Finns
suomalaiset

Total population
6.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Finland:       approx. 5,400,000[1] Other significant population centers:
United States 700,000[2]  Sweden 470,000  Canada 131,040[3]  Russia 34,300 (with Ingrian Finns) [4] or 127,600 (with all Karelians)  Australia 20,988 (in 2006)[5]  Germany 16,000 (in 2002)[6]  Norway 15,000-60,000 including Forest Finns and Kvens[7][8]  United Kingdom 11,228[9]  Estonia 11,000[10]  France 6,000 (in 2005)  Spain 5,000 (in 2001)[6]  Switzerland 2,656 (in 2002)[11]  Netherlands 2,087 (in 2006)[12]  Denmark 2,084 (in 2002)[11]  United Arab Emirates 900 (in 2010)[13]
Languages
Finnish Swedish Languages related to Finnish include Estonian, Karelian, Vepsian, Võro and, more distantly, all Uralic languages.
Religion
Finnish Paganism and Roman Catholicism from 1050 until 16th century[14] Today predominantly Protestant (mainly Lutheran); Orthodox Christian, Roman Catholic and neopagan minorities.

The terms Finns and Finnish people (Finnish: suomalaiset, Swedish: finnar (ethnic Finns), finländare (citizens of Finland)) are used in English to mean "a native or inhabitant of Finland". They are also used to refer to the ethnic group historically associated with Finland or Fennoscandia, and they are only used in that sense here.^[15][16]

As with most ethnic groups, the definition of Finns may vary. In every definition, the term includes the Finnish-speaking population of Finland. The group can also be seen to include the Finnish-speaking population of Sweden and the traditionally Swedish-speaking population of Finland, although the inclusion of the latter into the Finnish ethnicity is a subject of discussion. Smaller populations that may or may not be seen to fall under the term Finns include the Kvens in Norway, the Tornedalians of Sweden and the Ingrian Finns of Russia. Finns can be divided according to dialect into subgroups sometimes called heimo (lit. tribe), but such divisions have become less important with internal migration.

Linguistically, Finnish, spoken by most Finns, is part of the Uralic language family and is most closely related to other Finnic languages such as Karelian and Estonian, while Swedish, spoken by Swedish-speaking Finns, is unrelated to the Finnish language and a member of the Indo-European language family. Finnish has loanwords from Swedish, other Germanic and broader Indo-European languages in different chronological layers while Swedish has few loan words from the Finnic languages. Some scholars have argued that, genetically, Finns "have been shown to differ strikingly from other European populations".^[17] However, they have a close genetic affinity to other Europeans; their idiosyncratic findings being attributable to low population density in prehistory.[18]

Definition[link]

The Finnish Population Registry Center maintains information on the place of birth, citizenship and mother tongue of the people living in Finland, but does not specifically categorize any as Finns by ethnicity.^[18] Like all ethnicities, Finns are subject to ethnogenesis. Language—both active and lost—has traditionally been seen as a key element when defining a people or its descendants.

Finnish-speaking Finns[link]

The majority of people living in the Republic of Finland consider Finnish as their first language. According to Statistics Finland, of the country's total population of 5,300,484 at the end of 2007, 91.2% (or 4,836,183) considered Finnish as their native language.^[19] It is not known how many of the ethnic Finns living outside Finland speak Finnish as their first language.

In addition to the Finnish-speaking inhabitants of Finland, also Kvens (people of Finnish descent in Norway), Tornedalians (people of Finnish descent in northernmost Sweden), and Karelians in the historic Finnish province of Karelia and Evangelical Lutheran Ingrian Finns (both in the northwestern Russian Federation), as well as Finnish expatriates in various countries are usually considered as Finnish people.^{[dubious – discuss]}

Finns have been traditionally divided in sub-groups (heimot in Finnish) on regional, dialectical and ethnographical grounds. These include the people of Finland Proper (varsinaissuomalaiset), Satakunta (satakuntalaiset), Tavastia (hämäläiset), Savo (savolaiset), Karelia (karjalaiset) and Ostrobothnia (pohjalaiset). These sub-groups express regional self-identity with varying frequency and significance.

There is a number of distinct dialects (murre s. murteet pl. in Finnish) of the Finnish language spoken in Finland, although the use of only the standard Finnish (yleiskieli) both in its formal written (kirjakieli) and more casual spoken (puhekieli) form at the Finnish school system and within media and popular culture, as well as internal migration and urbanization, have all contributed to the subduing of the regional varieties considerably, especially in the latter half of the 20th century. The first three historical dialects were the South-Western (Lounaismurteet), Tavastian (Hämeen murre), and Karelian (Karjalan murre), which were later mixed up with each other and/or neighboring languages as the population expanded geographically to form the Southern Ostrobothnian (Etelä-Pohjanmaan murre), Central Ostrobothnian (Keski-Pohjanmaan murre), Northern Ostrobothnian (Pohjois-Pohjanmaan murre), Far-Northern (Peräpohjolan murre), Savonian (Savon murre), and South-Eastern (Kaakkois-Suomen murteet) aka South Karelian (Karjalan murre) dialects.

Finland Swedes[link]

The area of modern Finland was part of the Swedish kingdom for several hundred years, and about 360,000 present-day individuals with Finlands citizenship speak Swedish as their mother tongue. In Finland, language is typically considered the basic, but not the only criterion that distinguishes the Finnish-speakers and the Swedish-speakers from each other.^[20] In general, Finland swedes consider themselves to be just as much Finnish as the Finnish-speaking majority, but they have their own special identity distinct from that of the majority, and they wish to be recognized as such. In a 2005 survey by Svenska Finlands Folkting carried out among the Swedish speakers, when asked about the meaning of their identity, 82% of the respondents answered: "Both to belong to an own culture but also to be Finnish amongst the rest."^[21]

On the other hand, the Finland-Swedish minority have been seen to fulfill the major criteria for a separate ethnic group: self-identification, language, social structure, and ancestry.^[22] It is also sometimes suggested that the Swedish-speaking Finns have a special relationship with Sweden, constituted of shared language and culture.

