A Mental As Anything show is always a treat for Australian music fans.
From 1979 to 1995 Mental As Anything produced an absurd number of hits. To think this band can open their show with eight original songs you know by heart and then play even more hits for the rest of the show is astonishing.
Mental As Anything were one of Australia’s most prolific bands forming at a time when the Aussie music landscape was ready for an international make-over.
At various times this quirky group of Sydney art students grabbed the attention of the US (You’re So Strong), Canada (Too Many Times), the UK (He’s Just No Good For You) and all of Europe (yes including the newly Brexited UK again) with ‘Live It Up’.
In Australia Mental As Anything made the Top 40 20 times at a time when making the chart actually meant something. They didn’t just have hit songs, they also had hit albums with ‘Cats & Dogs’ (1981), ‘Creatures of Leisure’ (1983) and ‘Fundamental’ all perching in the Top 10.
To frame the success of Mentals you have to put what they were doing at the start of their career into a musical perspective. This band (like INXS, AC/DC, Midnight Oil and The Angels) developed at pub rock level. Each one of those acts had one thing in common. They were unique. No-one sounded like the Mentals and even to this day when their songs come on the radio you immediately know who you are listening to.
2016 marks the 40th Anniversary of when Martin (Plaza) Murphy and Andrew (Greedy) Smith started working together. Martin hasn’t been in good health lately (and had to sit this show out) but the Plaza / Smith relationship is one of Australia’s most enduring and successful musical marriages.
The show is a full 40 year musical experience. The Mentals are keeping it current with Martin’s new song ‘Goat Tracks In My Sandpit’ and Greedy’s ‘Shake Off Your Sandals’. Another new song ‘Dance With Me’ (originally called ‘Beautiful’) has been in the set for a year but is still unreleased.
Mental As Anything are a relentless touring band. Look at their upcoming dates here.
Mental As Anything, Memo Music Hall, St Kilda, June 17, 2016
Too Many Times (no 6, 1981, from Cats & Dogs)
Let’s Cook (from Cats & Dogs, 1981)
Berserk Warriors (no 30, 1981, from Cats & Dogs)
Spirit Got Lost (no 20, 1983, from Creatures of Leisure)
Date With Destiny (no 25, 1985, from Fundamental As Anything)
I Didn’t Mean To Be Mean (no 25, 1982)
Come Around (no 18, 1980, from Espresso Bongo)
Live It Up (no 2, 1985, from Fundamental As Anything)
Marie’s The Name (Elvis Presley cover)
If You Leave Me Can I Come Too (no 4, 1981, from Cats & Dogs)
Shake Off Your Sandals (single 2016)
Let’s Go To Paradise (no 15, 1986, from Mouth to Mouth)
Mr Natural (no 27, 1995, from Liar Liar Pants On Fire)
The World Seems Difficult (no 19, 1989, from Cyclone Raymond)
Goat Tracks In My Sandpit (single, 2016)
Mountain of Love (Harold Dorman cover)
He’s Just No Good For You (no 15, 1987, from Mouth to Mouth)
Concrete And Clay (no 2, 1986, from Martin Plaza’s solo album Plaza Suite)
Just Like Romeo and Juliet (no 27, 1980)
You’re So Strong (no 11, 1985, from Fundamental As Anything)
The Nips Are Getting Bigger (no 16, 1979, from Get Wet)
Encore
Dance With Me (new song)
The Rise And Fall Of Fingal Bunt (The Shadows cover)
Rock N Roll Music (no 5, 1988, from Cyclone Raymond)
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