133-635: Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything , I'm Talking , The Triffids , The Saints , Divinyls , Models , INXS and even Jimmy Barnes . The series started in Hobart on 26 December 1986 and concluded in Sydney on 26 January 1987. Rock journalist Jeff Jenkins rated it as one of his 50 most significant events in Australian music history, "It wasn't
266-820: A brain tumour in January 2011. Cold Chisel originally formed as Orange in Adelaide in 1973 as a heavy metal band by Ted Broniecki on keyboards, Les Kaczmarek on bass guitar, Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano. Their early material included cover versions of Free and Deep Purple material. Broniecki left by September 1973 and seventeen-year-old singer, Jimmy Barnes – called Jim Barnes during their initial career – joined in December. The group changed its name several times before settling on Cold Chisel in 1974 after Walker's song of that title. Barnes' relationship with
399-501: A "significant body of recorded work" and that they "had a cultural impact within Australia". Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week but then independently. TV Week had previously sponsored the 'King of Pop' awards. The Countdown Music and Video Awards were succeeded by
532-499: A TV magazine's involvement, they refused to accept any trophy and finished the night with, "My Turn to Cry". After one verse and chorus, they smashed up the set and left the stage. Swingshift debuted at No 1, which demonstrated their status as the highest selling local act. With a slightly different track-listing, East , was issued in the United States and they undertook their first US tour in mid-1981. Ahead of
665-537: A book about the band, Started Out Just Drinking Beer: The Mental As Anything Story . The book focuses on the five members of the classic line-up, and Mombassa, O'Doherty and Twohill appeared at the book launch and at other related promotional events. In addition to being sold in both stores and online, copies of the book (autographed by Mombassa, O'Doherty, Twohill and Lloyd) are available for sale at various Dog Trumpet shows. These awards were established by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) in 1982 to honour
798-509: A bottle of vodka each night while performing. In late 1979, severing their relationship with Batchens, Cold Chisel chose Mark Opitz to produce the next single, " Choirgirl " (November). It is a Walker composition dealing with a young woman's experience with abortion . Despite the subject matter it reached No. 14. "Choirgirl" paved the way for the group's third studio album, East (June 1980), with Opitz producing. Recorded over two months in early 1980, East , reached No. 2 and
931-563: A collection of the band's songs as performed by artists including The Living End , Evermore , Something for Kate , Pete Murray , Katie Noonan , You Am I , Paul Kelly , Alex Lloyd , Thirsty Merc and Ben Lee , many of whom were children when Cold Chisel first disbanded and some, like the members of Evermore, had not even been born. Circus Animals was listed at No. 4 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums (October 2010), while East appeared at No. 53. They won The Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music at
1064-579: A competition sponsored by Mambo , Battle of the Surf Bands at Selina's Coogee Bay Hotel. 1986 saw the release of "Greatest Hits Volume 1" which reached number 2 on the Australian charts. "Sloppy Croc", an instrumental that featured on the Crocodile Dundee Soundtrack alongside "Live It Up", was released as a single in Australia but with little promotion, failed to chart. From late in 1986 to early 1987, Mental As Anything were
1197-555: A crew member remembered that dry ice could cause nausea, choking or even death. Their final 1983 single was a cover of Roy Orbison 's " Working for the Man " (November), produced by Mark Moffatt and Ricky Fataar . Internationally, Creatures of Leisure was altered to drop three Australia-only tracks and replace them with both sides of the "Working for the Man" single. It was another year before their next single, Mombassa and Plaza's blackly humorous Christmas release, "Apocalypso (Wiping
1330-531: A factor often cited as a major reason for the band's lack of international appeal. "Saturday Night" and "Breakfast at Sweethearts" were observations of the urban experience of Sydney's Kings Cross district where Walker lived for many years. "Misfits", which featured on the b-side to "My Baby", was about homeless kids in the suburbs surrounding Sydney. Songs like "Shipping Steel" and "Standing on The Outside" were working class anthems and many others featured characters trapped in mundane, everyday existences, yearning for
1463-627: A few weeks, on co-lead vocals with Swan – they were a Sydney-based hard rock group, which had evolved from Blackfeather . A farewell performance for Cold Chisel, with Barnes aboard, went so well that the singer changed his mind and returned. In the following month the Warner Music Group signed the group. In the early months of 1978 Cold Chisel recorded their self-titled debut album with their manager and producer, Peter Walker (ex- Bakery ). All tracks were written by Don Walker, except "Juliet", where Barnes composed its melody and Walker
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#17327917019281596-551: A fourth studio album, Circus Animals (March 1982), again with Opitz producing. To launch the album, the band performed under a circus tent at Wentworth Park in Sydney and toured heavily once more, including a show in Darwin that attracted more than 10 percent of the city's population. It peaked at No. 1 in both Australia and on the Official New Zealand Music Chart . In October 2010 it
1729-597: A huge success, but it showed that an all-Australian festival could work." Australian Made was conceived to counter tours of international acts, like Dire Straits ' 1985–1986 world tour, which were drying up funds for Australian groups. As from October 2010, the following artists have been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame : INXS and The Saints (both in 2001 ), Barnes (as a member of Cold Chisel in 1995 and solo in 2005 ), Divinyls ( 2006 ), The Triffids ( 2008 ), Mental As Anything ( 2009 ), and Models ( 2010 ). To promote
1862-640: A locally based artist for that year; it was certified platinum. The majority of its tracks were written by Walker, with Barnes and Walker on the lead single, "Goodbye (Astrid, Goodbye)" (September 1978), and Moss contributed to "Dresden". "Goodbye (Astrid, Goodbye)" became a live favourite, and was covered by U2 during Australian tours in the 1980s. Cold Chisel had gained national chart success and increased popularity of their fans without significant commercial radio airplay. The members developed reputations for wild behaviour, particularly Barnes who claimed to have had sex with over 1000 women and who consumed more than
1995-793: A man's ability to make something of himself through love." The track "I Got Things to Do" was written and sung by Prestwich, which Fitzpatrick described as "the bittersweet finale", a song that had "a vocal track the other band members did not know existed until after [Prestwich's] death." Midway through 2012 they embarked on a short UK tour and played with Soundgarden and Mars Volta at Hard Rock Calling at London's Hyde Park. The group's eighth studio album, The Perfect Crime , appeared in October 2015, again with Shirley producing, which peaked at No. 2. Martin Boulton of The Sydney Morning Herald rated it at four out of five stars and explained that