Sweden Finns[link]

These include recent immigrants from Finland and (at least originally) Finnish-speaking people that have lived in Sweden for centuries. An estimated 450,000 first- or second-generation Finns live in Sweden, of which approximately half speak Finnish. The majority moved from Finland to Sweden following the Second World War, with a peak in 1970 and declining thereafter. There are also historical Finnish-speaking minorities in Sweden, for example the Tornedalingar (Torne Valley Finns) and the Finns of Dalecarlia. As a result, the Finnish language has an official status as one of five minority languages in Sweden.^[23]

Other groups[link]

In some texts in the past, the term 'Finns' may have also been employed generally for other Finnic peoples, including Izhorians in Ingria, Karelians and Veps.

In Russia, where most Finns (Karelians not counted) are Ingrians, the 2002 Census demonstrates that they have refused their distinct Ingrian identities and now identify themselves as ethnic Finns.^[24]

Terminology[link]

The Finnish term for Finns is suomalaiset (sing. suomalainen).

The Finnish and Swedish terms for the Swedish-speaking population of Finland are the expressions suomenruotsalaiset and finlandssvenskar respectively, which translate literally with regard to each other. In Finland Swedish usage and mindset the following distinctions are usually made: The nation (people) consists of Finnish speakers (Finland Swedish: finnar) and Swedish speakers (Finland Swedish: finlandssvenskar) who together with smaller minorities constitute the people of Finland (Finland Swedish: finländare). In Swedish spoken outside of Finland, in particular in Sweden, the term finländare is less known, and these distinctions are not always made.

Translating this terminology accurately into foreign languages, including Sweden's Swedish, is a tricky matter because the terminology closely reflects the nation's entire language issue, which played an intricate part in the process of the crystallisation of the nation's self-perception and in the interpretation of its history, and because it still affects these. Indeed, one of the very first domestic matters addressed during the process of national awakening in the 19th century was the language question.

It is therefore debatable which English terms best match the Finnish and (Finland-)Swedish terms suomalaiset (finländare, finnar) and finlandssvenskar (suomenruotsalaiset). Nevertheless, Swedish-speaking Finns seems to be the English term most commonly used today for^[25] and by^[26] the Swedish-speaking population of Finland, although the term Finland Swedes is in wide use too, at least in English written by non-native speakers in Scandinavia.

Similarly debatable is how to best designate the people living in Sweden who are current Finnish speakers or have Finnish or Finnish-speaking ancestors. The terms used include the traditional Sweden Finns and the more modern Finnish Swedes, instead of which it may be preferable to differentiate between (recent) Finnish immigrants and the indigenous Finnish ethnic minority in Sweden.^[27]

As the meanings of these terms have changed in time, these terms may well be used with other meanings than those given above, particularly in foreign and older works.

Etymology[link]

Historical references to Northern Europe are scarce, and the names given to its peoples and geographic regions are obscure. Therefore, the etymologies of the names remain equally sketchy. Such names as Fenni, Phinnoi, Finnum, and Skrithfinni / Scridefinnum appear in a few written texts starting from about two millennia ago in association with peoples located in a northern part of Europe, but the real meaning of these terms is debatable. The earliest mentions of this kind are usually interpreted to have meant Fennoscandian hunter-gatherers whose closest successors in modern terms would be the Sami people.^[28] It has been suggested that this non-Uralic ethnonym is of Germanic language origin and related to such words as finthan (Old High German) 'find', 'notice'; fanthian (Old High German) 'check', 'try'; and fendo (Old High German) and vende (Old Middle German) 'pedestrian', 'wanderer'.^[29] Another etymological interpretation associates this ethnonym with fen in a more toponymical approach. Yet another theory postulates that the words finn and kven are cognates. The Icelandic Eddas and Norse sagas (11th to 14th centuries), some of the oldest written sources probably originating from the closest proximity, use words like finnr and finnas inconsistently. However, most of the time they seem to mean northern dwellers with a mobile life style.

An etymological link between the Sami and the Finns exists in modern Uralic languages as well. It has been proposed that e.g. the toponyms Sapmi (Sami for Lapland), Suomi (Finnish for Finland), and Häme (Finnish for Tavastia) are of the same origin,^[29] the source of which might be related to the proto-Baltic word *žeme / Slavic земля (zemlja) meaning 'land'.^[29] It has been proposed that these designations started to mean specifically people in Southwestern Finland (Finland Proper, Varsinais-Suomi) and later the whole area of modern Finland. But it is not known how, why, and when this occurred.

Petri Kallio has suggested that the name 'Suomi' may bear even earlier Indo-European echoes with the original meaning of either ’land’ or ’human’.^[30]

Among the first written documents possibly designating western Finland as the land of Finns are two rune stones. One of these is in Söderby, Sweden, with the inscription finlont (U 582 †), and the other is in Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea, with the inscription finlandi (G 319 M) dating from the 11th century.^[31]

History[link]

A peasant girl and a woman in traditional dress from Ruokolahti, eastern Finland, as depicted by Severin Falkman in 1882.

With regard to the ancestry of the Finnish people, the modern view emphasizes the overall continuity in Finland's archeological finds^[32] and (earlier more obvious) linguistic surroundings. Archeological data suggest the spreading of at least cultural influences from many sources ranging from the south-east to the south-west following gradual developments rather than clear-cut migrations.

