Mental as Anything

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Undetermined Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on Mental as Anything Similar Undetermined Music Search Artistopia

Biography

Mental As Anything (or Mentals to fans) is an Australian New Wave music|New Wave – rock music band formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up was Martin Plaza (real name Martin Murphy) on vocals and guitar ; Reg Mombassa (real name Chris O'Doherty) on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter O'Doherty|Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne "Bird" Delisle (real name David Twohill ) on drum kit|drums ; and Greedy Smith|Andrew "Greedy" Smith on vocals, keyboard instrument|keyboards and harmonica . Their hit songs were generated by Mombassa, O'Doherty (Peter), Plaza and Smith, either individually or collectively.

The phrase "mental as anything" is late 1970s Australian slang for being crazy, outlandish, having extreme fun, or 'going off'.

Their top ten Kent Music Report|Australian singles are, "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? " and "Too Many Times" in 1981, "Live it Up" in 1985 and " Rock and Roll Music " in 1988. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA created their own ARIA Charts|charts in mid-1988. While their top ten albums are, Cats & Dogs in 1981, Creatures of Leisure in 1983, Fundamental (Mental As Anything album)|Fundamental in 1985 and Greatest Hits Vol. 1 in 1986. They had top 50 chart success with "Too Many Times" and its album, Cats & Dogs in Canada, which followed touring North America in support of Men At Work . "Live it Up" reached the top 50 in European charts including peaking at #3 in UK, #4 in Norway , and #6 in Germany , after it featured in the 1986 Australian film "Crocodile" Dundee .

All of the early members are visual art ists and have had combined studio displays, some have had solo studio displays with Mombassa's artwork also used as designs by the Mambo Graphics|Mambo clothing company. The majority of the group's record covers, posters and video clips have been designed and created by themselves or their art school contemporaries. On 27 August 2009, Mental As Anything was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody , The Dingoes , Little Pattie and John Paul Young .

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 , despite the fact that two key members (the O'Doherty brothers) were in fact immigrants from New Zealand . 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.

Mental As Anything is comparable with British band Madness (band)|Madness , in that their music is typically delivered with a quirky, ironic sense of humour and a strong visual identity.

Formation and early years: 1976–1979

The group formed in Sydney in 1976 when Martin Murphy ( Martin Plaza ) met fellow student, New Zealand-born, Chris O'Doherty ( Reg Mombassa ) at Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education (later a campus of Sydney College of Advanced Education ), the city's leading art school . The duo was soon jamming in guitar ist and vocal ist O'Doherty's Darlinghurst, New South Wales|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 "Bird" Delisle), was recruited on drum kit|drums .

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 described them after one of their earlier party performances—and designed an accompanying poster featuring an image of a truck hauling a giant cabbage (see at right).

Late in 1976, another fellow student, Greedy Smith|Andrew "Greedy" Smith made guest appearances with the band on harmonica whilst still a member of another band, and by year's end Smith had joined full time and he also played keyboard instrument|keyboards . Coburn left the fledgling band in 1977 and Mombassa's younger brother Peter O'Doherty|Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty joined on bass guitar completing the "classic" line-up. The first performance of the new line-up was at Sydney's Cell Block Theatre on 17 August, the day news broke in Australia of the death of Elvis Presley . They played numerous Elvis cover version|covers and two original songs, together with their usual set of Blues music|Blues , Rockabilly , Country music|Country and 1960s covers including Roy Orbison and The Monkees . The band built up a live following in Sydney with their residencies at the Unicorn Hotel in inner-city Paddington, New South Wales|Paddington on Mondays and the Civic Hotel in the Central Business District|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 and Martin Fabinyi , who founded their own independent record label , Regular Records , in September 1978 to record and release the group's music. Fabinyi's brother Jeremy Fabinyi became Mental As Anything's band manager|manager . Their debut release was a three-track Extended play|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 (radio network)|Double Jay (now Triple J ), 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 music|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. 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 (Australian TV series)|Countdown , "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" became the group's first Australian Kent Music Report top 20 hit, and also made #1 on the UK alternative charts when released there by Virgin Records 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 : 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 ; Smith's voracious appetite saw him dubbed "Greedy"; and Twohill became Wayne "Bird" Delisle. Twohill was later billed under his real name from 1995. Shortly before the names had been settled, Peter O'Doherty had a pseudonym, Ouzo Pork—at that stage his brother was known as Brett Orlando—but he kept his real name for professional purposes, from June 1982 his nickname, as used in interviews, was Yoga Dog. The band completed their first national tour in late 1979, supporting British rockers Rockpile , with members Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe .

The salad days: 1980–1984

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 movie, which peaked into the top 40. Their fourth single, "Come Around" returned them to the top 20 in June, it was followed by a top 30 hit with "Just Like Romeo And Juliet", a non-album single in November 1980, an upbeat cover version|cover of the 1964 hit by The Reflections .

They scored a #4 national hit with Plaza's cleverly titled "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too? " released in May 1981. Smith penned the follow-up, "Too Many Times", which became a #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 in July 1982, when they toured North America in support of Men at Work .

The next single, "Berserk Warriors" (December 1981), was a satirical tribute to ABBA , although the concurrent release of the pop hit "Swords of a Thousand Men" by British band Tenpole Tudor prevented Mental As Anything from realising their plan to make a Viking -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 produced Cats & Dogs , which became their biggest success to date, reaching #3 nationally. Mombassa's "Let's Cook" (April 1982) was a radio-only single. Mental As Anything members were also visual arts|visual artists and held their first exhibition of their works in May. In June, during his tour of Australia, Elvis Costello 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 #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 Countdown (Australian TV series)|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.

Their final 1983 single was a cover of Roy Orbison 's "Working for the Man" (November), produced by Mark Moffatt and Ricky Fataar . 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 ' "Burn for You" by Richard Lowenstein —at the Australian pop music awards#1984|1984 Countdown Awards held in 1985.

Living it up: 1985–1989

Greedy Smith 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 . Smith penned and sang the next two singles, both from their Fundamental (Mental As Anything album)|Fundamental album produced by Richard Gottehrer and released in September 1985, which peaked at #3. "You're So Strong" (March 1985), which peaked at #11 in Australia and also charted in the top 30 of the US Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart; it was followed by their biggest Australian hit "Live it Up" (May 1985) which climbed to #2. The single also reached #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 "Crocodile" Dundee .

The band performed three songs in the 1985 Oz for Africa concert (part of the global Live Aid 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 in the US. Smith's "Date With Destiny" (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 pseudonym , The Death Barrels, in a competition sponsored by Mambo Graphics|Mambo , Battle of the Surf Bands at Selina's Coogee, New South Wales|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 concert tour where they were joined by former Dynamic Hepnotics 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 for Mental As Anything, collapsed on stage and died a week later. The tour ended in acrimony with two managers, Chris Murphy (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 Richard Lowenstein , 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".

In late 1988, a cover of the Chuck Berry chestnut " Rock and Roll Music "—recorded for the Yahoo Serious movie Young Einstein —went top 5 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Charts|Singles Charts . The single appeared on their next album, Cyclone Raymond , produced by Steve James, Mark Moffatt, Mark Opitz 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 to work on solo work and side projects. Then Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister , Paul Keating , opened their second group studio art exhibition in 1990.

Side projects and sabbatical: 1986–2006

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 and released the album, Two Heads One Brain . Studio musicians were Mike Gubb on keyboard instrument|keyboards (ex- Dynamic Hepnotics , Mental as Anything), John Bliss on drum kit|drums (ex- The Reels ) and Mark Honeybrook on bass guitar . Further releases followed with Extended Play|EPs , 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 's "Greatest Hits So Far". John Lydon|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 , Stiletto, RAM, Dolly (magazine)|Dolly and FMG.

In 1986 Plaza had released a solo single, a cover of the 1960s Unit 4 + 2 song " Concrete and Clay ", which was a #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 (band)|Models , James Freud . As Beatfish, 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 , composed almost entirely of Lou Reed covers. Another collaboration with Freud occurred in 1996 and resulted in the Hawaii an inspired Moondog project with Plaza appearing on some tracks of the album, Postcard from Hawaii .

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. In 1996, Smith released his solo album, Love Harmonica and toured with his band, Greedy's People which re-recorded his solo album and released it as, ''Greedy's People in 1997.

In 2006 Smith appeared on television gameshow You May Be Right (game show)|You May be Right , hosted by Todd McKenney . The program pitches two teams of celebrities against each other as their knowledge of movies, music and television is put to the test in a series of fun trivia games.

Return from sabbatical: 1993–1999

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 , for the soundtrack to the Yahoo Serious film Reckless Kelly and released a compilation album|compilation of rare album tracks and b-sides Chemical Travel in November.

By mid-1994 the band 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, Triple J 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 out the 'Best Cover Art' award at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996#Artisan Awards|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 in Sydney. Late 1997 saw the band put together their third group art exhibition, Mentals III, which was opened by former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam , at the Manly Art Gallery ( Paul Keating had opened their second group exhibition in 1990). Their 21st anniversary in 1998 was marked with the release of the last album by this lineup, Garàge (Mental As Anything album)|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.