2128-607: A name. Prior to the gig at a Chippendale Settlement Dance, they provided the promoter, Paul Worstead, with a list of possible names. Worstead chose Mental As Anything—which was how fellow artist Ken Bolton described them after one of their earlier party performances—and designed an accompanying poster featuring an image of a truck hauling a giant cabbage. The phrase "mental as anything" is late 1970s Australian slang for being crazy, outlandish, having extreme fun, or 'going off'. Late in 1976, another fellow East Sydney Tech student, Andrew Smith ( Greedy Smith ) made guest appearances with
2261-489: A national tour for the current line-up supporting the B-52s and Proclaimers. In 2010, children's entertainers The Wiggles , released their "Let's Eat" album with the lead track being a collaboration with Smith, Plaza, Mombassa and O'Doherty on a re-recording of "Let's Cook". The band continued to tour regularly, playing smaller venues throughout Australia's cities and regional centres. In 2012 both Barraclough and Souter departed
2394-515: A one-off performance at the Sydney 500 V8 Supercars event on 5 December. The band performed at Stadium Australia to the largest crowd of its career, with more than 45,000 fans in attendance. They played a single live show in 2010: at the Deniliquin ute muster in October. In December Moss confirmed that Cold Chisel were working on new material for an album. In January 2011 Steve Prestwich
2527-518: A poignant piano ballad about prison life, "Four Walls". The cover art showed Barnes reclined in a bathtub wearing a kamikaze bandanna in a room littered with junk and was inspired by Jacques-Louis David 's 1793 painting, The Death of Marat . The Ian Moss-penned "Never Before" was chosen as the first song to air on the ABC's youth radio station, Triple J , when it switched to the FM band that year. Supporting
2660-464: A release deal. They self-released an EP of songs, Bicycle , and gave it away on their summer 1994/95 tour of NSW and Queensland. Radio station Triple J received a copy of the Bicycle EP on Christmas Day 1994 and put the lead track "Mr Natural" on immediate heavy rotation. Other stations followed and the demand led to the track being given a commercial release as a single and reaching the top 30 on
2793-530: A reputation previously uncharted in Australian rock history. By virtue of the profound effect the band's music had on the many thousands of fans who witnessed its awesome power, Cold Chisel remains one of Australia's best-loved groups. As one of the best live bands of its day, [they] fused a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook." The Canberra Times ' Luis Feliu, in July 1978, observed how, "This
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#17327917019282926-623: A roadie, he was fired. In mid-1975 Barnes left to join Fraternity as Bon Scott 's replacement on lead vocals, alongside Swan on drums and vocals. Kaczmarek left Cold Chisel during 1975 and was replaced by Phil Small on bass guitar. In November of that year, without Barnes, they recorded their early demos. In May 1976 Cold Chisel relocated to Melbourne , but "frustrated by their lack of progress," they moved on to Sydney in early 1977. In May 1977, Barnes told his fellow members that he would leave again. From July he joined Feather for
3059-483: A solo artist in 2005 , Divinyls in 2006 , The Triffids in 2008 , Mental As Anything in 2009 , and Models in 2010 . Line-ups of the various bands in order of appearance: Shipments figures based on certification alone. 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 their charting singles and albums)
3192-414: A solo band with a variable membership, which included Moss, Charlie Owen and Dave Blight at times. Catfish's recordings during this phase attracted little commercial success. During 1988 and 1989 Walker wrote several tracks for Moss including the singles " Tucker's Daughter " (November 1988) and " Telephone Booth " (June 1989), which appeared on Moss' debut solo album, Matchbook (August 1989). Both
3325-453: A solo single, a cover of the 1960s Unit 4 + 2 song " Concrete and Clay ", which was a No. 2 hit; the subsequent solo album, Plaza Suite , also charted. In 1991, during his sabbatical from Mental As Anything, Plaza collaborated with former member of Models , James Freud . As Beatfish , they released the self-titled album, Beatfish , which was one of the first Australian dance or house flavoured albums. Plaza's 1994 album Andy's Chest
3458-550: A special 40th anniversary show at Surfersaurus in Sydney, during October 2018. Smith was by this point the only original member of Mental As Anything to still be playing with the group. The concert was released as the live CD At Play in early 2019. Andrew "Greedy" Smith died of a heart attack on 2 December 2019, in Sydney. Smith's final show with the band – and the band's last show to date – took place on 30 November in Tathra, New South Wales . In 2023, journalist Stuart Lloyd wrote
3591-468: A stylistic debt to British new wave . Soon after the EP's release, the Australian arm of Festival Records took over distribution of Regular Records and released a remix of "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" as a single in July 1979. This was followed on 1 November by the band's debut album, Get Wet , with Allen producing. With support from nationwide TV pop show Countdown , "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" became
3724-451: A three-CD singles package, Three Big XXX Hits , issued ahead of the release of their 1994 compilation album, Teenage Love . During breaks in the tour, Twentieth Century was recorded. It was a fragmentary process, spread across various studios and sessions as the individual members often refused to work together – both Arnott (on ten tracks) and Prestwich (on three tracks) are recorded as drummers. The album reached No. 1 and provided
3857-498: A week later. The tour ended in acrimony with two managers, Chris Murphy (for INXS) and Jeremy Fabinyi (for Mental As Anything), arguing backstage in Sydney and coming to blows. A film of the tour, Australian Made: The Movie , directed by Richard Lowenstein , was released in July 1987, but contained no footage of Mental As Anything performing. They followed the Australian Made tour by extensive touring of Europe and
3990-474: A week later. The tour had a budget of $ 3.25 million, and was announced with claims of Australian mateship and cooperation; however arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film. The tour ended in acrimony with two managers, Chris Murphy (for INXS) and Jeremy Fabinyi (for Mental As Anything), arguing backstage in Sydney and coming to blows. A film of the tour, Australian Made: The Movie , directed by Richard Lowenstein ,
4123-502: Is characterised by poppy, accessible and well-crafted melodies and lyrics, and their work showcases an ironic, satirical and self-deprecating sense of humour. They are a typically "Australian" rock group, with their music and their satirical, good-time image deeply rooted in the milieu of Australian suburbia , although two key members (the O'Doherty brothers) were in fact immigrants from New Zealand . The group's art school background and visual design skills also made them pioneers of
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4256-507: Is for Public Image Limited 's "Greatest Hits So Far". Johnny Lydon spied Reg's work on Mambo clothing and sought him out to do their album cover. Reg's talents extend to illustrations and writings for, among others, Rolling Stone , Stiletto , RAM , Dolly and FMG . Smith performed with his band, Greedy's on the Loose, during 1992 but there was no recorded output, while Twohill returned to art college and finished his degree. During
