Mental As Anything are an Australian new wave and

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

that formed in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of their charting singles and albums) was

Martin Plaza Martin Edward Murphy (born 1 January 1956), commonly known by the pseudonym Martin Plaza, is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and visual artist who is a founding member and vocalist and guitarist of the new wave band Mental As Anything. ...

(birth name Martin Murphy) on

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

;

Reg Mombassa Christopher O'Doherty, also known by the pseudonym Reg Mombassa, is a New Zealand-born Australian artist and musician. He is a founding member of the band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet (alongside his brother Peter O'Doherty). Ear ...

(birth name Christopher O'Doherty) on

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and vocals; Wayne de Lisle (birth name David Twohill) on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

; and Andrew "Greedy" Smith on vocals,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

. Their original hit songs were generated by Mombassa, O'Doherty, Plaza and Smith, either individually or collectively; they also hit the Australian charts with covers of songs by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

. Their top ten Australian singles are "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?" and "Too Many Times" (both from 1981), " Live It Up" (1985) and "

Rock and Roll Music Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

" (1988).Australian chart peaks: * Top 100 (

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

) peaks to 12 June 1988: N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988. * Top 50 (

) peaks from 13 June 1988: * "Baby You're Wild" (ARIA) peak: * Top 100 (ARIA) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: * "Overwhelmed" (ARIA) peak: * "Whole Wide World" (ARIA) peak: N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached. Internationally, "Too Many Times" made the Canadian top 40 in 1982, and "Live It Up" peaked at No. 3 in the UK, No. 4 in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and No. 6 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, after it featured in the 1986 Australian film ''

Crocodile Dundee ''Crocodile Dundee'' (stylized as ''"Crocodile" Dundee'' in the U.S.) is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee, and American actress Linda Kozlowski as rep ...

''. All of the early members are

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

ists and have had combined studio displays, some have had solo studio displays with Mombassa's artwork also used as designs by the

Mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music *Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particular ...

clothing company. The majority of the group's record covers, posters and video clips have been designed and created by the band members or their art school contemporaries. On 27 August 2009, Mental As Anything was inducted into the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA)

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

alongside

Kev Carmody Kevin Daniel Carmody (born 1946), better known by his stage name Kev Carmody, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter and musician, a Murri man from northern Queensland. He is best known for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow", ...

The Dingoes The Dingoes are an Australian country rock band. They were initially active from 1973 to 1979, and reformed in 2009. Initially based in Melbourne, the band relocated to the United States from 1976. The most stable line-up comprised John Bois on ...

Little Pattie Patricia "Little Pattie" Thelma Thompson (née Amphlett) OAM (born 17 March 1949) is an Australian singer who started her career as a teenager in the early 1960s, recording surf pop, with her backing group The Statesmen, she subsequently went on ...

and

John Paul Young John Inglis Young, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is a Scottish-born Australian pop singer who had his 1978 worldwide hit with " Love Is in the Air". His career was boosted by regular appearances as a perfor ...

. Most of the original group members left during the 2000s, and Andrew "Greedy" Smith—the only original band member still touring with Mental As Anything—died on 2 December 2019, aged 63, after a heart attack. Mental As Anything has not been active since that time, nor have they announced any future plans.

Style

Mental As Anything's music is characterised by poppy, accessible and well-crafted melodies and lyrics, and their work showcases an ironic, satirical and self-deprecating sense of humour. They are a typically "Australian" rock group, with their music and their satirical, good-time image deeply rooted in the milieu of Australian

suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

, although two key members (the O'Doherty brothers) were in fact

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The group's art school background and visual design skills also made them pioneers of the music video form in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and their videos rank as some of the funniest and most imaginative produced in Australia at that time.

History

1976–1979: Formation and early years

The group formed at an

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...

in 1976 when Martin Murphy (

) met fellow student, New Zealand-born Chris O'Doherty (

) at Alexander Mackie College at East Sydney Technical College, now known as the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

. The duo was soon jamming in

ist and

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

ist O'Doherty's

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

flat. Murphy, on guitar and vocals, brought in his college friend Steve Coburn (son of artist, John Coburn) on

, while another student, David Twohill ( Wayne de Lisle), was recruited on

. They were first billed as Mental as Anything on 14 May 1976, after some early party appearances without a name. Prior to the gig at a Chippendale Settlement Dance, they provided the promoter, Paul Worstead, with a list of possible names. Worstead chose Mental As Anything—which was how fellow artist

Ken Bolton Ken Bolton (born 1949) is an Australian poet. He was born in Sydney and studied fine arts at the University of Sydney, where he also tutored. In the late 70s he edited the poetry magazine ''Magic Sam'' and began the small press Sea Cruise Books ...

described them after one of their earlier party performances—and designed an accompanying poster featuring an image of a truck hauling a giant cabbage. The phrase "mental as anything" is late 1970s

Australian slang Australian English is a major variety of the English language spoken throughout Australia. Most of the vocabulary of Australian English is shared with British English, though there are notable differences. The vocabulary of Australia is drawn ...

for being crazy, outlandish, having extreme fun, or 'going off'. Late in 1976, another fellow East Sydney Tech student, Andrew Smith (

Greedy Smith Andrew McArthur "Greedy" Smith (16 January 1956 – 2 December 2019) was an Australian vocalist, keyboardist, harmonicist and songwriter with Australian pop/ new wave band Mental As Anything. Smith wrote many of their hit songs including " Live ...