Just as uncertain are the possible mediators and the timelines for the development of the Uralic majority language of the Finns. On the basis of comparative linguistics, it has been suggested that the separation of the Finnic and the Sami languages took place during the 2nd millennium BC, and that the proto-Uralic roots of the entire language group date from about the 6th to the 8th millennium BC. When the Uralic languages were first spoken in the area of contemporary Finland is debated but current opinion leans towards the Stone Age.^{[32][not in citation given]}

Because the Finnish language itself reached a written form only in the 16th century, little primary data remains of early Finnish life. For example, the origins of such cultural icons as the sauna, the kantele (an instrument of the zither family), and the Kalevala (national epic) have remained rather obscure.

Agriculture supplanted by fishing and hunting has been the traditional livelihood among Finns. Slash-and-burn agriculture was practiced in the forest-covered east by Eastern Finns up to the 19th century. Agriculture, along with the language, distinguishes Finns from the Sami, who retained the hunter-gatherer lifestyle longer and moved to coastal fishing and reindeer herding. Following industrialization and modernization of Finland, most Finns were urbanized and employed in modern service and manufacturing occupations, with agriculture becoming a minor employer (see Economy of Finland). Western and southern coastal regions and islands have concentrations of the Finland-Swedish; although differences occupational structure are minor in modern times, the most Finland-Swedish profession is still fisherman.

Finland's Swedish speakers descend from peasants and fishermen who settled coastal Finland ca. 1000–1250,^[26] from the subsequent immigration during Swedish sovereignty over Finland,^[33] and from Finns and immigrants who adopted the Swedish language.^[26] Fennomania in the 19th and early 20th century led to some minor language change into Finnish, but this was of little consequence in comparison to ordinary demographic trends, which reduced the proportion of Swedish-speakers during the entire 20th century from 12.9% (1900) to 5.6% (2003).

Subdivisions[link]

Finns are traditionally assumed to originate from two different populations speaking different dialects of Proto-Finnic (kantasuomi). Thus, a division into West Finnish and East Finnish is made. Further, there are subgroups, traditionally called heimo,^[34][35] according to dialects and local culture. Although ostensibly based on late Iron Age settlement patterns, the heimos have been constructed according to dialect during the rise of nationalism in the 19th century.

• Western^[36]
  • Häme: Tavastians or Häme people (hämäläiset)
  • Ostrobothnia: Ostrobothnians (pohjalaiset)
    • Southern Ostrobothnians (eteläpohjalaiset) have a particularly distinct identity and dialect
    • Central Ostrobothnians (keskipohjalaiset)
    • Northern Ostrobothnians (pohjoispohjalaiset)
      • Norrbotten, Sweden: speakers of Meänkieli, a Far Northern dialect of Finnish
  • Southwestern Finland: varsinaissuomalaiset

• Eastern
  • Ingria: Ingrian Finns (inkerinsuomalaiset)
  • Karelia: Karelian Finns (karjalaiset); Karelian dialects of Finnish are distinct from the Karelian language spoken in Russia, and most of Northern Karelia actually speak Savonian dialects
  • Savo: Savonian people (savolaiset), speak the Savo dialect

• Emigrants
  • Forest Finns (Metsäsuomalaiset) of Sweden
  • Finnish immigrants to Sweden (ruotsinsuomalaiset)
  • Kvens (kveenit) of Finnmark, Norway
  • Other emigrant Finns (ulkosuomalaiset)

• Swedish-speakers also have several dialectal subdivisions.

The historical provinces of Finland and Sweden can be seen to approximate some of these divisions. The regions of Finland, another remnant of a past governing system, can be seen to reflect a further manifestation of a local identity.

Today's (urbanized) Finns are not usually aware of the concept of 'heimo' nor do they typically identify with one, although the use of dialects has experienced a recent revival. Urbanized Finns do not necessarily know a particular dialect and tend to use standard Finnish or city slang but they may switch to a dialect when visiting their native area.

Genetics[link]

Recently, the use of mitochondrial (female lineage) and Y-chromosomal (male lineage) DNA-markers in tracing back the history of human populations has been started. For the paternal and maternal genetic lineages of Finnish people and other peoples, see, e.g., the National Geographic Genographic Project and the Suomi DNA-projekti. In essence, the types of mtDNA markers of Finnish people do not differ from those of other European ethnicities.^[37] For example, Haplogroup U5 is estimated to be the oldest mtDNA haplogroup in Europe and is found in the whole of Europe at a low frequency, but seems to be found in significantly higher levels among Finns, Estonians and the Sami.^[38] Of modern nationalities, Finns are closest to Cro-Magnons in terms of anthropological measurements.^[39]

With regard to the Y-chromosome, the most common haplogroups of the Finns are N1c (58%), I (29%), R1a (7.5%) and R1b (3.5%).^[40] Haplogroup N1c, which is found only in a few countries in Europe (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden and Russia), is a subgroup of the haplogroup N (Y-DNA) distributed across northern Eurasia and estimated in a recent study to be 10,000–20,000 years old and suggested to have entered Europe about 12,000–14,000 years ago from Asia.^[41]

According to an earlier study conducted by four scientists, including Cavalli-Sforza LL:

Principal coordinate analysis shows that Lapps/Sami are almost exactly intermediate between people located geographically near the Ural mountains and speaking Uralic languages, and central and northern Europeans. Hungarians and Finns are definitely closer to Europeans. An analysis of genetic admixture between Uralic and European ancestors shows that Lapps/Sami are slightly more than 50% European, Hungarians are 87% European, and Finns are 90% European. There is basic agreement between these conclusions and historical data on Hungary. Less is known about Finns and very little about Lapps/Sami.^[42]