4389-697: Is not just another Australian rock band, no mediocrity here, and their honest, hard-working approach looks like paying off." While "the range of styles tackled and done convincingly, from hard rock to blues, boogie, rhythm and blues, is where the appeal lies." Influences from blues and early rock n' roll was broadly apparent, fostered by the love of those styles by Moss, Barnes and Walker. Small and Prestwich contributed strong pop sensibilities. This allowed volatile rock songs like "You Got Nothing I Want" and "Merry-Go-Round" to stand beside thoughtful ballads like "Choirgirl", pop-flavoured love songs like "My Baby" and caustic political statements like "Star Hotel", an attack on
4522-560: Is the second highest selling album by an Australian artist for that year. The Australian Women's Weekly ' s Gregg Flynn noticed, "[they are] one of the few Australian bands in which each member is capable of writing hit songs." Despite the continued dominance of Walker, the other members contributed more tracks to their play list, and this was their first album to have songs written by each one. McFarlane described it as, "a confident, fully realised work of tremendous scope." Nimmervoll explained how, "This time everything fell into place,
4655-710: Is their highest-charting single in two Australasian markets: No. 4 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart and No. 2 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart. "When the War Is Over" is the most covered Cold Chisel track – Uriah Heep included a version on their 1989 album, Raging Silence ; John Farnham recorded it while he and Prestwich were members of Little River Band in the mid-1980s and again for his 1990 solo album, Age of Reason . The song
4788-515: The Gimme Ted benefit concert on 10 March 2001, Mental As Anything performed three songs. The Road Case album by this line-up appeared late in 2002. In 2003 the band started recording favourite covers that had inspired the band in its early days, including songs such as " Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town ", "Lonesome Train", "Hangin Five", with a view to releasing an album under the title Songs
4921-611: The APRA Music Awards of 2016 . In March 2021, a previously unnamed lane off Burnett Street (off Currie Street ) in the Adelaide central business district , near where the band had its first residency in the 1970s, was officially named Cold Chisel Lane. On one of its walls, there is a 50-metre (160 ft) mural by Adelaide artist James Dodd, inspired by the band. Current members Current touring musicians Former members Former touring musicians The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by
5054-712: The ARIA Awards . The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards ), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Mental As Anything won one award in that time. Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Lez Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at
5187-666: The ARIA Charts ; the latest being their 2024 compilation 50 Years – The Best Of . Their top 10 singles are " Cheap Wine " (1980), " Forever Now " (1982), " Hands Out of My Pocket " (1994) and " The Things I Love in You " (1998). At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 they were inducted into the Hall of Fame . In 2001 Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), listed their single, " Khe Sanh " (May 1978), at No. 8 of
5320-569: The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody , The Dingoes , Little Pattie and John Paul Young . Mombassa said that it was an honour to be inducted and thanked fans and industry supporters. At the ceremony they were inducted by Roy Slaven and they performed "Live It Up", "The Nips are Getting Bigger" and "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too" with Mombassa and O'Doherty rejoining them onstage. On 18 September 2009
5453-636: The CBD on Thursdays. At the Unicorn Hotel, their stage was on top of the pool table to free up floor space. The band was spotted by film-makers Cameron Allen and Martin Fabinyi , who founded their own independent record label , Regular Records , in September 1978 to record and release the group's music. Fabinyi's brother Jeremy Fabinyi became Mental As Anything's manager . Their debut release
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5586-497: The National Art School . The duo was soon jamming in guitarist and vocalist O'Doherty's Darlinghurst flat. Murphy, on guitar and vocals, brought in his college friend Steve Coburn (son of artist, John Coburn) on bass guitar , while another student, David Twohill ( Wayne de Lisle ), was recruited on drums . They were first billed as Mental as Anything on 14 May 1976, after some early party appearances without
5719-473: The 1985 Oz for Africa concert (part of the global Live Aid program) – "Live It Up", "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? " and " You're So Strong ". It was broadcast both in Australia and on MTV in the US. Smith's " Date With Destiny " (September 1985) peaked into the top 30 but Plaza's "Big Wheel" (November 1985) did not reach the top 50. In December 1986, they performed under the pseudonym , The Death Barrels, in
5852-493: The 1986 Australian film Crocodile Dundee . All of the early members are visual artists and have had combined studio displays, some have 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 have been designed and created by the band members or their art school contemporaries. On 27 August 2009, Mental As Anything
5985-568: The ARIA Charts (although charting higher in the States where the tour and free EP didn't reach). The resulting album, 1995's Liar, Liar Pants on Fire , reached the top 40, with Mombassa's cover taking the 'Best Cover Art' award at the 1996 ARIA Music Awards . Three further singles were lifted off Liar Liar in 1995 and 1996: Mombassa's "Nigel" which just failed to chart, a cover of Wreckless Eric's " Whole Wide World " which landed just out of
6118-732: The ARIA Charts. The thirty-date Light the Nitro Tour was announced in July along with the news that former Divinyls and Catfish drummer, Charley Drayton , had replaced Prestwich. Most shows on the tour sold out within days and new dates were later announced for early 2012. No Plans , their seventh studio album, was released in April 2012, with Kevin Shirley producing, which peaked at No. 2. The Australian ' s Stephen Fitzpatrick rated it as four-and-a-half out of five and found its lead track, "All for You", "speaks of redemption; of
6251-475: The American market represented a major blow... [their] earthy, high-energy rock was overlooked." In early 1983 they toured Germany but the shows went so badly that in the middle of the tour Walker up-ended his keyboard and stormed off stage during one show. After returning to Australia, Prestwich was fired and replaced by Ray Arnott , formerly of the 1970s progressive rockers , Spectrum , and country rockers ,
6384-561: The Australian Made tour. Other promoters came on-board including Richard MacDonald and Gary Grant. Mushroom Records had released material by Models , managed by Murphy, while their touring partners I'm Talking were managed by Ken West and had released material on Regular Records . These band managers used their record labels and industry contacts to provide other local acts that had toured internationally, The Saints, The Triffids and Mental As Anything . The Triffids' guitarist Graham Lee stated that Hutchence had insisted on them being part of
