‘We were just astonished’: Mental as Anything on their highs and lows – and hitting the road again
One of Australia’s most successful pop bands are reliving their career, with a new documentary and a tour bringing the ‘original flavour’ back on stageGet our weekend culture and lifestyle...
By Toby Creswell · The Guardian Culture
One of Australia’s most successful pop bands are reliving their career, with a new documentary and a tour bringing the ‘original flavour’ back on stage Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Among the many surreal moments in the opening scenes of Live It Up: The Mental as Anything Story is footage of tens of thousands of Scottish football fans caterwauling the lyrics to an Australian pop song like it’s a war chant. “We were just astonished by that … and reasonably happy about it suddenly being sung by tens of thousands of Glaswegians,” says guitarist Reg Mombassa as he pours coffee in the kitchen of his Glebe terrace. Rangers fans adopted the Mentals’ 1985 hit Live It Up as an anthem, a novelty which propelled the song to the top of many British charts. Four decades later, Mombassa and his bassist brother Peter O’Doherty are taking a new iteration of the band back on the road. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...