Recent autosomal (genomewide, 10,000 markers instead of few looked at Y-DNA and MtDNA) studies give distinct picture of Finnish genes. Finns show very little if any Mediterranean and African genes but on the other hand almost 10% of Finnish genes seem to be shared with some Siberian populations. Nevertheless more than 80% of Finnish genes are from a single ancient North-European population, while most Europeans are a mixture of 3 or more principal components.^[43]

Variation within Finns is, according to fixation index (F_ST) values, greater than anywhere else in Europe. Greatest intra-Finnish F_ST distance is about 60, greatest intra-Swedish F_ST distance about 25.^[44][45] F_ST distances between for example Germans, French and Hungarians is only 10, and between Estonians, Russians and Poles it is also 10.^[46] Thus Finns from different parts of the country are more remote from each other genetically than are many European peoples from each other.^[47] The closest genetic relatives for Finns are Estonians (F_ST to Helsinki 40 and to Kuusamo 90) and Swedes (F_ST to Helsinki 50 and to Kuusamo 100).

Genetics of the Swedish-speaking Finns[link]

In a recent study (2008) a joint analysis was performed for the first time on Swedish and Finnish autosomal genotypes. Swedish-speakers from Ostrobothnia (reference population of the study representing 50% of all Swedish-speakers in Finland) did not differ significantly from the Finnish-speaking population of western Finland, but when Swedish samples were used as reference the Swedish-speaking Finns' samples clustered with the Swedes.^[48] Moreover, according to a recent Y-DNA study (2008) Swedish-speaking reference group from Larsmo, Ostrobotnia, differed significantly from the Finnish-speaking sub-populations in the country in terms of Y-STR variation.^[49]

Theories of the origin of Finns[link]

Modern distribution of the Uralic people.

In the 19th century, the Finnish researcher Matthias Castrén prevailed with the theory that "the original home of Finns" was in west-central Siberia.^[50] But later, it was considered more credible that an ancient homeland of all Finno-Ugric speaking peoples situated in a region between the Volga and Kama rivers in the European part of Russia. Grouping Altaic with Finnic ("Turanian") was popular in the 19th century, and much serious research was made by Finnish researchers in an attempt to link Finns with Altaic-speaking peoples such as Mongolians.

Until the 1970s, most linguists believed that Finns arrived in Finland as late as the first centuries AD. But accumulating archaeological data suggested that the area of contemporary Finland had been inhabited continuously since the ice-age, contrary to the earlier idea that the area had experienced long uninhabited intervals. However, there's no certainty to which ethno-linguistic culture the first dwellers within the borders of contemporary Finland belonged. The hunter-gatherer Sami were pushed into the more remote northern regions.^[51]

A recent and controversial theory is that the ancestors of the Finns lived during the Ice Age in one of three habitable areas of southern Europe, so-called refugia, while the other two habitable areas were occupied by the speakers of Indo-European and Basque languages. This was proposed in the 1990s by Kalevi Wiik, a professor emeritus of phonetics at the University of Turku. According to this theory, Finno-Ugric speakers spread north as the ice melted. They populated central and northern Europe, while Basque speakers populated western Europe. As agriculture spread from the south-east into Europe, the Indo-European languages spread among the hunter-gatherers. In this process, both the hunter-gatherers speaking Finno-Ugric and those speaking Basque learned how to cultivate land and became Indo-Europeanized. According to Wiik, this is how the Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, and Baltic languages were formed. The linguistic ancestors of modern Finns did not switch their language due to their isolated location.^[52] The main supporters of Wiik's theory are Professor Ago Künnap (Univ. of Tartu), Professor Kyösti Julku (Univ. of Oulu) and Associate Professor Angela Marcantonio (Univ. of Rome). Wiik has not presented his theories in peer-reviewed scientific publications. Many scholars in fenno-ugrian studies have strongly criticized the theory. Especially Professor Raimo Anttila, Petri Kallio and brothers Ante and Aslak Aikio have renounced Wiik's theory with strong words, hinting strongly to pseudoscience and even at right-wing political biases among Wiik's supporters.^[51][53] Moreover, some dismissed the entire idea of refugia, due to the existence even today of arctic and subarctic peoples. The most heated debate took place in the Finnish journal Kaltio during autumn 2002. Since then, the debate has calmed, each side retaining their positions.^[54]

See also[link]

• Finnic (disambiguation)
• Finnish (disambiguation)
• Finnish language
• Finnish Americans
• Finnish immigration to North America
• List of Finns
• Mandatory Swedish
• Swedish-speaking Finns

References[link]

External links[link]

• FTDNA Finland Geographic DNA Project
• The Finnish Heritage Museum of Fairport Harbor, Ohio, USA
• Folktinget
• Åbo Akademi
• Finno-Ugric media center

lez:Финар

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

The Finn Brothers are a New Zealand Rock musical duo consisting of brothers Neil and Tim Finn. In June 1993 both members were awarded the OBE for their contribution to music.

The brothers started off making music together from a very young age, and Neil joined his big brother Tim in Split Enz at the age of eighteen. Both brothers have been involved in complicated music careers after Split Enz was disbanded in 1984. Neil started his own band, Crowded House and subsequently recorded two solo albums after Crowded House split in 1996. He reformed Crowded House in 2007 with a subsequent album and tour. Tim started a solo-career in 1983 before Split Enz disbanded and temporarily joined Crowded House for the Woodface album in 1991.

History[link]

[edit] Woodface and Finn

Tim and Neil intended to start the Finn brothers project after a three week song writing spree in 1990. However most of the songs written during this time were deemed suitable for inclusion on a Crowded House album and they appeared on Woodface which was released in 1991 and led to Tim joining Crowded House. Many of the original demo recordings from these sessions were eventually released as b-sides on Finn Brothers singles. Tim left Crowded House while they were touring Europe in support of the Woodface album.

