmund mcwilliams) (from rain soundtrack)
19.billie jean (from musical challenge compilation vol 1)
20.sexual healing (from musical challenge compilation vol 2)
21.summer of love (w/Edmund mcwilliams) (from rain soundtrack)
22.family ties (from try whistling this bonus disc)
23.log drums (from try whistling this bonus disc)

Vol II (crowded house)
1.she's not there (from the crossing soundtrack)
2.legs are gone (from I like it rare compilation)
3.tail of a comet (live unreleased song)
4.convent girls (live unreleased song)
5.pieces of change (live unreleased song)
6.be my guest (live unreleased song)
7.forever friends (live unreleased song)
8.the same language as me (live unreleased song)
9.frank's dark past (live unreleased song)
10.newcastle jam (live unreleased song)
11.throw your arms around me (live hunters & collectors cover)
12.this is massive (live split enz cover)
13.serge (live split enz cover)
14.one step ahead (live split enz cover)
15.mr.tamborine man (live Byrds cover w/roger mcguinn)
16.eight miles high (live Byrds cover w/roger mcguinn)
17.so you want to be a rock n'roll star (live Byrds cover w/roger mcguinn)
18.irish heartbeat (live van morrison cover)
19.born to be wild (live steppenwolf cover)
20.dancing days (live led zeppelin cover)
21.zen roxy (instrumental b-side to nails in my feet)
22.boat joyride (from rain soundtrack)
23.neville the enchanted rug (from underwater melon man kids compilation)
24.the girl from godknowswhere (from underwater melon man kids compilation)
25.dream girl (from underwater melon man kids compilation)
26.norwegian wood (live beatles cover)
neil finn solo, tracks 22-26

Vol III (Finn brothers and more)
1.progigal son (finn brothers)
2.mary of the south seas (finn brothers with Andy White)
3.too many people (finn brothers)
4.edilble flowers (finn brothers)
5.love is all that remains (finn brothers)
6.part of me, part of you (finn brothers)
7.the land and the sea (finn brothers)
8,water birth (finn brothers)
9.sweet dreams (finn brothers)
10-there is a light that never goes out (neil finn)
11.time on earth (neil finn)
12.whaling (neil finn)
13.how soon is now (neil finn)
14.message to my girl (neil finn & ENZSO)
15.straight old line (neil finn & ENZSO)
16.stuff n'nonsense(neil finn & ENZSO)
17.voices (neil finn & ENZSO)
18.what i get paid for (neil finn & shawn colvin)
19.new dress (neil finn & jonatha brooke)
track 1.b-side to suffer never. track 2.from common ground compilation. track 3. from listen to waht the man said, tribute to paul mccartney. track 4-8 live unreleased finn brothers songs. track 9 live phil judd split enz cover. track 10 & 13 live Smiths covers with johnny marr. track 11 live unreleased Neil Finn song. track 12. live Dave Dobbyn cover. track 14-17 from the ENZSO compilation. track 18 from Shawn colvin's 'a few small repairs' album . track 19 from jonatha brooke's 'steady pull' album.

Vol IV (I'll email what I've got later. From memory I know I have these. The running order will need to be tweaked considerably).
1.Equisite Stereo (Neil and Deborah Conway from her album of the same name)
2.Strangeness and Charm (Finn brothers demo)
3.Golden Years (Neil and Eddie Vedder live)
4.Ferrington Guitar song (I think this is the same as the acousitic instrumental)
5.Worms (though I think this is sung by Paul Hester so that may get dropped)
6.Burglar song (around the UK in 7 mins)
7.Green rose for George (live improv song. Title taken from support band (School of Fish) setlist.
8.Moneys no object (again not sure if it's Paul that sings this one. Anyone know?)
9.My Friend Nick (live improv yet again possibly Paul)
10.33 years (Improv song for Nicks birthday)
11.Walk tall (live track)
12.Burning Water (Diesel track co-written by Neil with Neil on backing vox)
13.Running in the Family (Tim Finn with Neil on backing vox)
14.Here come the Gods (Annie Crummer. Co-written by Neil with backing vox by Neil and Tim)
15. Things - (Neil written and sung Split Enz song)
16. Love and Success - (Neil written and sung Split Enz song)
17. Serge (Late in Rome) - (Neil written and sung Split Enz song)
18. Your Inspiration - (Neil written and sung Split Enz song)
19.The Chicken song (only to be included as a last option

Any thoughts?
Stephen

How about 'Not Fade Away'?

Is it a cover or something?

bap, bap, bap, bap!