) made guest appearances with the band on

whilst still a member of another band, and by year's end Smith had joined full-time and he also played

. Coburn left the fledgling band in 1977 and Mombassa's younger brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty joined on bass guitar completing the "classic" line-up. The first performance of the new line-up was at the National Art School's Cell Block Theatre on 17 August, the day news broke in Australia of the death of

. They played numerous Elvis covers and two original songs, together with their usual set of

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and 1960s covers including

and

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

. The band built up a live following in Sydney with their residencies at the Unicorn Hotel in inner-city

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

on Mondays and the Civic Hotel in the CBD on Thursdays. At the Unicorn Hotel, their stage was on top of the pool table to free up floor space. The band was spotted by film-makers

Cameron Allen Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 197 ...

and

Martin Fabinyi Martin Fabinyi is an Australian film and television producer and director, songwriter and music label owner and has written books on the local rock music scene. He was the chief executive officer of Mushroom Pictures from its formation in 1993 ...

, who founded their own

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Regular Records Regular Records was an Australian record label based in Sydney that operated from 1978 until the mid-1990s. Regular Records released music by acts including Mental As Anything, Icehouse (band), Icehouse, and The Cockroaches. The Regular Records ...

, in September 1978 to record and release the group's music. Fabinyi's brother Jeremy Fabinyi became Mental As Anything's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Their debut release was a three-track EP, ''Mental As Anything Plays at Your Party'', in December. It featured all original tracks, and is their only release on which Plaza and Mombassa were credited by their original names, Martin Murphy and Chris O'Doherty, respectively. Sydney radio station Double Jay (now

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

), gave airplay to its most popular track, "The Nips Are Getting Bigger", a drinking song written by Plaza, which showed a stylistic debt to British new wave. Soon after the EP's release, the Australian arm of

Festival Records Festival Records (later known as Festival Mushroom Records) was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a wholly owned subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to ...

took over distribution of Regular Records and released a remix of "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" as a single in July 1979. This was followed on 1 November by the band's debut album, ''Get Wet'', with Allen producing. With support from nationwide TV pop show ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'', "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" became the group's first Australian

top 20 hit, and also made No. 1 on the UK alternative charts when released there by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

and remains one of the group's most popular songs. ''Get Wet'' achieved a top 20 position on the Kent Music Report albums chart. By the time of the LP's release in November, all but Peter O'Doherty had adopted a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

: Chris O'Doherty became Reg Mombassa; Murphy became Martin Plaza—his name copied from the title of the pedestrian plaza in central Sydney, also known as

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

; Smith's voracious appetite saw him dubbed "Greedy"; and Twohill became Wayne "Bird" Delisle. (Starting in 1995, Twohill was later billed under his birth name). Shortly before the names had been settled, Peter O'Doherty was using the pseudonym Ouzo Pork, but he elected to keep his birth name for professional purposes. His nickname, as used in interviews, was Yoga Dog, but he was never billed as such. The band completed their first national tour in late 1979, supporting British rockers

Rockpile Rockpile was a British rock and roll band of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, gui ...

, with members

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...

and

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,

1980–1984: Success in Australia

Mental As Anything's next two singles—Plaza's "Possible Theme for a Future TV Drama Series" (November 1979) and Mombassa's "Egypt" (January 1980)—did not reach the top 50. Their second LP, ''Espresso Bongo'', released in July, was named after the

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

movie, and it peaked into the top 40. Their fourth single, "Come Around", returned them to the top 20 in June, and it was followed by a top 30 hit with "

(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet" is a song written by Bob Hamilton and Freddie Gorman, first made famous by the 1964 hit recording by the Reflections. The song is the first person narrative of a young man who plans to find a job so that he can buy ...

", an upbeat

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of the 1964 hit by The Reflections, as a non-album single in November 1980. They scored a No. 4 national hit with Plaza's "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too?", released in May 1981. Smith penned the follow-up, "Too Many Times", which became a No. 6 hit. It was accompanied by a music video shot on a building block in a Sydney seaside suburb and brought Mental As Anything international exposure by becoming a top 40 hit in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in July 1982, when they toured North America in support of

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is Coli ...

. The next single, "Berserk Warriors" (December 1981), was a satirical tribute to

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

, although the concurrent release of the pop hit "Swords of a Thousand Men" by British band

Tenpole Tudor Tenpole Tudor are an English punk band fronted by Edward Tudor-Pole. The band first came to prominence when Tudor-Pole appeared in the Sex Pistols' film ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' and on three of the singles released from the soundtr ...

prevented Mental As Anything from realising their plan to make a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

-themed music video to promote it, although they did eventually make the clip as planned and included it on their subsequent video album compilation. All of the 1981 singles were included on their Bruce Brown and

Russell Dunlop Russell James Dunlop (21 October 194516 May 2009) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer-engineer. From the late 1970s he collaborated with Bruce Brown in a production company for albums and singles by Australian perfo ...