Tim and Neil reconvened with the Finn brothers project in 1995, and a lo-fi album simply called Finn was released. In the UK the duo changed both their name and the album name to Finn Brothers to avoid confusion with a band going under the moniker Fin. This title was kept for all future brothers collaborations, however re-releases of the original album in Australia and New Zealand still go by the original title Finn.

[edit] Everyone is Here

Their second album, Everyone Is Here was released in 2004. It was recorded twice, once in upstate New York with Bowie producer Tony Visconti, bassist Bones Hillman and Ross Burge on drums, then again six months later in Los Angeles with Crowded House producer Mitchell Froom and different session musicians. Some of the songs from the first recording session were kept as B sides and later appeared on a special edition of the album. The album featured the would be Split Enz song "Edible Flowers" for which a music video was filmed. The music video features two people in a donkey suit, however its wearers cannot be seen. In the 2005 tour, Neil and Tim Finn wore a donkey suit onto stage for many performances also.

Following the Boxing Day Tsunami, The Finn Brothers appeared at the Wave Aid fundraising concert in Sydney to help raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster affected areas. As well as their own material, they performed a cover of Hunters and Collectors' "Throw Your Arms Around Me."

Television[link]

Their song, Anything Can Happen was used in the first episode of Scrubs' fifth season, My Intern's Eyes. The song was used when we first meet Keith Dudemeister (albeit through his eyes) as he walks into his first day at Sacred Heart.

This song was also used on the final session of the last day of the 2005 England vs. Australia Ashes cricket series on Channel 4 Television, at the end of the last day of cricket being shown on British terrestrial television.

The song Anything Can Happen was also featured in the movie Aurora Borealis

Their song "Luckiest Man Alive" was played during the closing credits of the television broadcast of the 2005 Indianapolis 500.

Discography[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

This discography relates to releases by The Finn Brothers. See Neil Finn's discography, Tim Finn's discography, Crowded House discography and Split Enz discography for other works by the Finn Brothers.

Singles[link]

External links[link]

• Finn Brothers Official Home Page
• Finn Brothers Official Fan Club Notice Board
• Frenz Official Fan Forum
• Enzology – Radio NZ's Split Enz documentary site
• Seven Worlds Fanpage
• Something So Finn
• Allmusic Biography
• Finnatics – German language fan page
• MySpace fan page

Neil Finn OBE
Neil Finn, 13 June 2006, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
Background information
Birth name	Neil Mullane Finn
Born	(1958-05-27) 27 May 1958 (age 54) Te Awamutu, New Zealand
Genres	Rock, art rock, New Wave, pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, keyboards, bass guitar, drums
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Columbia
Associated acts	After Hours, Split Enz, Crowded House, Finn Brothers, The Mullanes, Flight of the Conchords, 7 Worlds Collide, Pajama Club

Neil Mullane Finn OBE (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand recording artist. Along with his brother Tim Finn, he was the co-frontman for Split Enz and is now frontman for Crowded House. He has also recorded several successful solo albums and assembled diverse musicians for the 7 Worlds Collide projects.

Finn rose to prominence in the late 1970s after replacing singer songwriter Phil Judd in his brother Tim Finn's band Split Enz. With the group, Finn wrote the hits "One Step Ahead", "History Never Repeats", "I Got You" and "Message to My Girl", among others. Finn rose from prominence to international fame after Split Enz broke up in 1984. While his brother Tim Finn left for England, Neil was the founder of Crowded House with Split Enz's final drummer Paul Hester in 1985. The group achieved international success in 1987 when they released the single "Don't Dream It's Over" written by Neil.

He ended Crowded House in 1996 to embark upon what was to become a moderately successful solo career, and has released two albums with his brother Tim under the title the Finn Brothers. In 2006, following the death of Hester, Finn reformed Crowded House (adding Beck's former drummer Matt Sherrod) and released their first studio album in over 13 years, Time on Earth, and the band began a world tour. In 2010, Finn commenced another world tour with Crowded House in support of their 2010 release, Intriguer.

Biography[link]

1958-78: Early life[link]

Neil Finn during Crowded House's heyday – San Francisco, 1987

Neil Finn was born the youngest of four children to Dick and Mary Finn in Te Awamutu, New Zealand.^[1] His mother, a devout Catholic who moved to New Zealand from Ireland at the age of two, maintained a religious influence over the family.^[2] Speaking of Catholicism, Finn stated "It's a great fertile ground for pulling lyrics out. [There's] lots of good stuff going on in there, good rituals and imagery and lots of guilt. It's a very potent combination. I think you're blessed, really, to be brought up with some kind of weird dogma like that."^[3] His father, the son of a farmer from Waikato, served in the army in Italy and became an accountant during World War II.^[2] His parents instilled an "inspiring admiration of music" in young Finn; the family would often engage in sing-alongs around the family piano.^[4] In addition to music, Finn also enjoyed sports, particularly swimming, rugby, tennis, and biking.^[5]

As a child, Finn would often perform at family gatherings with his older brother Tim. Finn recalled, "We'd sing all night. It was very much part of our upbringing...That was the first inkling of the seduction of live performance."^[6] He idolized his brother and wished to imitate his actions, learning to play guitar and piano at the same time Tim did.^[7] Finn was more public about his musical aspirations, and won ten shillings in his school's annual talent contest shortly after enrolling.^[8] When Tim left to study at Sacred Heart College, a boarding school in Auckland, eight-year-old Finn started playing a guitar that he had left behind.^[9] A naturally willing performer, Finn was nicknamed 'The Ant' by his family due to his determined and ambitious nature.^[10]

He attended Sacred Heart boarding school and Te Awamutu College. He decided to become a musician at the age of 12 and throughout his school years performed in prisons and hospitals as well as at home gatherings. Neil finished school in 1975.

