Mental As Anything

Mental As Anything are proud pioneers of offbeat New Wave. Formed in 1976 around the nucleus of vocalist/keyboardist Andrew “Greedy” Smith, vocalist/guitarist Martin Plaza, bassist Peter O’Doherty, and guitarist Reg Mombassa, the Sydney, Australia, troupe broke through in 1979 with the buoyant shuffle “The Nips Are Getting Bigger.” They reached greater heights with 1981’s Cats & Dogs, which reached No. 3 in Australia and spawned the hits “If You Leave Me Can I Come Too?” and “Too Many Times.” Success continued through the ’80s—including a hit cover of Chuck Berry’s “Rock ’N Roll Music”—and the band weathered lineup changes from the ’90s onward. Although Smith, who had been touring under the Mental As Anything moniker, died in 2019, the band’s music endures: “Live It Up”—which had previously appeared in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee—had a sales revival in the UK in 2020 after a Scottish football club embraced the song as an unofficial anthem.