Changing faces: 2000–present

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 Dog Trumpet , 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 ) and Murray Cook (ex- Leah Purcell , Mixed Relations ). Cook (no relation to Murray Cook of The Wiggles ) left the band after the Beetroot Stains album (2000) and was replaced by New Zealand born Mike Caen , who had worked with Jenny Morris (musician)|Jenny Morris , Margaret Urlich , Rick Price , Daryl Braithwaite and Tina Arena . 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 ", "Lonesome Train", "Hangin Five", with a view to releasing an album under the title Songs the Lord Tortoise . Although completing the album in 2004 it was never 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 case against his former bandmates with the NSW Industrial Relations Commission in 2007. At the hearing Twohill 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.

Twohill was successful in his claim, with Justice Frank Marks stating that the band gave "no basis" for the expulsion. He was replaced by Robbie Souter , a veteran of Dynamic Hepnotics , Slim Dusty 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 for the first time to play three gigs in the capital Port Moresby as part of "Australia Week".

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 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody , The Dingoes , Little Pattie and John Paul Young . 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.

In October 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 defacto 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, The Wiggles , 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 continue to tour regularly, playing smaller venues throughout Australia's cities and regional centres.

Group members

Current members

Martin Plaza (Martin Murphy) – guitar , vocals (1976–present)

Greedy Smith (Andrew Smith) – keyboard instrument|keyboards , harmonica , vocals (1976–present)

David Barraclough – bass guitar , vocals, guitar, keyboards (2000–present)

Mike Caen – guitar, vocals (2002–present)

Robbie Souter – drum kit|drums (2004–present)

Past members

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

Steve Coburn – bass guitar (1976–1977)

David Twohill (Wayne de Lisle) – drums (1976–2004)

Peter O'Doherty (Yoga Dog) – bass, vocals (1977–2000)

Mike Gubb – keyboards (on tour) (1986–1987)

Murray Cook (Mental As Anything)|Murray Cook – guitar (2000–2002)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Chart peak positions			Certifications ( List of music recording sales certifications
Year	Album details	AUS	CAN	NZ cite book
1979	Get Wet aka Mental As Anything Released: 1 November 1979 Label: Regular Records (L-37125) Formats: LP album\|LP	19	—	—	AUS: Platinum
1980	Espresso Bongo Released: 11 July 1980 Label: Regular Records (L-37356) Formats: LP	37	—	—
1981	Cats & Dogs aka If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? Released: September 1981 Label: Regular Records (L 37646) Formats: LP	3	44	2	AUS: Platinum; NZ: Gold
1983	Creatures of Leisure Released: March 1983 Label: Regular Records (RRLP1205) Formats: Compact disc\|CD , Cassette	8	—	37
1985	Fundamental Released: 1 September 1985 Label: Regular Records (RRLP 1212) Formats: LP, CD	3	—	22	AUS: Platinum X2
1987	Mouth to Mouth Released: 31 July 1987 Label: CBS Records (450361-1) Formats: LP, CD	14	—	—	AUS: Gold
1989	Cyclone Raymond Released: 18 September 1989 Label: CBS Records (465645-1) Formats: LP, CD	34	—	—
1995	Liar Liar Pants on Fire Released: 14 August 1995 Label: BMG (76896403322) Formats: CD	32	—	—
1998	Garàge Released: 24 August 1998 Label: Festival Records (D93492) Formats: CD	75	—	—
2000	Beetroot Stains Released: Label: CME/Universal Records (CMEB0026) Formats: CD	—	—	—
2002	Road Case Released: November 2002 Label: Barking Mad Records (BM0008) Formats: CD	—	—	—
2005	Plucked Released: November 2005 Label: Liberation Music BLUE0812 Formats: CD	—	—	—
2009	Tents Up Released: 15 June 2009 Label: Warner Australia (5186546772) Formats: CD	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

Year	Album details	Chart peak positions		Certifications ( List of music recording sales certifications
Year	Album details	AUS	NZ
1986	Greatest Hits Volume 1 Released: April 1986 Label: CBS (SBP8158) Format: LP album\|LP , CD	2	36	Platinum
1993	Chemical Travel Released: 6 December 1993 Label: Regular Records (D-31094) Format: CD	-	—
1999	Best of Released: 20 September 1999 Label: FMR (D26450) Format: Compact disc\|CD	42	—	Gold
2009	Essential As Anything - 30th Anniversary Edition Released: 1 May 2009 Label: Warner Australia (-) Format: Compact disc\|CD / DVD	55	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Extended plays