produced ''Cats & Dogs'', which became their biggest success to date, reaching No. 3 nationally. Mombassa's "Let's Cook" (April 1982) was a radio-only single. "Let's Cook" was also an MTV Video. Mental As Anything members were also

visual artists The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

and held their first exhibition of their works in May. In June, during his tour of Australia,

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

heard them and produced their next single "I Didn't Mean to Be Mean" (August 1982), written by Plaza. A compilation album, ''If You Leave Me'', was released in September 1982 in the United States and Men at Work, then at the peak of their popularity, had included Mental As Anything as a support act on their US tour. Peter O'Doherty wrote the band's next single, the sentimental "Close Again" (November), from their fourth album, '' Creatures of Leisure'', released in April 1983 and produced by Brown and Dunlop, which peaked at No. 8. It provided two more singles, the Smith and Mombassa collaboration "Spirit Got Lost" (March), which was accompanied by an imaginative animated video clip, and Pete O'Doherty's "Brain Brain" (September). To promote, "Spirit Got Lost", Mental As Anything performed the single on ''

'' with the episode's director, Kris Noble, using a

dry ice Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and sublimates directly from the solid state to the gas state. It is used primarily a ...

-filled coffin with a band member due to emerge; complaints from within the coffin were ignored by Noble with "''It's only another 30 seconds''", until a crew member remembered that dry ice could cause nausea, choking or even death. Their final 1983 single was a cover of

's " Working for the Man" (November), produced by

Mark Moffatt Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

and

Ricky Fataar Ricky Fataar (born 5 September 1952) is a South African-English multi-instrumentalist of Cape Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a spoof on t ...

. Internationally, ''Creatures of Leisure'' was altered to drop three Australia-only tracks and replace them with both sides of the "Working for the Man" single. It was another year before their next single, Mombassa and Plaza's blackly humorous Christmas release, "Apocalypso (Wiping the Smile off Santa's Face)" appeared in December 1984, which was one of the first Australian recordings to be remixed as a 12" 'disco' version. The innovative stop-motion video by B Sharp Productions to promote "Apocalypso" later shared the "Best Promotional Video" award—with

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

' "Burn for You" by

Richard Lowenstein Richard Lowenstein (born 1 March 1959) is an Australian filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed: feature films, including '' Strikebound'' (1984), ''Dogs in Space'' (1986) and ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'' (2001); music videos ...

—at the 1984 ''Countdown'' Awards held in 1985.

1985-1989: International success

began to gain prominence with his songwriting success and became the lead vocalist on several songs. Plaza's deep, sultry vocals contrasted well with Smith's higher pitched pop and

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

. Smith penned and sang the next two singles, both from their ''

Fundamental Fundamental may refer to: * Foundation of reality * Fundamental frequency, as in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental" * Fundamentalism, the belief in, and usually the strict adherence to, the simple or "fundamental" idea ...

'' album produced by

Richard Gottehrer Richard Gottehrer (born 1940) is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive. In 1997, he co-founded the Orchard with longtime business partner Scott Cohen, an independent music distribution company. His career began as ...

and released in September 1985, which peaked at No. 3. " You're So Strong" (March 1985) reached No. 11 in Australia and also charted in the top 30 of the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart. It was followed by the band's biggest Australian hit " Live It Up" (May 1985) which climbed to No. 2 and remained there for three weeks behind

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's "

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

Into the Groove "Into the Groove" is a song by recorded by American singer Madonna, and featured on the 1985 film ''Desperately Seeking Susan''. Written and produced by both Madonna and Stephen Bray, the main inspiration behind the song was the dance floor; t ...

". The single also reached No. 3 in the UK in 1987, and was a hit in Europe, after being included in the soundtrack of the hugely successful Australian 1986 film ''

''. The band performed three songs in the 1985

Oz for Africa Oz for Africa was an Australian concert held on 13 July 1985 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. It was organised by Bill Gordon who also organised the EAT Concert held at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne at the end of January 1985. That event was ...

concert (part of the global

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

program) – "Live It Up", "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? " and " You're So Strong". It was broadcast both in Australia and on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in the US. Smith's "

Date With Destiny Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating * Play date, a ...

" (September 1985) peaked into the top 30 but Plaza's "Big Wheel" (November 1985) did not reach the top 50. In December 1986, they performed under the

, The Death Barrels, in a competition sponsored by

, Battle of the Surf Bands at Selina's Coogee Bay Hotel. 1986 saw the release of "Greatest Hits Volume 1" which reached number 2 on the Australian charts. "Sloppy Croc", an instrumental that featured on the Crocodile Dundee Soundtrack alongside "Live It Up", was released as a single in Australia but with little promotion, failed to chart. From late in 1986 to early 1987, Mental As Anything were the opening act on the multi-group

Australian Made Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything, I'm Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, INXS and even Jimmy Barnes. ...

concert tour where they were joined by former

Dynamic Hepnotics The Dynamic Hepnotics were an Australian soul, blues and funk band which formed in 1979 and disbanded in 1986. Mainstay, lead vocalist and front man, "Continental" Robert Susz formed the group in Sydney. They had chart success on the Australian K ...

keyboardist Mike Gubb. The tour started with claims of mateship and cooperation; however arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film. At the Sydney concert, Peter Trotter, playing

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

for Mental As Anything, collapsed on stage and died a week later. The tour ended in acrimony with two managers,

Chris Murphy Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States Hou ...

