Mental as Anything

Mental As Anything are an Australian new wave and pop rock band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of its charting singles and albums) was Martin Plaza (birth name Martin Murphy) on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa (birth name Christopher O'Doherty) on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne de Lisle (birth name David Twohill) on drums; and Andrew "Greedy" Smith on vocals, keyboards and harmonica. The group's original hit songs were generated by Mombassa, O'Doherty, Plaza and Smith, either individually or collectively; and it also had success on the Australian charts with covers of songs by Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Wreckless Eric. Their top ten Australian singles are "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?" and "Too Many Times" (both from 1981), "Live It Up" (1985) and "Rock and Roll Music" (1988). Internationally, "Too Many Times" made the Canadian top 40 in 1982, and "Live It Up" peaked at No. 3 in the UK, No. 4 in Norway, and No. 6 in Germany, after it featured in the 1986 Australian film Crocodile Dundee. All of the early members are visual artists and had combined studio displays, some had solo studio displays, with Mombassa's artwork also used as designs by the Mambo clothing company. The majority of the group's record covers, posters and video clips were designed and created by the band members or their art school contemporaries. On 27 August 2009, Mental As Anything was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody, The Dingoes, Little Pattie and John Paul Young. Most of the original group members left during the 2000s, and Andrew "Greedy" Smith—the only original band member still touring with Mental As Anything—died on 2 December 2019, aged 63, after a heart attack. This effectively ended the band's activies at that time, and Mental As Anything was neither a recording or performing unit from the end of 2019 to late 2025. However, various surviving group members from the classic 1977-2000 era participated in interviews for a book-length study of the group and an upcoming film documentary. Reg Mombassa and Peter O'Doherty (who had both left the group in 2000) reformed Mental As Anything as of late 2025. The revived group played a free warm-up gig in December 2025, the appeared at the St Kilda Music Festival on Sunday 15 February 2026.They will embark on a 50th Anniversary Tour beginning in April 2026 at Byron Bay Blues Festival. Mombassa and O'Doherty are the only original group members in this reformation, although original drummer David Twohill is expected to make a few selected guest appearances.