Year	EP details	AUS chart peak
1978	Mental as Anything Plays at Your Party Released: September 1978 Label: Regular Records (REG1) Format: Extended Play\|EP	—
1995	Bicycle Released: January 1995 Label: Independent (MENTAL1) Format: CD EP	—
1997	Minus Bonus Released: December 1997 Label: Independent (MAA-2) Format: CD EP	—
2001	Borscht Released: 8 October 2001 Label: CME/Universal(CMEB0027) Format: CD EP	—
2009	iTunes Live from Sydney Released: October 2009 Format: digital download	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles

Video albums

Year	Video details
1985
1999
2004

Awards and honours

APRA Awards

These awards were established by Australasian Performing Right Association (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. Greedy Smith|Andrew "Greedy" Smith of Mental As Anything won the APRA Awards|APRA Award for "Most Performed Australasian Popular Work" in 1987 for "Live it Up".

|-
|| 1987 || "Live it Up" by Greedy Smith || Most Performed Australasian Popular Work ||

ARIA Awards

Mentals As Anything has won two Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Award|Awards including their 2009 induction into their ARIA Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame . This induction recognised their achievement of a "significant body of recorded work" and that they "had a cultural impact within Australia".

|-
|rowspan="2"| ARIA Music Awards of 1995|1995 || "Mr Natural" || Best Pop Release || |-
| | "Mr Natural" by Reg Mombassa || Best Cover Art || |-
| | ARIA Music Awards of 1996|1996 || Liar Liar Pants on Fire by Reg Mombassa || Best Cover Art || |-
| | ARIA Music Awards of 1999|1999 || Garàge (Mental As Anything album)|Garàge by Reg Mombassa || Best Cover Art || |-
| | ARIA Music Awards of 2009|2009 || Mental As Anything || ARIA Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame ||

Countdown Awards

Countdown (Australian TV series)|Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC Television|ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week but then independently. TV Week had previously sponsored the 'King of Pop' awards. The Australian pop music awards#1981–1986: Countdown Music and Video Awards| Countdown Music and Video Awards were succeeded by the ARIA Awards .

|-
|rowspan="2"| Australian pop music awards#1979|1979 || "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" || Best Single || |-
| | Mental As Anything || Best New Talent || |-
|rowspan="3"| Australian pop music awards#1981|1981 || "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too? " || Best Single || |-
| | Cats & Dogs || Best Album || |-
| | Mental As Anything || Most Consistent Live Act || |-
| | Australian pop music awards#1984|1984 || "Apocalypso" || Best Video || |-
|rowspan="4"| Australian pop music awards#1985|1985 || Fundamental (Mental As Anything album)|Fundamental || Best Album || |-
| | "Live it Up" || Best Single || |-
| | Greedy Smith || Best Songwriter || |-
| | "Live it Up" || Best Group Performance in a Video ||

Polls and other awards

A number of songs from the band featured in the Triple M Essential 2006 Countdown. They were as follows:

Spirit Got Lost (1787/2006)

Just Like Romeo And Juliet (1577/2006)

If You Leave Me Can I Come Too? (1402/2006)

Come Around (1331/2006)

You're So Strong (1067/2006)

The Nips Are Getting Bigger (951/2006)

Mr Natural (903/2006)

Too Many Times (321/2006)

Live It Up (270/2006)

Notes

:A."The Nips Are Getting Bigger" was originally released as a track on the Extended Play|EP , Mental as Anything Plays at Your Party in September 1978, it was remixed and released as a single in July 1979 and subsequently appeared on the album, Get Wet in September. An acoustic version from the Plucked album was released as a Radio Only single in 2005.
:B."If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? " was originally released in 1981 from the Cats & Dogs album. A new version was recorded for the UK version of Mouth to Mouth and released as a single in 1988 but it did not peak into the top 100 in the UK.
:C."Let's Cook" was a radio only promo single with an accompanying video promotional clip.
:D."You're So Strong" was originally released in 1985, re-released in 1986 as a remixed version in the US and charted in the UK in 1987 after the success there of "Live It Up".
:E."Live it Up" was originally released in Australia in 1985 and in 1986/1987 in Europe after it featured in "Crocodile" Dundee .
:F."Love Comes Running" was cancelled from release in Australia and only issued in New Zealand where it failed to chart.
:G."Stretchmarks" was originally released in 2000 as an album track on Beetroot Stains , then released in 2001 as the featured track on Borscht EP.
:H."Talking In Tongues" was a radio only promo single.

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Mental as Anything


1. Icehouse 2. The Proclaimers 3. Deborah Conway 4. Jenny Morris 5. Proclaimers 6. Wreckless Eric

Undetermined Music Artists