6517-676: The Australian charts with covers of songs by Roy Orbison , Elvis Presley , and Chuck Berry . 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
6650-402: The Australian top five, Breakfast at Sweethearts (February 1979), East (June 1980), Circus Animals (March 1982, No. 1), Twentieth Century (April 1984, No. 1), The Last Wave of Summer (October 1998, No. 1), No Plans (April 2012), The Perfect Crime (October 2015) and Blood Moon (December 2019, No. 1). They have achieved six number one albums on
6783-495: The Dingoes . After this, Barnes requested a large advance from management. Now married with a young child, reckless spending had left him almost broke. His request was refused as there was a standing arrangement that any advance to one band member had to be paid to all the others. After a meeting on 17 August during which Barnes quit the band it was decided that the group would split up. A farewell concert series, The Last Stand,
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#17327917019286916-542: The Law" also written, and "Good Times" film clip made, all on the same day. Tim Farriss, INXS lead guitarist, was unavailable for the recordings, as he was unable to be contacted due to fishing commitments. The single peaked at No. 2 on the Australian charts, and months later was featured in the Joel Schumacher 1987 film The Lost Boys and the associated The Lost Boys soundtrack. This allowed it to peak at No. 47 in
7049-493: The Lord Tortoise . Although the album was completed in 2004 it has not been released. The next line-up change occurred in September 2004 when Twohill was sacked from the band by Plaza and Smith. Upon return to Sydney following a tour of Western Australia by the band Twohill was told at the airport that he had played his last show for the band. Twohill lodged a wrongful dismissal case against his former bandmates with
7182-496: The NSW Industrial Relations Commission in 2007. At the hearing, he said he had "no inkling" that his bandmates were dissatisfied with his performances and his attitude, whereas Plaza advised that the band had been discussing Twohill's future for some time and had issued the drummer with a warning after alleged unprofessional behaviour during a gig at Ettalong, north of Sydney, in December 2003. It
7315-509: The Smile off Santa's Face)" appeared in December 1984, which was one of the first Australian recordings to be remixed as a 12" 'disco' version. The innovative stop-motion video by B Sharp Productions to promote "Apocalypso" later shared the "Best Promotional Video" award—with INXS ' "Burn for You" by Richard Lowenstein —at the 1984 Countdown Awards held in 1985. Greedy Smith began to gain prominence with his songwriting success and became
7448-536: The Sydney concert, Rick Grossman , bass guitarist of Divinyls, was fired from the group due to his heroin addiction , he attended the drug rehab centre, The Buttery, and eventually joined Hoodoo Gurus in 1988. The film of the tour, Australian Made: The Movie , directed by Richard Lowenstein , was released in July 1987, was shown in cinemas, and released on VHS home video, but contained no footage of Mental As Anything performing. An edited DVD version, Australian Made: Featuring INXS Live (aka INXS: Australian Made )
7581-528: The Sydney concert, Peter Trotter, playing trombone for Mental As Anything, collapsed on stage and died a week later. The tour was announced with claims of Australian mateship and cooperation, however arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film. Some bands felt they had been coerced into unfavourable tour contracts. The tour ended in acrimony with two managers, Chris Murphy (for INXS) and Jeremy Fabinyi (for Mental As Anything), arguing backstage in Sydney and coming to blows. After
7714-649: The Top 50 (Top 30 in Victoria) and O'Doherty's tribute to Ms Faithful, "Marianne", which was released as the band supported Chris Isaak on his 1996 tour of Australia. On 16 August 1997, Mental As Anything celebrated 20 years together with the same line-up with a free birthday show at the Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills, Sydney. Late 1997 saw the band put together their third group art exhibition, Mentals III, which
7847-437: The UK on the back of the success of "Live It Up" and to promote their album of that year Mouth to Mouth , again produced by Gottehrer Mouth to Mouth charted in the top 20 in Australia and the two singles lifted from it, "He's Just No Good For You" and "Don't Tell Me Now" both charted in the Top 40, as did a further single at years end, a cover of Elvis Presley's " Love Me Tender ". The music video for "He's Just No Good for You"
7980-662: The US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. It was followed by the band's biggest Australian hit " Live It Up " (May 1985) which climbed to No. 2 and remained there for three weeks behind Madonna 's " Angel / Into the Groove ". The single also reached No. 3 in the UK in 1987, and was a hit in Europe, after being included in the soundtrack of the hugely successful Australian 1986 film Crocodile Dundee . The band performed three songs in
8113-420: The US market as a solo performer; senior music executives there continued to hold it against him. Like its predecessor, Circus Animals , contained songs of contrasting styles, with harder-edged tracks like "Bow River" and "Hound Dog" in place beside more expansive ballads such as the next two singles, " Forever Now " (March 1982) and " When the War Is Over " (August), both are written by Prestwich. "Forever Now"
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#17327917019288246-521: The United States and Men at Work, then at the peak of their popularity, had included Mental As Anything as a support act on their US tour. Peter O'Doherty wrote the band's next single, the sentimental "Close Again" (November), from their fourth album, Creatures of Leisure , released in April 1983 and produced by Brown and Dunlop, which peaked at No. 8. It provided two more singles, the Smith and Mombassa collaboration "Spirit Got Lost" (March), which
8379-546: The United States on 1 August 1987. The tour had a budget of $ 3.25 million, when the accounts were finally tabulated the promoters had lost $ 30,000 each. After the tour, there was a dispute over the royalty split on "Good Times". Four years later the single appeared on the British charts when The Lost Boys was released on video. Barnes stated that the Subiaco concert had the best Rock 'N' Roll crowd he had ever seen. With
8512-553: The achievements of songwriters and music composers, and to recognise their songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance, by its members annually. Andrew "Greedy" Smith of Mental As Anything won the APRA Award for "Most Performed Australasian Popular Work" in 1987 for " Live It Up ". Mental As Anything has won two Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards including their 2009 induction into their Hall of Fame . This induction recognised their achievement of
8645-514: The album and "Tucker's Daughter" peaked at No. 1. Moss won five trophies at the ARIA Music Awards of 1990 . His other solo albums met with less chart or award success. Throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s, Cold Chisel were courted to re-form but refused, at one point reportedly turning down a $ 5 million offer to play a sole show in each of the major Australian state capitals. Moss and Walker often collaborated on projects; neither worked with Barnes until Walker wrote "Stone Cold" for