(for INXS) and Jeremy Fabinyi (for Mental As Anything), arguing backstage in Sydney and coming to blows. A film of the tour, ''Australian Made: The Movie'', directed by

, was released in July 1987, but contained no footage of Mental As Anything performing. They followed the Australian Made tour by extensive touring of Europe and the UK on the back of the success of "Live It Up" and to promote their album of that year ''Mouth to Mouth'', again produced by Gottehrer Mouth to Mouth charted in the top 20 in Australia and the two singles lifted from it, "He's Just No Good For You" and "Don't Tell Me Now" both charted in the Top 40, as did a further single at years end, a cover of Elvis Presley's " Love Me Tender". The music video for "He's Just No Good for You" was filmed on Scarborough Street in

Monterey, New South Wales Monterey ( ;) is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 15 km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Monterey is in the local government area of the Bayside Council. ...

. In late 1988, a cover of the

chestnut "

"—recorded for the

Yahoo Serious Yahoo Serious (born Greg Gomez Pead; 27 July 1953) is an Australian film actor, director, and score composer. His films include the comedy films ''Young Einstein'' (1988), ''Reckless Kelly'' (1993), and '' Mr. Accident'' (2000). Serious writes, ...

movie ''

Young Einstein ''Young Einstein'' is a 1988 Australian comedy film written, produced, directed by and starring Yahoo Serious. It is a fantasized account of the life of Albert Einstein which alters all people, places and circumstances of his life, including r ...

''—went top 5 on the

(ARIA)

Singles Charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

. The single appeared on their next album, ''Cyclone Raymond'', produced by Steve James, Mark Moffatt,

Mark Opitz Mark Opitz (born 1952) is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. He started his career with Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 1971. He has produced AC/DC, the Angels, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, Divinyls and INXS. H ...

and Robyn Smith; which peaked into the top 40 ARIA Albums Charts in October 1989. A planned first single for 1989, "Love Comes Running" was cancelled from release in Australia, instead appearing in New Zealand only. The first single released in 1989 from the album, "The World Seems Difficult" was a top twenty hit, but polished up for the overseas market, sounded unlike anything the band had previously released. Two further singles, "Baby You're Wild" and "Overwhelmed" did not peak into the top 50, and promotion of the album was hindered after Smith injured his arm in a horse riding accident, and was hospitalised, which forced tour concerts to be postponed or cancelled. By early 1990, Mental As Anything members agreed to take a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

to work on solo work and side projects. Then

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

, opened their second group studio art exhibition in 1990.

1990-1993: Side projects and sabbatical

In 1986 Plaza released a solo single, a cover of the 1960s

Unit 4 + 2 Unit 4 + 2 were a British pop band, who had a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1965 with the song "Concrete and Clay". The track topped the UK chart for one week. Career Early days In 1962, Brian Parker, then the guitar player and song ...

song "

Concrete and Clay "Concrete and Clay" is a 1965 hit single recorded by the UK pop group Unit 4 + 2. It reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1965. The song was written by group members Tommy Moeller and Brian Parker. It was also a top 40 hit for Edd ...

", which was a No. 2 hit; the subsequent solo album, ''Plaza Suite'', also charted. In 1991, during his sabbatical from Mental As Anything, Plaza collaborated with former member of

Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

James Freud James Randall Freud (born Colin Joseph McGlinchey; 29 June 1959 – 4 November 2010) was an Australian rock musician-songwriter. He was a member of Models during the 1980s and wrote their two most popular singles, "Barbados" and " Out of Mind, O ...

. As

Beatfish Beatfish were a short lived Australian dance duo consisting of James Freud and Martin Plaza Martin Edward Murphy (born 1 January 1956), commonly known by the pseudonym Martin Plaza, is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and visual art ...

, they released the self-titled album, ''Beatfish'', which was one of the first Australian dance or house flavoured albums. Plaza's 1994 album ''Andy's Chest'' was composed almost entirely of

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

covers. Another collaboration with Freud occurred in 1996 and resulted in the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

an inspired Moondog project, with Plaza appearing on some tracks of the album ''Postcard from Hawaii''. Mombassa and O'Doherty formed the duo Reg & Peter/Peter & Reg (they alternated names whenever interviewed) and released a single, "Jean" in March 1991, before adopting the band name

Dog Trumpet Dog Trumpet, originally known as Reg & Peter's Dog Trumpet, is an Australian rock band, founded in 1990 by brothers Reg Mombassa (aka Chris O'Doherty) and Peter O'Doherty, original members of Australian new wave and pop rock band Mental As Any ...

and releasing the album ''Two Heads One Brain''. Studio musicians were Mike Gubb on

(ex-

, Mental as Anything), John Bliss on

(ex-

The Reels The Reels was an Australian rock band which formed in Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976. It disbanded in 1991, and reformed in 2007. Its 1981 song " Quasimodo's Dream" was voted one of the top 10 Australian songs of all time by a 100-member panel ...

