Let's Get "White Cloud" Recorded (We Can But Try!)

I'm just listening again to what I have of the songs of White Cloud (regrettably not a complete set as it was shared on Jane Music with some of the songs missing).

Masterpieces from White Cloud are definitely:

Clarity Begins At Home

Flying Dream

Rainstorm

Sometimes A Glimpse

So yes, it must be released somehow, but will this ever happen? In several interviews, Tim has told that he's more productive these days than ever. The songs of White Cloud do attest to this.

Quite a few other recent songs have remained unreleased and I see no pressure on the part of the fans (except your appeal) to get them released.

Let me mention some gems of this category:

Moment To Moment

Driving Blind

Emptiness

Gutsy Girl

Liz Cook's Lament

etc. etc.

I do join your appeal but I'm afraid all this is no more than a cry in the wilderness. No ears to hear it.

I'm happy to have been able to help you get this brilliant stuff! There was only one seed remaining when I last checked it (not too much interest in Tim's stuff, it seems).

We must believe in words and messages coming through to whom it may concern, but sincerely, I do not see even the slightest hope of getting Tim's stuff recorded and released this way.

We have been waiting in vain even the second part of Rarities, Demos, Live Performances Volume 1 CD since 2008.

A few demos were "scrapped" by Tim himself around the time of Conversation and there is no plan of these songs to be released. Other pieces from a common project with Dorothy Porter were only played once in a gig and never saw the light of the day.

So there is much gap to be filled. I can't really believe that these will ever be released on record. But hope dies last.

Mmm, I got the impression that the Dorothy Porter project pretty much died when she did. We got to hear "Talking In My Sleep" and "Gutsy Girl" on The Conversation tour. A couple of years ago, a bunch of songs were temporarily on Tim's FB, including "New Friends", from the "January" rock musical. It was very hard for me to like that song, as it recycled the melody of "Sunset Swim", which I adore and filled it with references to nipple rings and breakfast cereal ("snap, crackle, pop".)

Also among that set were "Driving Blind" and "Moment To Moment", both of which I loved, particularly the latter. My ex even stopped being cynical for the duration, as he could see I was having a special fan moment. "Liz Cook's Lament" is pure brilliance and I feel very fortunate to have heard it twice on The Conversation tour. The only reason I can think of, why it wasn't officially released is that it wouldn't have fit the context of TVIWTC. I would have done without certain tracks that did make the cut, in favour of those three.

It is an absolute bugger that so many gems remain mere obscurities. I do have a theory as to why, but the day I expound it here is the day I go dancing in the Queen St traffic. Results would be similar.

I am just grateful for what we do have to enjoy. I keep thinking of the line from the Metallica song, "Every day for us, something new." The "Tupaia" opera is going to be amazing, just wait until you hear it! I am going to see "White Cloud" twice in the one week next month and they are going to have to send up a special mission to drag me back down thru the inversion layer. Even when there's nothing new on the horizon, I can realise something new for me, in a song I've heard a thousand times.

My conscience is reminding me, quite insistently, that I have work to do today, so this is the infamous aFINNity, tragic fan extraordinaire, signing off now.

Just followed your link, found your post, liked it and added a comment. May not help, but can't hurt!

And I liked your comment right back, as soon as I received the alert. I was going to invite you to come on down to the bottom half of the world and see NZ in the sweetness of early spring. There are still tickets left for both performances of "White Cloud", including some spots down the front. You could even sit at my table, if you came on Sept 2nd, right next to me if you're game. You probably can't make it, but I thought I'd extend the invitation anyway.

Well, it would seem that "Emptiness", "Driving Blind", "Moment To Moment" and more are still available for a listen:

https://www.facebook.com/TimFi...icial/app_7085335997

I came upon them purely by chance, when I clicked the "Concert Schedule" on Tim's FB. His rendition of "They Won't Let My Girlfriend Talk To Me" is also on there. I'll never understand why Tim didn't release that recording, rather than selling the song to Jimmy & The Boys. Ever since "Countdown Spectacular II", I am haunted by an image of a middle aged man, in a black leather corset.

And what about "Nothing Lasts" demo? Is it from about the same time as the "Girlfriend” demo (as some demo lists would suggest)? Maybe Tim did not think it worth to be recorded but this short piece sounds to my ears really good:

I share here the demo in question only to remind: https://clyp.it/2335ql2w

By the way, can any of you tell something about the piano instrumental "Matilda’s theme”? How can I happen to listen to it (as I’ve never heard this one).

Scratchy old recording, but it's lovely. Bares similarity to the verse of "Slippery Identities".

I did hear it once at a gig. Unfortunately, I was pretty out of it (long, sad story) and I remember very little. Intemperance is it's own reward (oh, yes it is!)

Interesting remark on the similarity, although "Slippery Identities" reminded me more of "More Fool Me", but it may be subjective (the same tune and similar chords, anyway). You may really read the melody of "Nothing Lasts" into the line of the verse And speak of things you’ve never felt before..., as it seems. If so, this can also be reckoned as another case of recycling.

Something different:

Just curious which songs on The View album you would say you would have done without?

It is hard to say now, as I have grown to love most it. "Everybody's Wrong" is the only track I sometimes skip over. I find it a little boring, though it does have its moments, the delicate beauty of Tim's vocal on the bridge, for instance. I guess I wanted another album like The Conversation. I don't mean an acoustic album, but one that stirred such intense emotions that I cried and did crazy things. I discovered a beautiful country, where I now live. I got inked. I got so freaking high after one gig that I stayed awake for 42 hours (no drugs!)
(Singing)
Where does it start?
Where does it finish?...

As you guys probably know, I've made quite a hobby of collecting obscure Tim Finn rarities and figuring out when is his career they all fit sequentially.  I was surprised to find a couple things on that Facebook link that even I had not come across before.  The more complete demo of "Every Good Boy" - I have an earlier demo that's just Tim, piano, and acoustic guitar.  I hadn't previously head "Moment to Moment".  And I only just realized that "New Friends" morphed into "Sunset Swim".

In theory, it could also have been the other way around: "Sunset Swim" might have been the first, and then "New Friends" a later production.

A similar case would be "Nothing Unusual" (Anthology, 2009) turning into "People Like Us" (The View, 2011) later.

I may quite imagine that Tim goes on to rework several of his themes in the conviction that no one would ever give such an attentive ear to his works as to recognize the similarities. Or these are just tests for the fans, and he's sitting at home and reading our guesses with a smile?

Can anyone point to links for Rainstorm (I can't get the Radio Ireland broadcast to work) and Off The Planet and Talking In My Sleep from "January". I'm hoping to make it to White Cloud in Auckland.