1979-84: Split Enz[link]

A year later he formed a group known as After Hours with Mark Hough, Geoff Chunn and Alan Brown. Not long after the band's debut performance, Neil was invited to London to join Split Enz, the band formed by his elder brother Tim. By 1980, he was sharing lead singer duties. He wrote their first international hit "I Got You" and contributed significantly to all their later albums, even briefly assuming leadership of the band after Tim left in 1984, soon before its breakup.

1985-96: Crowded House[link]

Performing with Crowded House in 1996

After the breakup of Split Enz in 1984. Finn formed a new band called The Mullanes (Mullane being both his middle name and his mother's maiden name) with Split Enz drummer Paul Hester, guitarist Craig Hooper of The Reels and bassist Nick Seymour (younger brother of Hunters & Collectors leader Mark Seymour), whom Neil had met on the final Split Enz tour. Hooper left just before they recorded their first album, at which time the band was renamed Crowded House, inspired by the rental home they shared while recording in Los Angeles.

Crowded House went on to enormous success worldwide, in particular with two major hits: "Don't Dream It's Over" (US #2, 1987) and "Weather With You" (UK #7, 1992). Both Neil and his brother Tim were invested as Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to New Zealand music in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List.^[11] After releasing four albums, Crowded House, Temple of Low Men, Woodface, and Together Alone, the group broke up in 1996, and followed this action by releasing a greatest hits album Recurring Dream.

1997-2006: Solo work[link]

Following the breakup of Crowded House, Neil went solo. Later the album Afterglow was released, which contained Crowded House tracks not previously found on any of the band's albums.

Finn has recorded two solo albums to date: Try Whistling This (1998) and One Nil (2001). (One Nil was released in the US and Canada – remixed, reordered and renamed One All – in 2002.) In addition, he and brother Tim have collaborated on two Finn Brothers albums, Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004).

In 2001, he released a live album/DVD (7 Worlds Collide) consisting of songs recorded at St James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand with the likes of Lisa Germano, Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing), Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (Radiohead), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Paul Jeffrey, Tim Finn, and Betchadupa. Finn was additionally heavily involved in creating the 2001 soundtrack for the motion picture Rain.

Finn has contributed solo music to various film and TV soundtracks including Rain, Boston Legal, Boston Public, The Waiting Game, Antz, and Sports Night.

2006-present: Reformation of Crowded House and Pajama Club[link]

In January 2007, it was announced that Crowded House were reforming with Neil, Nick Seymour, Mark Hart and new drummer Matt Sherrod (following the suicide of Paul Hester in 2005). The group's new album Time on Earth was released in June 2007; in the pre-release build up, they headlined a show at Coachella in April 2007, then commenced a world tour.

In March 2009, Neil joined brother Tim on stage with son Liam Finn at Melbourne's charity Sound Relief concert at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in support of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires.

Finn and wife Sharon began a side project called Pajama Club in 2011. After Finn's children, Liam and Elroy, left the family home to pursue their own musical careers, the two wondered what to do to fill the time left open by their children's absence.^[12] The two decided to repair the music room in their Auckland home and begin making music of their own: "We've had a bit more time on our hands since the boys left home, and we just decided to make a record. It was as simple as that. We called the group Pajama Club, because we were dressed in our pajamas when we started."^[12] Here, Sharon began to play the bass guitar, while Neil sat behind the drum set, despite the fact that neither had played either instrument before. Neil commented that "We found ourselves locking into these grooves which were incredibly fun to play...We naturally gravitated towards being 'funky'," drawing influence from South Bronx band ESG.^[12] Pajama Club released their self-titled debut album in September 2011.

Collaborations[link]

The Dixie Chicks release Taking the Long Way has a song co-written with Finn, entitled "Silent House". It deals with people suffering from Alzheimers disease, slowly finding that familiar faces and items long cherished are slipping away from their memory. Neil Finn was also featured as a backing vocalist on the Sheryl Crow song, "Everyday is a Winding Road" from her self-titled second album, released in 1997. He also produced the song "Greenstone" from Emma Paki's debut album "Oxygen Of Love". Finn has also produced and recorded with various New Zealand acts such as Bic Runga, The Mutton Birds and Dave Dobbyn.

In 2006, Neil and Tim Finn were both honoured by a slew of women re-recording and re-interpreting a selection of their songs with the album She Will Have Her Way which featured artists performing Neil Finn's songs such as Kasey Chambers, Clare Bowditch, Boh Runga with her band Stellar*, Renée Geyer, Brooke Fraser, Holly Throsby, Sarah Blasko, Amiel and Natalie Imbruglia.

Finn playing at Calvin Theatre, August 2007

Neil played solo at New Zealand WOMAD 2008 festival, filling in at short notice for another performer who had become unwell.

In December 2008 several of the 7 Worlds Collide lineup reconvened in Auckland, New Zealand to record The Sun Came Out, a charity album for Oxfam to be released 29 September 2009. It was recorded in Finn's own Roundhead Studios and will feature all-new material, with singing and songwriting contributions divided amongst the group. Most of the original members of Crowded House have returned, along with several new additions including Jeff Tweedy and three other members of Wilco, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, and notable New Zealand songwriters Don McGlashan and Bic Runga. As in 2001 the group gave a series of live performances, though at three nights the run was shorter and the venue was more intimate.

Finn had a cameo appearance acting role on the BBC Radio Show Flight of the Conchords.

Finn appeared on fellow musician Missy Higgins' CD, On a Clear Night (2007). He played electric guitar for the song "Peachy", and sang backing vocals on "Going North".