) and Mark Honeybrook on

. Further releases followed with the

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, Al ...

''Kiss a Gun Down'' in October 1992 and ''Strange Brew'' in October 1993. After returning to Mental As Anything, they continued with their Dog Trumpet side project and provided three further album releases. Mombassa also designed innumerable T-shirts, posters, videos and record covers for Mental As Anything and other bands. His most recent album cover is for

Public Image Limited In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

's "Greatest Hits So Far". Johnny Lydon spied Reg's work on Mambo clothing and sought him out to do their album cover. Reg's talents extend to illustrations and writings for, among others, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', ''Stiletto'', ''RAM'', ''

Dolly Dolly may refer to: Tools *Dolly (tool), a portable anvil * A posser, also known as a dolly, used for laundering * A variety of wheeled tools, including: **Dolly (trailer), for towing behind a vehicle **Boat dolly or launching dolly, a device fo ...

'' and ''FMG''. Smith performed with his band, Greedy's on the Loose, during 1992 but there was no recorded output, while Twohill returned to art college and finished his degree.

1993-1999: Return from sabbatical

During the sabbatical, Mental As Anything still played short tours and one-off gigs, but by 1993 they were back on record, providing the song "Ride", produced by

Tim Farriss Timothy William Farriss (born 16 August 1957) is an Australian musician, founding member and the lead guitarist of the rock band :INXS. Early life and the formation of INXS Farriss was born in Perth, Western Australia, to Dennis and Jill F ...

, for the soundtrack to the

film ''

Reckless Kelly ''Reckless Kelly'' is a 1993 Australian comedy film produced, written, directed and starring Yahoo Serious. It co-stars Melora Hardin, Alexei Sayle and Hugo Weaving. The story is a satirical take on a modern-day Ned Kelly, a famous Australian out ...

''. They released a

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

of rare album tracks and b-sides, ''Chemical Travel'', in November. By mid-1994 the band had recorded an album's worth of self-produced material but were having difficulty getting a release deal. They self-released an EP of songs, ''Bicycle'', and gave it away on their summer 1994/95 tour of NSW and Queensland. Radio station

received a copy of the ''Bicycle'' EP on Christmas Day 1994 and put the lead track "Mr Natural" on immediate heavy rotation. Other stations followed and the demand led to the track being given a commercial release as a single and reaching the top 30 on the ARIA Charts (although charting higher in the States where the tour and free EP didn't reach). The resulting album, 1995's ''Liar, Liar Pants on Fire'', reached the top 40, with Mombassa's cover taking the 'Best Cover Art' award at the 1996 ARIA Music Awards. Three further singles were lifted off ''Liar Liar'' in 1995 and 1996: Mombassa's "Nigel" which just failed to chart, a cover of Wreckless Eric's " Whole Wide World" which landed just out of the Top 50 (Top 30 in Victoria) and O'Doherty's tribute to Ms Faithful, "Marianne", which was released as the band supported Chris Issak on his 1996 tour of Australia. On 16 August 1997, Mental As Anything celebrated 20 years together with the same line-up with a free birthday show at the

Hopetoun Hotel The Hopetoun Hotel, colloquially referred to as The Hoey, is a historic Sydney hotel and music venue in Surry Hills, New South Wales. It was built somewhere between 1836 and 1839, originally under the name of the Cookatoo Inn and then in 1901 rev ...

in Surry Hills, Sydney. Late 1997 saw the band put together their third group art exhibition, Mentals III, which was opened by former Prime Minister,

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

, at the Manly Art Gallery (

had opened their second group exhibition in 1990). Their 21st anniversary in 1998 was marked with the release of the last album by this line-up, '' Garàge'', which did not reach the top 50, nor did the two singles lifted from it, "Just My Luck" and "Calling Colin". December 1999 saw the release of ''Best of Mental As Anything'' which was accredited by ARIA with a gold certificate by 2001, and a seasonal single "White Christmas", that was given away at their "Yule Party" gig at Sydney's Metro Theatre.

2000-2019: Line-up changes

In April 2000, Mental As Anything announced the first official change to their line-up since 1977. Brothers Peter O'Doherty and Reg Mombassa left to pursue their own musical projects, including their band

, and their art careers. The last tour by this line-up was a short trip to Vietnam organised by the Australian Government. They were replaced by David 'Duck' Barraclough (ex-

The Exponents The Exponents, formerly The Dance Exponents, was a New Zealand rock group led by vocalist and songwriter Jordan Luck. Their major hits were "Victoria" " Why Does Love Do This To Me" and "Who Loves Who The Most". History 1980s: Dance Expone ...

) and Murray Cook (ex-

Leah Purcell Leah Maree Purcell (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's ''Somewhere in the Darkness'', which led to role ...

Mixed Relations Mixed Relations were an Australian band formed by Bart Willoughby. They played a mixture of reggae, pop, rock and jazz. Mixed Relations toured Aboriginal communities, Australian cities, Pacific Islands, New Zealand, United States, Europe, Canad ...

). Cook (no relation to Murray Cook of

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...

