Mental As Anything: История Австралийской New Wave Группы

Australian new wave/pop rock band
the Farscape episode

Mental As Anything are an Australian new wave and pop rock band that formed in Sydney 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 (birth name Martin Murphy) on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa (birth name Christopher O'Doherty) on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne de Lisle (birth name David Twohill) on drums; and Andrew "Greedy" Smith on vocals, keyboards and harmonica. Their original hit songs were generated by Mombassa, O'Doherty, Plaza and Smith, either individually or collectively; 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, and No. 6 in Germany, after it featured in the 1986 Australian film Crocodile Dundee. 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.

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,

The group formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976 when Martin Murphy (Martin Plaza) met fellow student, New Zealand born Chris O'Doherty (Reg Mombassa) at Alexander Mackie College at East Sydney Technical College, now known as the National Art School. The duo was soon jamming in guitarist and vocalist O'Doherty's Darlinghurst flat. Murphy, on guitar and vocals, brought in his college friend Steve Coburn (son of artist, John Coburn) on bass guitar, while another student, David Twohill (Wayne de Lisle), was recruited on drums. in inner city Paddington 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. which showed a stylistic debt to British new wave. Soon after the EP's release, the Australian arm of Festival Records took over distribution of Regular Records and released a remix of "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" as a single in July 1979. The band completed their first national tour in late 1979, supporting British rockers Rockpile, with members Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. (November 1979) and Mombassa's "Egypt" (January 1980)—did not reach the top 50. Smith penned the follow up, "Too Many Times", which became a No. 6 hit. Mental As Anything members were also visual artists and held their first exhibition of their works in May. 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. (November), from their fourth album, Creatures of Leisure, released in April 1983 and produced by Brown and Dunlop, (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 Countdown with the episode's director, Kris Noble, using a dry ice 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. appeared in December 1984,

In 2023, journalist Stuart Lloyd wrote a book about the band, Started Out Just Drinking Beer: The Mental As Anything Story. The book focuses on the five members of the classic line up, and Mombassa, O'Doherty and Twohill appeared at the book launch and at other related promotional events. In addition to being sold in both stores and online, copies of the book (autographed by Mombassa, O'Doherty, Twohill and Lloyd) are available for sale at various Dog Trumpet shows.