8778-461: The album does what Cold Chisel always does: "work incredibly hard, not take any shortcuts and play the hell out of the songs." The album, Boulton writes, "delves further back to their rock'n'roll roots with chief songwriter [Walker] carving up the keys, guitarist [Moss] both gritty and sublime and the [Small/Drayton] engine room firing on every cylinder. Barnes' voice sounds worn, wonderful and better than ever." The band's latest album, Blood Moon ,
8911-715: The album reached the lower region of the Billboard 200 in July. The group were booed off stage after a lacklustre performance in Dayton, Ohio in May 1981 opening for Ted Nugent. Other support slots they took were for Cheap Trick, Joe Walsh, Heart and the Marshall Tucker Band. European audiences were more accepting of the Australian band and they developed a fan base in Germany. In August 1981 Cold Chisel began work on
9044-542: The all-time best Australian songs . Circus Animals was listed at No. 4 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums (October 2010), while East appeared at No. 53. They won The Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music at the APRA Music Awards of 2016 . Cold Chisel's popularity is almost entirely confined to Australia and New Zealand, with their songs and musicianship highlighting working class life. Their early bass guitarist (1973–75), Les Kaczmarek, died in December 2008; Steve Prestwich died of
9177-466: The band appeared live in Sydney's Apple Store with a digital download EP in the "iTunes Live from Sydney: Aussie Legends" series appearing the next day. An extensive pictorial biography of Mombassa, titled the "Mind of Times of Reg Mombassa" appeared in November, and by virtue of the subject served as a de facto biography of Mental As Anything up to Mombassa's departure in 2000. The Summer of 2009/2010 saw
9310-591: The band due to ill health; and were replaced by Zoltan Budai and Jacob Cook, respectively. Souter died in 2017 due to liver failure, aged 68, and Barraclough died in 2018 due to pancreatic cancer, aged 58. Further changes occurred when Caen departed in late 2013 and was replaced by Martin Cilia in early 2014; and when Budai departed the band in 2015 and was replaced by James Gillard. Martin Plaza has been battling kidney cancer since 2013 and has had extended periods off
9443-843: The band members co-producing. They supported it with a national tour. The album debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart . In 2003 they re-grouped for the Ringside Tour and in 2005 again to perform at a benefit for the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. Founding bass guitarist, Les Kaczmarek, died of liver failure on 5 December 2008, aged 53. Walker described him as "a wonderful and beguiling man in every respect." On 10 September 2009 Cold Chisel announced they would reform for
9576-696: The band name Dog Trumpet and releasing the album Two Heads One Brain . Studio musicians were Mike Gubb on keyboards (ex- Dynamic Hepnotics , Mental as Anything), John Bliss on drums (ex- The Reels ) and Mark Honeybrook on bass guitar . Further releases followed with the EPs Kiss a Gun Down in October 1992 and Strange Brew in October 1993. After returning to Mental As Anything, they continued with their Dog Trumpet side project and provided three further album releases. Mombassa also designed innumerable T-shirts, posters, videos and record covers for Mental As Anything and other bands. His most recent album cover
9709-478: The band on harmonica whilst still a member of another band, and by year's end Smith had joined full-time and he also played keyboards . Coburn left the fledgling band in 1977 and Mombassa's younger brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty joined on bass guitar completing the "classic" line-up. The first performance of the new line-up was at the National Art School's Cell Block Theatre on 17 August,
9842-535: The band won seven categories: Best Australian Album, Most Outstanding Achievement, Best Recorded Song Writer, Best Australian Producer, Best Australian Record Cover Design, Most Popular Group and Most Popular Record, at the Countdown / TV Week pop music awards for 1980 . They attended the ceremony at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and were due to perform: however, as a protest against
9975-433: The band's hometown of Adelaide on 17 November 2024. However Jimmy Barnes' wife Jane subsequently posted on X.com , that further tour dates including New Zealand would be announced later. McFarlane described Cold Chisel's early career in his Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (1999), "after ten years on the road, [they] called it a day. Not that the band split up for want of success; by that stage [they] had built up
10108-440: The bill, on the basis of their international success, even though they were not well renowned in Australia. To promote the tour, INXS and Barnes (ex- Cold Chisel ) recorded two songs, a cover of The Easybeats song " Good Times ", and "Laying Down the Law" which Barnes co-wrote with INXS members Garry Gary Beers , Andrew Farriss , Jon Farriss , Michael Hutchence and Kirk Pengilly . Both songs were recorded, with "Laying Down
10241-541: The concurrent release of the pop hit "Swords of a Thousand Men" by British band Tenpole Tudor prevented Mental As Anything from realising their plan to make a Viking -themed music video to promote it, although they did eventually make the clip as planned and included it on their subsequent video album compilation. All of the 1981 singles were included on their Bruce Brown and Russell Dunlop produced Cats & Dogs , which became their biggest success to date, reaching No. 3 nationally. Mombassa's "Let's Cook" (April 1982)
10374-594: The country's most popular male rock singers. Prestwich joined Little River Band in 1984 and appeared on the albums Playing to Win and No Reins , before departing in 1986 to join Farnham's touring band. Moss, Small and Walker took extended breaks from music. Small maintained a low profile as a member in a variety of minor groups Pound, the Earls of Duke and the Outsiders. Walker formed Catfish in 1988, ostensibly
10507-465: The day news broke in Australia of the death of Elvis Presley . They played numerous Elvis covers and two original songs, together with their usual set of Blues , Rockabilly , Country and 1960s covers including Roy Orbison and The Monkees . The band built up a live following in Sydney with their residencies at the Unicorn Hotel in inner-city Paddington on Mondays and the Civic Hotel in
10640-413: The exception of keyboard player , Peter Kekel, Barnes employed an all Canadian backing band, that he had used for his own North American tours from 1985, for the Australian Made tour. All the acts travelled between capital cities on the same plane. Chrissy Amphlett of Divinyls wrote about the tour in her autobiography, Pleasure and Pain , she was impressed that various band members got along so well. At
10773-468: The follow-up tour sold out almost immediately. In 2001 Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), listed their single, "Khe Sanh" (May 1978), at No. 8 of the all-time best Australian songs . Cold Chisel were one of the first Australian acts to have become the subject of a major tribute album. In 2007, Standing on the Outside: The Songs of Cold Chisel was released, featuring