) left the band after the ''Beetroot Stains'' album (2000) and was replaced by New Zealand born Mike Caen, who had worked with Jenny Morris,

Margaret Urlich Margaret Mary Urlich (24 January 1965 – 22 August 2022) was a New Zealand singer who lived in Australia for most of her career. Urlich's 1989 debut solo album, ''Safety in Numbers'', won " Breakthrough Artist – Album" at the 1991 ARIA Awa ...

Rick Price Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, ''Heaven Knows (Rick Price album), Heaven Knows'', was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the A ...

Daryl Braithwaite Daryl Braithwaite (born 11 January 1949) is an Australian singer. He was the lead vocalist of Sherbet (1970–1984 and many subsequent reunions). Braithwaite also has a solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including t ...

and

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

. At the ''

Gimme Ted ''Gimme Ted'', or more fully ''Gimme Ted – The Ted Mulry Benefit Concerts'', is an Australian 2×DVD video and tribute album by Various Artists, which was released on 19 May 2003. It was recorded at two eponymous benefit concerts on 9 and 10 ...

'' benefit concert on 10 March 2001, Mental As Anything performed three songs. The ''Road Case'' album by this line-up appeared late in 2002. In 2003 the band started recording favourite covers that had inspired the band in its early days, including songs such as "

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" is a song written by Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran who lies helplessly as his wife "paints erselfup" to go out for the evening without him; he believes she is going in search of a lover. As he hears the ...

", "Lonesome Train", "Hangin Five", with a view to releasing an album under the title ''Songs the Lord Tortoise''. Although the album was completed in 2004 it has not been released. The next line-up change occurred in September 2004 when Twohill was sacked from the band by Plaza and Smith. Upon return to Sydney following a tour of Western Australia by the band Twohill was told at the airport that he had played his last show for the band. Twohill lodged a

wrongful dismissal In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contra ...

case against his former bandmates with the NSW Industrial Relations Commission in 2007. At the hearing, he said he had "no inkling" that his bandmates were dissatisfied with his performances and his attitude, whereas Plaza advised that the band had been discussing Twohill's future for some time and had issued the drummer with a warning after alleged unprofessional behaviour during a gig at Ettalong, north of Sydney, in December 2003. This was not an undisputed claim; in evidence given earlier, the band's stage technician Darren Brain, said Twohill "played quite well". Twohill was ultimately successful in his claim, with Justice Frank Marks stating that the band gave "no basis" for the expulsion. Twohill was replaced by Robbie Souter, a veteran of

Slim Dusty Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars, ...

band and other country and roots music combos. This line-up recorded the acoustic ''Plucked'', released in November 2005. In 2007 they toured

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

for the first time to play three gigs in the capital

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

as part of "Australia Week". MentalAsAnything2007

In May 2009 the band released the compilation album ''Essential as Anything'', celebrating thirty years since the release of their first EP and national tour of their debut album. The album also included a DVD of all the video clips released by the band. Additionally Mental As Anything re-issued all ten of the band's albums as digital downloads. The band also released a new studio album, ''Tents Up'', in June and toured nationally in support of both releases. On 27 August 2009, Mental As Anything was inducted into the

(ARIA)

alongside

and

. Mombassa said that it was an honour to be inducted and thanked fans and industry supporters. At the ceremony they were inducted by Roy Slaven and they performed "Live It Up", "The Nips are Getting Bigger" and "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too" with Mombassa and O'Doherty rejoining them onstage. On 18 September 2009 the band appeared live in Sydney's Apple Store with a digital download EP in the "iTunes Live from Sydney: Aussie Legends" series appearing the next day. An extensive pictorial biography of Mombassa, titled the "Mind of Times of Reg Mombassa" appeared in November, and by virtue of the subject served as a de facto biography of Mental As Anything up to Mombassa's departure in 2000. The Summer of 2009/2010 saw a national tour for the current line-up supporting the B-52s and Proclaimers. In mid-2010 children's entertainers,

, released their "Let's Eat" album with the lead track being a collaboration with Smith, Plaza, Mombassa and O'Doherty on a re-recording of "Let's Cook". The band continued to tour regularly, playing smaller venues throughout Australia's cities and regional centres. In 2012 both Barraclough and Souter departed the band due to ill health; and were replaced by Zoltan Budai and Jacob Cook, respectively. Souter died in 2017 due to liver failure, aged 68, and Barraclough died in 2018 due to pancreatic cancer, aged 58. Further changes occurred when Caen departed in late 2013 and was replaced by

Martin Cilia Martin Cilia (born December 1958) is an English-born Australian musician. Cilia is best known for his songwriting skills, and his membership in The Atlantics, where he performs on the guitar. Cilia played his first gig in a school hall in Morle ...

