Mental As Anything

Australia's irreverent Mental as Anything coalesced when a handful of restless art students decided, on impulse, to assemble a band that would secure complimentary beverages. Over the ensuing decades the Sydney outfit sustained its tongue-in-cheek posture without interruption. The lineup comprised vocalist and guitarist Reg Mombasa—born Chris O'Doherty—alongside his brother Peter O'Doherty on bass, lead guitarist Martin Plaza, keyboardist Andrew "Greedy" Smith, and drummer Wayne Delisle. Their inaugural performance took place at a local hotel where a pool table doubled as an improvised platform. Early appearances quickly drew an enthusiastic following, prompting the 1979 release of the single "The Nips Are Getting Bigger," which climbed into the Australian Top 20. The debut album Get Wet mirrored that commercial traction and launched the group's sustained trajectory.

The band resurfaced in 1980 with Espresso Bongo, which yielded further domestic successes "Come Around" and "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet." Cats and Dogs arrived in 1982 and earned platinum certification on the strength of "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?" and "Too Many Times," drawing international attention and prompting Mental as Anything's first American tour. Elvis Costello helmed the single "I Didn't Mean to Be Mean," issued the same year. Creatures of Leisure, the quartet's fourth album, reached the Australian Top Ten in 1983; concurrently the members mounted their initial collective art exhibition, with Elton John among the purchasers. Fundamental as Anything followed in 1985 and became their most commercially robust effort to date, propelled by "Live It Up," a worldwide hit that peaked inside the Top Five in both the United Kingdom and Germany.

Although the 1986 retrospective Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 narrowly missed the summit of the Australian charts, Mouth to Mouth appeared the next year and Cyclone Raymond followed in 1989. The quintet subsequently organized a nationwide touring art exhibition yet largely withdrew from prominence during the early 1990s, devoting time to private matters and ancillary projects such as the O'Doherty brothers' Dog Trumpet. The B-sides anthology Chemical Travel surfaced in 1993, and the 1995 studio album Liar Liar Pants on Fire returned the band to the Top 40 via the single "Mr. Natural." Mental as Anything marked its twentieth anniversary in 1997 with the original members still intact, issuing Garage the following year.