10906-471: The follow-up, "Too Many Times", which became a No. 6 hit. It was accompanied by a music video shot on a building block in a Sydney seaside suburb and brought Mental As Anything international exposure by becoming a top 40 hit in Canada in July 1982, when they toured North America in support of Men at Work . The next single, "Berserk Warriors" (December 1981), was a satirical tribute to ABBA , although
11039-403: The good times of the past ("Flame Trees") or for something better from life ("Bow River"). At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 they were inducted into the Hall of Fame . While repackages and compilations accounted for much of these sales, 1994's Teenage Love provided two of its singles, which were top ten hits. When the group finally reformed in 1998 the resultant album was also a major hit and
11172-465: The group then disbanded. The Sydney shows formed the basis of a concert film, The Last Stand (July 1984), which became the biggest-selling cinema-released concert documentary by an Australian band to that time. Other recordings from the tour were used on a live album, The Barking Spiders Live: 1983 (1984), the title is a reference to the pseudonym the group occasionally used when playing warm-up shows before tours. Some were also used as b-sides for
11305-690: The group's first Australian Kent Music Report top 20 hit, and also made No. 1 on the UK alternative charts when released there by Virgin Records and remains one of the group's most popular songs. Get Wet achieved a top 20 position on the Kent Music Report albums chart. By the time of the LP's release in November, all but Peter O'Doherty had adopted a pseudonym : Chris O'Doherty became Reg Mombassa; Murphy became Martin Plaza—his name copied from
11438-523: The international version of their third album, East (June 1980). The band's next release was a live five-track extended play, You're Thirteen, You're Beautiful, and You're Mine , in November 1978. McFarlane observed, "It captured the band in its favoured element, fired by raucous versions of Walker's 'Merry-Go-Round' and Chip Taylor's 'Wild Thing'." It was recorded at the Regent Theatre, Sydney in 1977, when they had Midnight Oil as one of
11571-668: The late 1970s government of Malcolm Fraser , inspired by the Star Hotel riot in Newcastle . The songs were not overtly political but rather observations of everyday life within Australian society and culture, in which the members with their various backgrounds (Moss was from Alice Springs , Walker grew up in rural New South Wales, Barnes and Prestwich were working-class immigrants from the UK) were quite well able to provide. Cold Chisel's songs were about distinctly Australian experiences,
11704-403: The lead vocalist on several songs. Plaza's deep, sultry vocals contrasted well with Smith's higher pitched pop and falsetto . Smith penned and sang the next two singles, both from their Fundamental album produced by Richard Gottehrer and released in September 1985, which peaked at No. 3. " You're So Strong " (March 1985) reached No. 11 in Australia and also charted in the top 30 of
11837-508: The long-deleted 1978 EP as a bonus disc and a second time in 2001 as a double album. The Last Stand soundtrack album was finally released in 1992. In 1994 a complete album of previously unreleased demo and rare live recordings, Teenage Love , was released, which provided three singles. Cold Chisel reunited in October 1997, with the line-up of Barnes, Moss, Prestwich, Small and Walker. They recorded their sixth studio album, The Last Wave of Summer (October 1998), from February to July with
11970-479: The lyrics. Cold Chisel was released in April and included guest studio musicians: Dave Blight on harmonica (who became a regular on-stage guest) and saxophonists Joe Camilleri and Wilbur Wilde (from Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons ). Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane , described how, "[it] failed to capture the band's renowned live firepower, despite the presence of such crowd favourites as 'Khe Sanh', 'Home and Broken Hearted' and 'One Long Day'." It reached
12103-465: The music video form in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and their videos rank as some of the funniest and most imaginative produced in Australia at that time. The group formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976 when Martin Murphy ( Martin Plaza ) met fellow student, New Zealand-born Chris O'Doherty ( Reg Mombassa ) at Alexander Mackie College at East Sydney Technical College, now known as
12236-407: The opening act on the multi-group Australian Made concert tour where they were joined by former Dynamic Hepnotics keyboardist Mike Gubb. The tour started with claims of mateship and cooperation; however arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film. At the Sydney concert, Peter Trotter, playing trombone for Mental As Anything, collapsed on stage and died
12369-528: The others was volatile: he often came to blows with Prestwich and left the band several times. During these periods Moss would handle vocals until Barnes returned. Walker emerged as the group's primary songwriter and spent 1974 in Armidale , completing his studies in quantum mechanics. Barnes' older brother, John Swan , was a member of Cold Chisel around this time, providing backing vocals and percussion. After several violent incidents, including beating up
12502-786: The release of East , Cold Chisel embarked on the Youth in Asia Tour from May 1980, which took its name from a lyric in "Star Hotel". In late 1980, the Aboriginal rock reggae band No Fixed Address supported the band on its "Summer Offensive" tour to the east coast, with the final concert on 20 December at the University of Adelaide . The Youth in Asia Tour performances were used for Cold Chisel's double live album, Swingshift (March 1981). Nimmervoll declared, "[the group] rammed what they were all about with [this album]." In March 1981
12635-462: The release of their first EP and national tour of their debut album. The album also included a DVD of all the video clips released by the band. Additionally Mental As Anything re-issued all ten of the band's albums as digital downloads. The band also released a new studio album, Tents Up , in June and toured nationally in support of both releases. On 27 August 2009, Mental As Anything was inducted into
12768-517: The restrictions as it was part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Another ABC program, Countdown ' s producers asked them to change the lyric but they refused. Despite such setbacks, "Khe Sanh" reached No. 41 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. It became Cold Chisel's signature tune and was popular among their fans. They later remixed the track, with re-recorded vocals, for inclusion on
12901-599: The road, with Caen and Craig Gordon variously standing in. Plaza played with the Mentals throughout 2014, and for a few dates in October 2016, but his health forced him to thereafter permanently retire from the group's touring schedule. During this time, the band released newly recorded material: Smith's "Shake Off Your Sandals" (2015), Plaza's "Goat Tracks in My Sandpit" (2016) and a 5 track EP called 5 Track EP (2017) which collected these two songs and three others. The EP
13034-508: The sabbatical, Mental As Anything still played short tours and one-off gigs, but by 1993 they were back on record, providing the song "Ride", produced by Tim Farriss , for the soundtrack to the Yahoo Serious film Reckless Kelly . They released a compilation of rare album tracks and b-sides, Chemical Travel , in November. By mid-1994 the band had recorded an album's worth of self-produced material but were having difficulty getting