in early 2014; and when Budai departed the band in 2015 and was replaced by James Gillard. Martin Plaza has been battling kidney cancer since 2013 and has had extended periods off the road, with Caen and Craig Gordon variously standing in. Plaza played with the Mentals throughout 2014, and for a few dates in October 2016, but his health forced him to thereafter permanently retire from the group's touring schedule. During this time, the band released newly recorded material: Smith's "Shake Off Your Sandals" (2015), Plaza's "Goat Tracks in My Sandpit" (2016) and a 5 track EP called ''5 Track EP'' (2017) which collected these two songs and three others. The EP was timed for release for the band's appearance on the 2017 APIA Good Times tour. Additionally back catalogue was reissued both physically and digitally in the UK/Europe via Demon/Edsel and in Australia via Universal Music Group. Mental As Anything, now consisting of Greedy Smith (vocals/keyboards), Martin Cilia (guitars), Jacob Cook (drums), Craig Gordon (vocals/guitars) and Peter Gray (vocals/bass), played a special 40th anniversary show at Surfersaurus in Sydney, during October 2018. Smith was by this point the only original member of Mental As Anything to still be playing with the group. The concert was released as the live CD ''At Play'' in early 2019. Andrew "Greedy" Smith died of a heart attack on 2 December 2019, in Sydney. Smith's final show with the band – and the band's last show to date – took place on 30 November in

Tathra, New South Wales Tathra () is a seaside town on the Sapphire Coast found on the South Coast, New South Wales, Australia. As at the , Tathra had a population of 1,675. Nearby points of interest are the Old Tathra Wharf, Mimosa Rocks National Park and Bournda Nat ...

Personnel

Members

;Past members *

– lead vocals, guitar (1976–2019; non-touring from 2015) * Wayne de Lisle (David Twohill) – drums (1976–2004) *

(Chris O'Doherty) – guitar, vocals (1976–2000) *

(Andrew Smith) – lead vocals, keyboards, harmonica (1976–2019; his death) * Steve Coburn – bass (1976–1977) *

Peter O'Doherty Peter O'Doherty (born 23 March 1958) is a New Zealand-born Australian musician and visual artist. He is a founder of Australian pop band, Dog Trumpet, in 1991 on guitar and vocals, alongside his older brother, Chris O'Doherty ( Reg Mombassa) on ...

– bass, vocals (1977–2000) * David Barraclough – bass, vocals, guitar, keyboards (2000–2012; died 2018) * Murray Cook – guitar (2000–2002) * Mike Caen – guitar, vocals (2002–2013) * Robbie Souter – drums (2004–2012; died 2017) * Zoltan Budai – bass (2012–2015) * Jacob Cook – drums (2012–2019) *

– guitar, vocals (2014–2019) * Craig Gordon – guitar, vocals (2015–2019) * James Gillard – bass (2015–2017) * Peter Gray – bass, vocals (2017–2019) ;Touring musicians * Mike Gubb – keyboards (1986–1987)

Line-ups

Timeline

ImageSize = width:950 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:100 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/03/1976 till:12/12/2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:bvoc value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:harm value:gray(0.75) legend:Harmonica id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:nonp value:yellow legend:Non-performing id:lines value:black legend:Studio album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1977 BarData = bar:Martin text:"Martin Plaza" bar:Greedy text:"Greedy Smith" bar:Reg text:"Reg Mombassa" bar:Murray text:"Murray Cook" bar:Mike text:"Mike Caen" bar:MartinC text:"Martin Cilia" bar:Craig text:"Craig Gordon" bar:Steve text:"Steve Coburn" bar:Peter text:"Peter O'Doherty" bar:DavidB text:"David Barraclough" bar:Zoltan text:"Zoltan Budai" bar:James text:"James Gillard" bar:PeterG text:"Peter Gray" bar:DavidT text:"David Twohill" bar:Robbie text:"Robbie Souter" bar:Jacob text:"Jacob Cook" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Martin from:start till:01/01/2000 color:guitar width:3 bar:Martin from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2015 color:guitar width:7 bar:Martin from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2015 color:keys width:3 bar:Martin from:start till:01/01/2015 color:voc bar:Martin from:01/02/2015 till:30/09/2016 color:nonp bar:Martin from:01/10/2016 till:31/10/2016 color:voc bar:Martin from:01/10/2016 till:31/10/2016 color:guitar width:3 bar:Martin from:01/11/2016 till:end color:nonp bar:Greedy from:01/09/1976 till:end color:keys width:7 bar:Greedy from:01/09/1976 till:end color:voc bar:Greedy from:01/09/1976 till:end color:harm width:3 bar:Reg from:start till:02/05/2000 color:guitar bar:Reg from:start till:02/05/2000 color:bvoc width:3 bar:Murray from:02/05/2000 till:04/05/2002 color:guitar bar:Murray from:02/05/2000 till:04/05/2002 color:keys width:7 bar:Murray from:02/05/2000 till:04/05/2002 color:bvoc width:3 bar:Mike from:04/05/2002 till:31/12/2013 color:guitar bar:Mike from:04/05/2004 till:31/12/2013 color:bvoc width:3 bar:MartinC from:01/01/2014 till:end color:guitar bar:MartinC from:01/01/2014 till:end color:bvoc width:3 bar:Steve from:start till:16/08/1977 color:bass bar:Peter from:16/08/1977 till:04/05/2000 color:bass bar:Peter from:16/08/1977 till:04/05/2000 color:guitar width:7 bar:Peter from:16/08/1977 till:04/05/2000 color:bvoc width:3 bar:DavidB from:04/05/2000 till:04/05/2012 color:bass bar:DavidB from:04/05/2000 till:04/05/2012 color:guitar width:7 bar:DavidB from:04/05/2000 till:04/05/2012 color:voc width:3 bar:Zoltan from:04/05/2012 till:04/05/2015 color:bass bar:James from:04/05/2015 till:01/01/2017 color:bass bar:DavidT from:start till:04/05/2004 color:drums bar:DavidT from:01/01/2000 till:04/05/2004 color:bvoc width:3 bar:Robbie from:04/05/2004 till:04/05/2012 color:drums bar:Jacob from:04/05/2012 till:end color:drums bar:Craig from:04/05/2015 till:end color:guitar bar:Craig from:04/05/2015 till:end color:bvoc width:3 bar:PeterG from:01/01/2017 till:end color:bass bar:PeterG from:01/01/2017 till:end color:bvoc width:3 LineData = at:01/11/1979 color:black layer:back at:11/08/1980 color:black layer:back at:20/09/1981 color:black layer:back at:08/03/1983 color:black layer:back at:01/09/1985 color:black layer:back at:31/07/1987 color:black layer:back at:18/09/1989 color:black layer:back at:14/09/1995 color:black layer:back at:24/08/1998 color:black layer:back at:01/11/2000 color:black layer:back at:09/11/2002 color:black layer:back at:01/11/2005 color:black layer:back at:15/06/2009 color:black layer:back

