“I Got You” by Split Enz

"I Got You" was the first single from Split Enz's True Colours, out in Australia and New Zealand in January 1980, and it's the song that turned the New Zealand band into a pop juggernaut. Neil Finn wrote it and didn't think it was a hit, which shows how wrong a songwriter can be about his own work.

It's twitchy, taut new wave pop. Neil Finn's guitar and voice lead the way, Tim Finn sings too and joins Eddie Rayner on keyboards, Nigel Griggs' bass and Malcolm Green's drums snap tight, and Noel Crombie adds percussion. David Tickle produced and engineered it, keeping everything crisp and bright.

It became the band's most successful song by a mile: it topped the charts across Australasia, including eight weeks at number one in Australia, made the top 20 in Britain and the top 10 in Canada, and by July 1980 it was the best-selling single in Australian history. APRA later placed it 11th on its all-time list of the finest New Zealand songs.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.