13167-431: The singer's sixth studio album, Heat (October 1993). The pair recorded an acoustic version for Flesh and Wood (December). Thanks primarily to continued radio airplay and Barnes' solo success, Cold Chisel's legacy remained solidly intact. By the early 1990s the group had surpassed 3 million album sales, most sold since 1983. The 1991 compilation album, Chisel , was re-issued and re-packaged several times, once with
13300-783: The singles " Saturday Night " (March 1984) and " Flame Trees " (August), both of which remain radio staples. "Flame Trees", co-written by Prestwich and Walker, took its title from the BBC series The Flame Trees of Thika , although it was lyrically inspired by Walker's hometown of Grafton . Barnes later recorded an acoustic version for his 1993 solo album, Flesh and Wood , and it was also covered by Sarah Blasko in 2006. Barnes launched his solo career in January 1984, which has provided nine Australian number-one studio albums and an array of hit singles, including " Too Much Ain't Enough Love ", which peaked at No. 1. He has recorded with INXS , Tina Turner , Joe Cocker and John Farnham to become one of
13433-505: The sound, the songs, the playing... East was a triumph. [The group] were now the undisputed No. 1 rock band in Australia." The album varied from straight ahead rock tracks, "Standing on the Outside" and "My Turn to Cry", to rockabilly -flavoured work-outs ("Rising Sun", written about Barnes' relationship with his then-girlfriend Jane Mahoney) and pop-laced love songs (" My Baby " by Phil Small, featuring Joe Camilleri on saxophone) to
13566-477: The support acts. Australian writer, Ed Nimmervoll , described a typical performance by Cold Chisel, "Everybody was talking about them anyway, drawn by the songs, and Jim Barnes' presence on stage, crouched, sweating, as he roared his vocals into the microphone at the top of his lungs." The EP peaked at No. 35 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart. "Merry Go Round" was re-recorded for their second studio album, Breakfast at Sweethearts (February 1979). This
13699-469: The time known as Jim Barnes) on lead vocals and, in 1975, Phil Small became their bass guitarist. The group disbanded in late 1983 but subsequently reformed several times. Musicologist Ian McFarlane wrote that they became "one of Australia's best-loved groups" as well as "one of the best live bands", fusing "a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook." Eight of their studio albums have reached
13832-492: The title of the pedestrian plaza in central Sydney, also known as Martin Place ; Smith's voracious appetite saw him dubbed "Greedy"; and Twohill became Wayne "Bird" Delisle. (Starting in 1995, Twohill was later billed under his birth name). Shortly before the names had been settled, Peter O'Doherty was using the pseudonym Ouzo Pork, but he elected to keep his birth name for professional purposes. His nickname, as used in interviews,
13965-517: The top 40 ARIA Albums Charts in October 1989. A planned first single for 1989, "Love Comes Running" was cancelled from release in Australia, instead appearing in New Zealand only. The first single released in 1989 from the album, "The World Seems Difficult" was a top twenty hit, but polished up for the overseas market, sounded unlike anything the band had previously released. Two further singles, "Baby You're Wild" and "Overwhelmed" did not peak into
14098-429: The top 50, and promotion of the album was hindered after Smith injured his arm in a horse riding accident, and was hospitalised, which forced tour concerts to be postponed or cancelled. By early 1990, Mental As Anything members agreed to take a sabbatical to work on solo work and side projects. Then Deputy Prime Minister , Paul Keating , opened their second group studio art exhibition in 1990. In 1986 Plaza released
14231-471: The top 40 on the Kent Music Report and was certified gold. In May 1978, " Khe Sanh ", was released as their debut single but it was declared too offensive for commercial radio due to the sexual implication of the lyrics, e.g. "Their legs were often open/But their minds were always closed." However, it was played regularly on Sydney youth radio station, Double J , which was not subject to
14364-574: The tour they had issued, "My Baby", for the North America market and it reached the top 40 on Billboard ' s chart, Mainstream Rock . They were generally popular as a live act there, but the US branch of their label did little to promote the album. According to Barnes' biographer, Toby Creswell , at one point they were ushered into an office to listen to the US master tape to find it had substantial hiss and other ambient noise, which made it almost unable to be released. Notwithstanding,
14497-496: The tour, INXS and Barnes recorded a cover of The Easybeats song " Good Times " which was released in December 1986 as a single and used as the theme song. "Good Times" peaked at No. 2 on the Australian charts. The single peaked at No. 47 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 on 1 August 1987. At the Sydney concert, Peter Trotter, playing saxophone for Mental As Anything, collapsed on stage and died
14630-534: 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 . Their original hit songs were generated by Mombassa, O'Doherty, Plaza and Smith, either individually or collectively; they also hit
14763-421: Was Yoga Dog, but he was never billed as such. The band completed their first national tour in late 1979, supporting British rockers Rockpile , with members Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe . Mental As Anything's next two singles—Plaza's "Possible Theme for a Future TV Drama Series" (November 1979) and Mombassa's "Egypt" (January 1980)—did not reach the top 50. Their second LP, Espresso Bongo , released in July,
14896-408: Was a radio-only single. "Let's Cook" was also an MTV Video. Mental As Anything members were also visual artists and held their first exhibition of their works in May. In June, during his tour of Australia, Elvis Costello heard them and produced their next single "I Didn't Mean to Be Mean" (August 1982), written by Plaza. A compilation album, If You Leave Me , was released in September 1982 in
15029-592: Was a short trip to Vietnam organised by the Australian Government. They were replaced by David 'Duck' Barraclough (ex- The Exponents ) and Murray Cook (ex- Leah Purcell , Mixed Relations ). Cook (no relation to Murray Cook of The Wiggles ) left the band after the Beetroot Stains album (2000) and was replaced by New Zealand born Mike Caen, who had worked with Jenny Morris , Margaret Urlich , Rick Price , Daryl Braithwaite and Tina Arena . At
15162-431: Was a three-track EP , Mental As Anything Plays at Your Party , in December. It featured all original tracks, and is their only release on which Plaza and Mombassa were credited by their original names, Martin Murphy and Chris O'Doherty, respectively. Sydney radio station Double Jay (now Triple J ), gave airplay to its most popular track, "The Nips Are Getting Bigger", a drinking song written by Plaza, which showed
15295-451: Was accompanied by an imaginative animated video clip, and Pete O'Doherty's "Brain Brain" (September). To promote, "Spirit Got Lost", Mental As Anything performed the single on Countdown with the episode's director, Kris Noble, using a dry ice -filled coffin with a band member due to emerge; complaints from within the coffin were ignored by Noble with " It's only another 30 seconds ", until