Charity work[link]

In 1986 Finn performed with The Rock Party a charity project initiated by The National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NCADA), which included many Australasian musicians such as Reg Mombassa from Mental As Anything, Eddie Rayner, Tim Finn, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester of Crowded House, Geoff Stapleton, Mark Callaghan and Robbie James of GANGgajang, Mary Azzopardi of Rockmelons, Andrew Barnum of The Vitabeats, Lissa Barnum, Michael Barclay, Peter Blakely, Deborah Conway, Jenny Morris, Danny De Costa, Greg Herbert (The Promise), Spencer P Jones, Sean Kelly (Models), John Kennedy, Paul Kelly, Martin Plaza (Mental as Anything), Robert Susz (Dynamic Hepnotics) and Rick Swinn (The Venetians).^[13] The Rock Party released a 12" single "Everything To Live For", which was produced by Joe Wissert, Phil Rigger and Phil Beazley.^[13]

Neil Finn in 1996

In February 2007, Neil Finn performed with his son Elroy and Jimmy Barnes at a charity benefit concert for cerebral palsy. The event was held at the Roxburgh Hall, Stowe School, Stowe in Buckinghamshire, UK. The benefit was in aid of he UK charity Scope (formerly "The Spastics Society"), England's largest charity working for people living with cerebral palsy and their families.

Personal life[link]

Finn married Sharon Dawn Johnson, on 13 February 1982. The song "I Love You Dawn", available on Afterglow (an album of unreleased Crowded House tracks and B-sides) was penned in her honour. Sharon creates chandeliers in her workshop in Auckland, many of which featured on stage in the 2004–05 tours promoting the Everyone Is Here album. She has appeared on backing vocals on various albums such as Crowded House and Alex Lloyd's Watching Angels Mend She also features prominently on the new 7 Worlds Collide project, co-writing (and sharing lead vocal) the track 'Little By Little' with her husband and sings on the track 'Isolation' on the new Crowded House album, Intriguer.

Finn and wife Sharon formed a band of their own titled 'Pajama Club' after their two sons moved out of the family home and they were left with a lot of free time. They released their self titled debut album in September 2011.

They have two sons, Liam Mullane Finn (born 1983) (Split Enz's "Our Day" was written about his birth) and Elroy Timothy Finn (born 1989). Both sons are multi-instrumentalists, like their father, and often perform alongside him on tour and in the recording studio. Liam had his own band, Betchadupa, originally based in Auckland, then London before releasing a solo album, I'll Be Lightning in 2008. He also played in Crowded House's touring band lineup in 2007. Elroy Finn is also following in his father and brother's musical footsteps as drummer for the psychobilly band The Tricks and has previously filled in on drums for Cut Off Your Hands. Elroy began touring as Liam's drummer in 2011 to promote Liam's second album 'FOMO'.

Recent work[link]

Both Tim and Neil Finn share the stage and have released an album under the name The Finn Brothers. They have also performed with Neil Finn's son Liam Finn.

Neil Finn solo discography[link]

This discography relates to solo releases by Neil Finn only. See Split Enz discography, Crowded House discography and The Finn Brothers' discography for other related works.

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other contributions[link]

As performer[link]

• Live at the World Café: Vol. 15 - Handcrafted (2002, World Café) – "Driving Me Mad"
• 107.1 KGSR Radio Austin - Broadcasts Vol.10 (2002) – "Private Universe"
• Andrew Denton Breakfast Show Musical Challenge (2000) – "Billie Jean"
• Andrew Denton's Musical Challenge V.2: Even More Challenged (2001) – "Sexual Healing"
• Through Space To Your Place (2001) – "Norwegian Wood"
• Maybe This Christmas (2002) – "Sweet Secret Peace"
• Antz Soundtrack (1998) – "I Can See Clearly Now"

As producer[link]

• "No Commotion" (1983, single) - Karen Ansell
• Greenstone (1994, album) - Emma Paki
• Twist (1994, album) - Dave Dobbyn
• Nature (1995, album) - The Mutton Birds
• Moana and The Moahunters (1998, album) - Moana and The Moahunters
• Brand New (1999, album) (as executive producer) - The Stereo Bus
• Soul Lost Companion (1999, album) - Mark Lizotte

As session musician[link]

• Just Drove Thru Town (1979, album) - Citizen Band
• Sing (1984, album) - Big Choir
• "Everything To Live For" (1986, maxi-single) - The Rock Party
• Rikki & Pete (1988, soundtrack)

^[14]

References[link]

• Apter, Jeff (2010). Together Alone. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-381-4. 
• Bourke, Chris, Something So Strong, Macmillan Australia, 1997, ISBN 0-7329-0886-8
• Chunn, Mike, Stranger Than Fiction: The Life and Times of Split Enz, GP Publications, 1992. ISBN 1-86956-050-7
• Dix, John, Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock and Roll, 1955 to the Modern Era, Penguin Books, 2005, ISBN 0-14-301953-8
• Twomey, Chris & Doole, Kerry, Crowded House: Private Universe, Omnibus Pr, 1998, ISBN 0-7119-4816-X

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neil Finn

• Neil Finn on Myspace
• Neil Finn: Songwriter
• Interview with Neil Finn : The Pajama Club

Paavo Nurmi at the 1924 Olympics

"The Flying Finn" (Finnish: Lentävä suomalainen) is a nickname given to several Finnish athletes. Originally, it was given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners. The term was later extended to notable Finnish racing sportsmen.