Discography

* '' Get Wet'' (aka ''Mental As Anything'') (1979) * ''

Espresso Bongo ''Espresso Bongo'' is the second studio album released by Mental As Anything. It was released in July 1980, and peaked at #37 on the Australian Album charts. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created th ...

'' (1980) * ''

Cats & Dogs ''Cats & Dogs'' is a 2001 spy-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman and written by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. It stars Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock, with the voices of (among others) Tobey Maguire, Alec Baldwin, ...

'' (aka ''If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?'') (1981) * '' Creatures of Leisure'' (1983) * ''

'' (1985) * '' Mouth to Mouth'' (1987) * ''

Cyclone Raymond ''Cyclone Raymond'' is the seventh studio album by Australian pop rock band Mental As Anything, released in September 1989 and peaked at number 34 on the ARIA Charts. Track listing Personnel Musicians * Martin Plaza — lead vocals, gu ...

'' (1989) * ''Liar Liar Pants on Fire'' (1995) * ''Garàge'' (1998) * ''Beetroot Stains'' (2000) * ''Road Case'' (2002) * ''Plucked'' (2005) * ''Tents Up'' (2009)

Awards and honours

APRA Awards

These awards were established by

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA) in 1982 to honour the achievements of songwriters and music composers, and to recognise their songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance, by its members annually. Andrew "Greedy" Smith of Mental As Anything won the

APRA Award The APRA Music Awards in Australia are annual awards to celebrate excellence in contemporary music, which honour the skills of member composers, songwriters, and music publisher (popular music), publishers who have achieved outstanding succes ...

for "Most Performed Australasian Popular Work" in 1987 for " Live It Up". , - , ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, , "Live It Up" by

, , Most Performed Australasian Popular Work , ,

ARIA Awards

Mental As Anything has won two

(ARIA)

Awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award ...

including their 2009 induction into their

. This induction recognised their achievement of a "significant body of recorded work" and that they "had a cultural impact within Australia". , - , rowspan="2",

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, , "Mr Natural" , , Best Pop Release , , , - , , "Mr Natural" by

, , Best Cover Art , , , - , ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, , ''Liar Liar Pants on Fire'' by Reg Mombassa , , Best Cover Art , , , - , ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, , ''Garàge'' by Reg Mombassa , , Best Cover Art , , , - , ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , Mental As Anything , ,

, ,

Countdown Awards

'' was an Australian

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

'' but then independently. ''TV Week'' had previously sponsored the 'King of Pop' awards. The ''Countdown'' Music and Video Awards were succeeded by the

ARIA Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music The music of Australia has ...

. , - , rowspan="2",

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, , "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" , , Best Single , , , - , , Mental As Anything , , Best New Talent , , , - , rowspan="3",

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, , "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too?" , , Best Single , , , - , , ''Cats & Dogs'' , , Best Album , , , - , , Mental As Anything , , Most Consistent Live Act , , , - , rowspan="2",

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, , ''Creatures of Leisure'' , , Best Album , , , - , , "Spirit Got Lost" , , Best Video , , , - , rowspan="2",

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, , "Apocalypso" , , Best Video , , , - , , "Apocalypso" , , Best Group Performance in a Video , , , - , rowspan="4",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, , ''

'' , , Best Album , , , - , , " Live It Up" , , Best Single , , , - , ,

, , Best Songwriter , , , - , , "Live It Up" , , Best Group Performance in a Video , , , - , ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, , "Let's Go To Paradise" , , Best Group Performance in a Video , ,

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Mental As Anything won one awards in that time. (wins only) , - , 2014 , Mental As Anything , Best Rock Act of the Year , , -

References

External links

Biography on BBC Radio 2
* Mental As Anything biographyon

AllMusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Fundamental as anything / Mental as Anything
{{Authority control APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Australian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1976 Australian new wave musical groups Musical groups from Sydney 1976 establishments in Australia Pub rock musical groups Sibling musical groups