15428-445: Was accredited by ARIA with a gold certificate by 2001, and a seasonal single "White Christmas", that was given away at their "Yule Party" gig at Sydney's Metro Theatre. In April 2000, Mental As Anything announced the first official change to their line-up since 1977. Brothers Peter O'Doherty and Reg Mombassa left to pursue their own musical projects, including their band Dog Trumpet , and their art careers. The last tour by this line-up
15561-458: Was also a No. 1 hit for former Australian Idol contestant, Cosima De Vito , in 2004 and was performed by Bobby Flynn during that show's 2006 season. "Forever Now" was covered, as a country waltz, by Australian band, the Reels . Success outside Australasia continued to elude Cold Chisel and friction occurred between the members. According to McFarlane, "[the] failed attempts to break into
15694-422: Was because I asked him to not smoke in the dressing room he took it out on us on stage … played like a chimpanzee on speed, it was terrible. This was not an undisputed claim; in evidence given earlier, the band's stage technician Darren Brain, said Twohill "played quite well". Twohill was ultimately successful in his claim, with Justice Frank Marks stating that the band gave "no basis" for the expulsion. Twohill
15827-516: Was composed almost entirely of Lou Reed covers. Another collaboration with Freud occurred in 1996 and resulted in the Hawaiian inspired Moondog project, with Plaza appearing on some tracks of the album Postcard from Hawaii . Mombassa and O'Doherty formed the duo Reg & Peter/Peter & Reg (they alternated names whenever interviewed) and released a single, "Jean" in March 1991, before adopting
15960-432: Was diagnosed with a brain tumour ; he underwent surgery on 14 January but never regained consciousness and died two days later, aged 56. All six of Cold Chisel's studio albums were re-released in digital and CD formats in mid-2011. Three digital-only albums were released – Never Before , Besides and Covered – as well as a new compilation album, The Best of Cold Chisel: All for You , which peaked at No. 2 on
16093-550: Was filmed on Scarborough Street in Monterey, New South Wales . In late 1988, a cover of the Chuck Berry chestnut " Rock and Roll Music "—recorded for the Yahoo Serious movie Young Einstein —went top 5 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Singles Charts . The single appeared on their next album, Cyclone Raymond , produced by Steve James, Mark Moffatt, Mark Opitz and Robyn Smith; which peaked into
16226-502: 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. Mental As Anything has not been active since that time, nor have they announced any future plans. Mental As Anything's music
16359-410: Was listed at No. 4 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums , by music journalists, Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell . Its lead single, " You Got Nothing I Want " (November 1981), is an aggressive Barnes-penned hard rock track, which attacked the US industry for its handling of the band on their recent tour. The song caused problems for Barnes when he later attempted to break into
16492-507: Was named after the Cliff Richard movie, and it peaked into the top 40. Their fourth single, "Come Around", returned them to the top 20 in June, and it was followed by a top 30 hit with " (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet ", an upbeat cover of the 1964 hit by The Reflections , as a non-album single in November 1980. They scored a No. 4 national hit with Plaza's "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too?", released in May 1981. Smith penned
16625-496: Was opened by former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam , at the Manly Art Gallery ( Paul Keating had opened their second group exhibition in 1990). Their 21st anniversary in 1998 was marked with the release of the last album by this line-up, Garàge , which did not reach the top 50, nor did the two singles lifted from it, "Just My Luck" and "Calling Colin". December 1999 saw the release of Best of Mental As Anything which
16758-594: Was planned and a final studio album, Twentieth Century (February 1984), was recorded. Prestwich returned for that tour, which began in October. Before the last four scheduled shows in Sydney, Barnes lost his voice and those dates were postponed to mid-December. The band's final performances were at the Sydney Entertainment Centre from 12 to 15 December 1983 – ten years since their first live appearance as Cold Chisel in Adelaide – and
16891-421: Was recorded between July 1978 and January 1979 with producer, Richard Batchens , who had previously worked with Richard Clapton , Sherbet and Blackfeather. Batchens smoothed out the band's rough edges and attempted to give their songs a sophisticated sound. With regards to this approach, the band were unsatisfied with the finished product. It peaked at No. 4 and was the top selling album in Australia by
17024-520: Was released in December 2019. The album debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Album Chart , the band's fifth to reach the top. Half of the songs had lyrics written by Barnes and music by Walker, a new combination for Cold Chisel, with Barnes noting his increased confidence after writing two autobiographies. On 29 May 2024, Cold Chisel announced 'The 50th Anniversary Tour'. With the tour beginning in Armidale on 5 October 2024 and scheduled to end in
17157-455: Was released in July 1987, but contained no footage of Mental As Anything performing. Rock historian Glenn A. Baker and Bob King wrote Australian Made, Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight : The Authorised Documentary of the Event in 1987 with detailed notations by Baker and photographs by King. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane , "the tour drew record crowds across the country. It
17290-429: Was released in May 2008. In 1987 the book Australian Made was also published as a companion to the movie. The 30th Anniversary Edition aired on the ABC in October 2021. Over subsequent years almost all the artists from the Australian Made tour have become inductees into the ARIA Hall of Fame : INXS and The Saints were both inducted in 2001 , Barnes was first inducted as a member of Cold Chisel in 1995 and then as
17423-445: Was replaced by Robbie Souter, a veteran of Dynamic Hepnotics , Slim Dusty band and other country and roots music combos. This line-up recorded the acoustic Plucked , released in November 2005. In 2007 they toured Papua New Guinea for the first time to play three gigs in the capital Port Moresby as part of "Australia Week". In May 2009 the band released the compilation album Essential as Anything , celebrating thirty years since
17556-573: Was the first travelling festival tour to feature exclusively Australian bands". Dire Straits , and other international acts, mounted Australia-wide tours in 1986 with promoters claiming that local acts couldn't fill large concert venues. Acts like INXS and Jimmy Barnes felt that a tour by internationally renowned Australians would fill these venues. In October 1986, Chris Murphy, of Mark Murphy Agency (MMA) and manager of INXS, Mark Pope, who managed Jimmy Barnes and Divinyls , and Mushroom Records boss Michael Gudinski , commenced negotiations to develop
17689-470: Was timed for release for the band's appearance on the 2017 APIA Good Times tour. Additionally back catalogue was reissued both physically and digitally in the UK/Europe via Demon/Edsel and in Australia via Universal Music Group. Mental As Anything, now consisting of Greedy Smith (vocals/keyboards), Martin Cilia (guitars), Jacob Cook (drums), Craig Gordon (vocals/guitars) and Peter Gray (vocals/bass), played
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