Running[link]

The nickname was first used of Hannes Kolehmainen, also known as "Smiling Hannes", as he took home three gold medals and broke two world records during the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.^[1] As Finnish runners started to dominate long-distance running, the nickname was passed on to all successful Finns in the sport, including multi-Olympic gold medalists Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola. Nurmi won three gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Belgium and five at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he was partnered with Ritola, who ran to four gold medals. Volmari Iso-Hollo, the winner of 3000 m steeplechase at the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics, was one of the best-known Finnish runners in the 1930s and also nicknamed the Flying Finn. During his tour of the United States in 1940, Taisto Mäki - who held five world records - was regularly referred to as a Flying Finn.^[2] The last Flying Finn in running was Lasse Virén, who won the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics.

Motorsport[link]

Rallying[link]

Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen at the 1965 1000 Lakes Rally

The nickname was next used to describe the efforts of Finnish rally drivers in the 1960s. Timo Mäkinen, Rauno Aaltonen and Simo Lampinen were among the first drivers referenced as the Flying Finn. In 1968, Castrol released a film called "The Flying Finns", it featured the 1968 1000 Lakes Rally and concentrated on documenting the duel between Mäkinen and Hannu Mikkola. The term then moved on to the next generations of Finnish rally drivers, and among others, the four-time World Rally Champions Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen were often referred to as Flying Finns.

Formula 1[link]

Mika Häkkinen at the 2000 United States Grand Prix.

The first driver to carry the nickname in Formula One was Leo Kinnunen. Kinnunen had the title written on his helmet in 1970, when he won the World Sportscar Championship for Porsche.^[3] However, he wasn't able to turn his success in sports car racing into a successful F1 career in his underpowered Surtees. Thus, Keke Rosberg became the first well-known Finn in the sport as he won the championship in 1982. Unarguably the most famous Flying Finn of the past years has been Mika Häkkinen who won the F1 championship twice 1998-1999 and also raced in DTM between 2005 and 2007. Kimi Räikkönen replaced Häkkinen at McLaren-Mercedes in 2002, and has also been referred to as the Flying Finn, although he is better known by his other nickname, The Iceman (Finnish: Jäämies). He was joined on the 2007 grid by fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen and would win the title himself that season.

Motorcycles[link]

On two wheels, the most famous Flying Finn was Jarno Saarinen, also known as The Baron, who won the 250cc road racing World Championship as privateer in 1972, and finished a close second to Giacomo Agostini in the 350cc class. Saarinen died the following year, while leading both the 250cc and 500cc championships and after competing for only three years. He remains in motorcycle sport history books for developing a new riding style, which is still predominantly in use today; body hanging off the bike with knee near the ground.^[4] Mika Kallio, who finished second in the 125cc championship in 2005 and 2006, has also been nicknamed the Flying Finn.

Football[link]

Shefki Kuqi, currently playing for English side Oldham Athletic has also been nicknamed the "Flying Finn", owing to a strange but popular celebration when he scores a goal. His habit of throwing himself onto the ground, with his arms outstretched and landing on his chest, has drawn notice from many fans and media pundits.^[5]

Other[link]

Patrik Antonius, who is a professional poker player, also has The Flying Finn as one his nicknames as well as "The Terminator". Antonius belongs to the finest poker player class in the world, and is often referred being the very best online poker player in the world. Antonius currently signed a contract with Full Tilt Poker and is a well known name in the today's pokerworld.

List of Flying Finns[link]

Motorsport[link]

• Rauno Aaltonen – rally driver
• Markku Alén – rally driver
• Marcus Grönholm – two time World Rally Champion
• Mikko Hirvonen – rally driver
• Joonas Kylmäkorpi – speedway rider
• Jari-Matti Latvala – rally driver
• JJ Lehto: Formula one driver
• Tommi Mäkinen – four time World Rally Champion
• Heikki Mikkola – four-time motocross world champion
• Keke Rosberg – F1 World Champion
• Jarno Saarinen – Motorcycle World Champion
• Juha Kankkunen – four time World Rally Champion
• Juha Salminen – twelve time World Enduro Champion
• Timo Salonen – rally driver
• Marko Tarkkala – enduro rider
• Mika Salo – two time Le Mans GT2 winner
• Kari Tiainen – seven time World Enduro Champion
• Henri Toivonen – rally driver
• Ari Vatanen – rally driver
• Patu Leppälä – F1 boat driver
• Sami Seliö – F1 Boat World Champion
• Mika Häkkinen – two time F1 World Champion
• Kimi Räikkönen – F1 World Champion/World Rally Championship Driver

Winter Sports[link]

• Janne Ahonen – ski jumper
• Toni Haikonen – snowmobile racer
• Jari Kurri; ice hockey player
• Matti Nykänen – ski jumper
• Kalle Palander – alpine skier
• Teemu Selänne – ice hockey player
• Kalevi Häkkinen – speed skier^[6]
• Patu Leppälä – Speed Skiing World Champion

Other Flying Finns[link]

• Patrik Antonius One of the world's best poker players, and claimed to be the best online poker player in the world.
• Pertti Karppinen Triple Olympic rowing champion.
• Jarkko Nieminen Finnish tennis player known for his speed

References[link]

External links[link]

• Flying Finns - Famous Finnish Rally Drivers

Amanda Palmer
Palmer playing at the Music Box Theatre, Hollywood, California; December 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Amanda MacKinnon Palmer
Also known as	Amanda Fucking Palmer[1][2]
Born	(1976-04-30) April 30, 1976 (age 36) New York City
Genres	Alternative rock, punk cabaret
Occupations	Artist, performer, musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboard, piano, ukulele
Years active	1989–present
Labels	8ft Records / Formerly Roadrunner Records (until April 2010)[3]
Associated acts	The Dresden Dolls Evelyn Evelyn
Website	Amanda Palmer.net

Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer^[4] (born April 30, 1976), sometimes known as Amanda Fucking Palmer,^[1][2] is an American performer who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo The Dresden Dolls.^[5] She has since started a solo career, and is also one half of the duo Evelyn Evelyn.