Started Out Just Drinking Beer: The Mental As Anything Story

by Stuart Lloyd

The riotous rollercoaster ride of Mental as Anything, one of Australia’s greatest bands from 1976-2019. The Mentals went from the top of a pool table to the top of the charts. Enjoy the untold stories behind Aussie classics like: Live It Up, Too Many Times, If You Leave Me Can I Come Too?, Berserk Warriors, Egypt, The Nips are Getting Bigger, and a whole lot more. Plus tales from the road as told by Greedy, Martin, Bird, Pete & Reg — and a star-studded cast including Colin Hay, Richard Gottehrer, Mark Opitz, Jeremy Fabinyi and Wreckless Eric — in this access-all-areas official biography.

Genres: Music, Biography

340 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2023

Reviews

[Jim Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of all the bands that constituted the great Australian pub rock boom from the late 1970s to mid-1980s, Mental as Anything can easily lay claim to being the most original, poppy and creative.

Many of the bands of that period (The Angels, The Radiators, Rose Tattoo etc;) were just hard-riffing blues rock acts with a paucity of melodies. The self-mythologising Cold Chisel at least had a great songwriter in Don Walker, while Midnight Oil (when not on the soapbox) occasionally managed to mix the power and the passion with pop hooks.

But none had the Mentals’ reverence for classic 60s three-minute pop or their self-effacing refusal to take themselves too seriously. They also had the luxury of four songwriters in the O’Doherty brothers, Martin Murphy and Greedy Smith.

This workmanlike band bio by Stuart Lloyd charts the Mentals’ history from mid-70s art school students in Sydney to their mid-80s ‘Live It Up’ chart peak and long, slow decline till the untimely death of Greedy in 2019 at just 63.

Overly hagiographic in tone, much of the book is a rote, standard rock bio iteration of song-writing, album production and tours, interspersed with the personal histories of each member and, later, tales of ruinous alcoholism, ring-in members and bitter courtroom disputes.

At the very end, Lloyd tacks on a few paragraphs about what made the Mentals stand out from the largely blokey and bluesy music scene of the time, but I feel that bigger perspective was what the book lacked throughout - a contextual assessment of what they contributed to the culture and how they contrasted with the wider industry. For instance, we could have done with less of the long tail after Reg and Peter left.

Perhaps, it was the weight of fan expectations on the writer to deliver the ‘definitive’ account of the Mentals’ history. But sometimes I think the real story emerges more from the incidental and anecdotal than the diarised detail. As often happens with biographies, some cool distance on the part of the writer from the subjects he is chronicling is required to get at the historical truth. Lloyd’s work lacks that.

For instance, being visual artists - dedicated to art and music and design - the Mentals clearly had a wider canvass (pun intended) than many other bands of the time, who just wanted to ‘play the blues’. Their melodies and harmonies were influenced as much by Brill Building 50s/60s pop as by Muddy Waters, while their lyrics extended well beyond the standard unrequited love themes of standard rock. Unusually for an Australian band, they appreciated the more subtle aesthetics of rock’n’roll as much as the sonic elements.

Their choice of covers suggested as much - (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet, Roy Orbison, Elvis, Booker T and the MGs. The Mentals in my view channeled classic pop and 50s R’n’B, rock’n’roll and soul through Australian suburban kitsch. Their refusal to take themselves too seriously, while still writing utterly classic pop songs like ‘The Nips are Getting Bigger’, ‘If You Leave Me Can I Come Too?’ & ‘Live it Up’ gave them a timeless appeal beyond one or two generations. Lloyd makes the point briefly that they were really an Australasian Rockpile - with the knockabout sensibility of Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. I think more could have been made of that.

Ultimately, in my opinion, the band’s ‘story’ is more interesting than the plodding and prosaic setting out of their timeline as presented here, which is a pity. Such a creative and idiosyncratic group of people deserved a more thoughtful treatment.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any music bio is always more interesting at the start than the end and the author has captured that vibe perfectly. Compared to present times the idyllic childhood experiences of the band are captured beautifully and this leads seamlessly into the origins of the band. The author delves into the uniqueness of the Australian music scene of the late 70’s and 80’s and though these are just glimpses for music fans alive during this time he captures it perfectly. The latter half of the book becomes less engaging as the band splinter and reform but the show goes on right until just after gig #6450 and the passing of Andrew ‘Greedy’ Smith in 2019. If you can singalong to ‘Too Many Times’, ‘If You Leave Me Can I Come Too’ and ‘The Nips Are Getting Bigger’ just to name 3 Mental’s songs then you should read this book.

[Monica]

I love this band . The book has a few typos , but I loved reading about a band that I’ve been listening to since I was a kid . The QR code links are a nice touch .

[Donald Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough.

[David Wasley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This hagiography lacks grit. Nice is not always interesting.

[Matthew Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great telling of the great story of the Great band.

[Kanako Okiron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written. A bit tiring at times.

[Brenda Rosser]

a whole other world

[Tim Chmielewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchased this off Reg Mombassa at a Dog Trumpet gig and he signed it for me. Pete hadn't gotten to the merch table yet.

If you are a fan of the band or Dog Trumpet you may have heard a lot of the stories but I had not heard a lot of them before like the earlier parts of their career.

I can clock Dog Trumpet not getting many people in the early days. Although they sell out their Melbourne shows these days even 10 years ago it was not so good for them coming down to Melbourne.

A sign of a good biography like this one is if you take photos of some of the quotes and send them around which I did end up doing quite a few times.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mental As Anything are one of my favourite bands who have produced so many songs that I love listening to (and yes, I also sing along to them as well). Thanks to this book I now know a bit more about the background of the band and the Australian music industry. I really enjoyed this read.

[Paul Eatwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gff

Dvd sky's kid's kxkdkkdndnks men's on-demand marksmen Jake's Japan's newbies Jane's madmen mansions mind's marksman Benson Alaska's slams dynamism slap snow do Anna o Annan Kaman Jansen James's

[Luke Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favourite book I've ever read. If you are a massive mentals fan it is a must read

[Murphy McLachlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book about one of my favourite bands. I have a feeling I might read this book “too many times”! 😀

[Tab · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have read every book and i think this is the best one