Mental as Anything

The poppy Australian new wave rock band Mental as Anything formed in Sydney in 1976. The classic line up of guitarist Reg Mombassa, guitarist and lead singer Martin Plaza, bass player Peter O’Doherty (Mombassa’s brother), drummer Wayne Delisle, and keyboard player Andrew “Greedy” Smith eventually coalescing in 1977. All of them were art-school students, and they immediately embraced a pointedly quirky, which still undeniably catchy, approach to music. Their idiosyncratic style brought them a cult audience during their early live performances, and their debut single, 1979’s “The Nips Are Getting Bigger”, hit Number 16 in Australia. It was the leadoff track for their first LP, 1979’s Get Wet, which also went top 20. Their follow up album 1980’s Espresso Bongo, included their second top 20 single, “Come Around”, though the album underperformed their debut. 1981’s Cats & Dogs, however, would prove to be their breakthrough with the singles “Too Many Times” and “If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?” each cracking the top 10 at home and breaking into the New Zealand Top 40 as well. The album went top 5 in both countries. 1983’s Creatures of Leisure scored some of the best reviews of their career, and returned them to the top 20 with “Spirit Got Lost”. 1985’s Fundamental would become the commercial zenith internationally by including “Live It Up”, a Number 2 single in Australia that landed them in the top 20 of over a half-dozen countries. 1987’s Mouth to Mouth extended their hot streak with three more top 40 singles including “He’s Just No Good to You”, which became their second song after “Live It Up” to crack the UK pop charts. After some time away, they released two albums in the 1990s, Liar Liar Pants on Fire and Garàge. Reg Mombassa left the group at that point, and though the band would continue on, there would be numerous line-up changes over the next twenty years with only Martin Plaza and Greedy Smith remaining consistently. During that time, only various compilation albums managed to chart even though they continued to release new material.

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