Rootin Tootin Luton Tapes


The Rootin Tootin Luton Tapes is a collection of demos made by New Zealand band Split Enz in 1978. During their 2006 tour of Australia it was announced that these recordings would finally be released as an official album after lengthy pressure from the fan club Frenz of the Enz.
In 1978 Split Enz fired their record company, their manager, and co-founder Phil Judd had left for the final time. The band was in a slump, and the opportunity arose for them to record in a small studio in Luton. It was a cramped space with percussionist Noel Crombie having to set up his kit in the studio's toilet and Eddie Rayner in a position where he was almost constantly hitting Tim Finn in the head with his elbow. In spite of this, the band claims that this was a very passionate recording session, and was the beginning of a new era.
Some songs were re-recorded for the album Frenzy, but the band considered the original recordings to be far superior. This was partly due to the engineering and mixing on that album by producer Mallory Earl resulting in tracks described by Noel Crombie as "woolly and average", and also from subdued performances by the band.
In 2007, Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner remixed the available tapes; a limited edition 2-CD set was made available by the Frenz Of The Enz fan club to its members, while the commercial release is a single CD.

2 CD version

CD 1
  1. "Miss Haps" - 4:08
  2. "Home Comforts" - 4:13
  3. "Animal Lover" - 3:16
  4. "Carried Away" - 4:37
  5. "Semi-Detached" # - 5:03
  6. "Holy Smoke" - 3:21
  7. "Message Boy" - 3:47
  8. "Hypnotised" - 3:41
  9. "Late In Rome" - 3:25
  10. "Straight Talk" - 3:23
  11. "Hollow Victory" - 3:23
  12. "Evelyn" - 3:16
  13. "Best Friend" - 3:04
  14. "Creature Comforts" - 2:52
  15. "Remember When" - 3:56
CD 2
  1. "Hermit McDermitt" - 5:02
  2. "Betty" - 6:13
  3. "I See Red" - 3:15
  4. "Mind Over Matter" - 3:09
  5. "Next Exit" - 3:54
  6. "She Got Body She Got Soul" - 2:57
  7. "So This Is Love" * # - 4:14
  8. "Abu Dhabi" # - 4:53
  9. "Famous People" # - 4:02
  10. "I'm So Up" * # - 2:58
  11. "Marooned" # - 2:27
  12. "Livin' It Up" # - 1:17
  13. "Frenzy" # - 3:07

Single CD version

Features CD 1 only.

Production

Original release of Rootin Tootin Luton tracks

Though largely unreleased prior the 2007 CD, ten songs from The Rootin' Tootin Luton Tapes were released in various artist albums or on the B-sides of singles.
;"Hermit McDermitt"
  • B-side of "I See Red", 1978
  • Frenzy album, 1982
  • Spellbound album, 1997
;"Message Boy"
  • B-side of "I See Red", 1978
;"Semi-Detached"
  • B-side of "Things", 1979
  • Frenzy album, 1982
  • Spellbound album, 1997
  • Frenzy album remix/remaster, 2006
;"Hypnotised"
  • B-side of "I Hope I Never", 1980
;"Carried Away"
  • B-side of "I Hope I Never", 1980
  • Frenzy album, 1982
  • Frenzy album remix/remaster, 2006
;"Holy Smoke"
  • B-side of "History Never Repeats", 1981
  • Frenzy album, 1982
;"Next Exit"
  • More Hits & Myths! NZ-only various artist album, 1981
;"Livin' It Up"
  • B-side of "I See Red", 1982
  • Frenzy album, 1982
;"Mind Over Matter"
  • Frenzy album, 1982
;"Evelyn"

Lost tracks

In a Frenz of the Enz newsletter, Eddie Rayner was interviewed regarding the release of the Luton tapes. He has confirmed that one tape containing approximately five songs is missing. One track that he assumes is on it is called "Sensational".

Personnel