Creatures of Leisure

Creatures of Leisure
Creatures of Leisure
Studio album by Mental As Anything
Released	March 1983
Recorded	Albert Studios, Sydney, Australia
Genre	Pop
Length	39:24
Label	Regular Records
Producer	Russell Dunlop & Bruce Brown; (2 tracks on international version produced by Mark Moffatt & Ricky Fataar)
Mental As Anything chronology
Singles from Creatures of Leisure
	"Close Again"; Released: November 1982; "Spirit Got Lost"; Released: March 1983; "Brain Brain"; Released: September 1983; "Working for the Man"; Released: November 1983;

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

Creatures of Leisure is the fourth studio album released by Mental As Anything. It was released in March 1983, produced by Bruce Brown and Russell Dunlop,^[2] and peaked at #8 on the Australian Album charts.^[3] The first single, "Close Again", written by Peter O'Doherty ^[4] was released in November 1982. Two further singles, the Smith and Mombassa collaboration, "Spirit Got Lost",^[5] was released in March 1983, accompanied by an imaginative animated video clip, and Pete O'Doherty's "Brain Brain",^[6] which was released in September 1983.

Their final 1983 single, a cover of Roy Orbison's "Working for the Man", produced by and Ricky Fataar, was not included on the original Australian release of the album.^[2] Internationally, Creatures of Leisure was altered to drop two Australia-only tracks, and replacing them with both sides of the "Working for the Man" single.^[2]

Reception[]

AllMusic said it was, "The Mentals' best album to date, it is a must have for pure pop fans, new wave fans, rock & roll fans, and Aussie rock fans" and noted similarities with Rockpile and Squeeze.^[7]

Rip It Up disagreed, saying, "Album number four and the cracks are beginning to show, just a little. Not that this is a bad record. It's just that it gets the slightest bit dull and workmanlike. I'm afraid the title of the first track sums it up: 'Spirit Got Lost'.^[8]

Track listing[]

Australian edition[]

Creatures of Leisure
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Spirit Got Lost"	Reg Mombassa, Andrew 'Greedy' Smith^[9]	2:59
2.	"Float Away"	Reg Mombassa^[9]	2:43
3.	"Brain Brain"	Peter O'Doherty^[9]	4:37
4.	"Bitter to Swallow"	Andrew Smith^[9]	3:46
5.	"Close Again"	Peter O'Doherty^[9]	2:57
6.	"Space to Let"	Martin Plaza^[9]	2:47
7.	"Not Enough" (MC / CD only track not included on LP release)	Martin Plaza, Reg Mombassa^[9]	2:52
8.	"Drinking of Her Lips"	Reg Mombassa^[9]	3:28
9.	"Fiona"	Andrew Smith^[9]	3:28
10.	"Nothing's Going Right Today"	Martin Plaza^[9]	3:20
11.	"Red to Green"	Peter O'Doherty, Victoria Campbell^[9]	3:25
12.	"Country in the Concrete"	Reg Mombassa^[9]	3:25
13.	"Let's Not Get Sentimental" (Track timing includes unlisted track, below.)	Martin Plaza^[9]	6:49
14.	"Business & Pleasure" (Unlisted track. A new recording of a track originally heard on Get Wet.)	Martin Plaza^[9]

International Edition[]

The version of Creatures of Leisure released in North America dropped the tracks "Space to Let" and "Country in the Concrete", and added "Working for the Man" and "Seems Alright to Me". Additionally, "Nothing's Going Right Today" appeared in remixed form.

"Business & Pleasure", which was a completely unlisted track on the Australian release, was listed on the sleeve and on the label of the international edition, although it was not listed on the lyric sheet.

Creatures of Leisure
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Spirit Got Lost"	Reg Mombassa, Andrew 'Greedy' Smith^[9]	2:56
2.	"Float Away"	Reg Mombassa^[9]	2:41
3.	"Brain Brain"	Peter O'Doherty^[9]	4:35
4.	"Bitter to Swallow"	Andrew Smith^[9]	3:43
5.	"Close Again"	Peter O'Doherty^[9]	2:54
6.	"Nothing's Going Right Today" (Remixed by Joe Raine)	Martin Plaza^[9]	3:15
7.	"Not Enough" (MC only track not included on LP release)	Martin Plaza, Reg Mombassa^[9]	2:52
8.	"Working for the Man"	Roy Orbison^[9]	3:31
9.	"Fiona"	Andrew Smith^[9]	3:25
10.	"Seems Alright to Me"	Martin Plaza^[9]	3:28
11.	"Drinking of Her Lips"	Reg Mombassa^[9]	2:50
12.	"Red to Green"	Peter O'Doherty, Victoria Campbell^[9]	3:27
13.	"Let's Not Get Sentimental"	Martin Plaza^[9]	4:30
14.	"Business & Pleasure"	Martin Plaza^[9]	2:20

Release history[]

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue
Australia & New Zealand	March 1983	Regular Records	Vinyl LP	RRLP1205
Canada	1983	Solid Gold Records	Vinyl LP	SGR1018
United States	1983	A&M Records	Vinyl LP	SP4946
UK & Europe	1983	A&M Records	Vinyl LP	AMLH64946
Japan	1983	A&M Records	Vinyl LP	AMP28094
Australia	1998	Festival Records	CD	D20209

Chart positions[]

Year	Chart	Peak Position^[3]
1983	ARIA Album Chart	8

Personnel[]

Musicians[]

Martin Plaza — lead vocals, guitar
Greedy Smith — lead vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Reg Mombassa — guitar, vocals
Peter O'Doherty — bass, guitar, vocals
Wayne de Lisle – drums

Recording details[]

Bruce Brown — Producer, Engineer
Russell Dunlop — Producer, Engineer
David Hemming — Assistant Producer, Assistant Engineer
Frank DeLuna — Mastering

Additional credits on international edition[]

Mark Moffatt — Producer (tracks: 7 & 9)
Ricky Fataar — Producer (tracks: 7 & 9)
Tim Kramer — Engineer (tracks: 7 & 9)
Joe Raine — Remix (track 6)

Art work[]

Martin Plaza — Artwork
Syd Shelton — Cover Design, Photography
Reg Mombassa — Drawings
Ken Smith — Finished Art
Jon Watkins — Finished Art
Melanie Nissen — Finished Art

References[]

^ Allmusic review
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Holmgren, Magnus; Johns, Shane; Warnqvist, Stefan. "Mental As Anything". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
^ ""Close Again" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
^ ""Spirit Got Lost" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
^ ""Brain Brain" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
^ Stephen Schnee. "Creatures of Leisure". AllMusic.
^ Robert Eyres (1 May 1983). "Briefs". Rip It Up. No. 70.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab "APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2009.

[1] Allmusic review

[ARDb-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Holmgren, Magnus; Johns, Shane; Warnqvist, Stefan. "Mental As Anything". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2014.

[Kent-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.

[APRA_Close-4] ""Close Again" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.

[APRA_Spirit-5] ""Spirit Got Lost" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.

[APRA_Brain-6] ""Brain Brain" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.

[7] Stephen Schnee. "Creatures of Leisure". AllMusic.

[rip2-8] Robert Eyres (1 May 1983). "Briefs". Rip It Up. No. 70.

[APRA-9] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab "APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2009.

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hide v t Mental As Anything
Martin Plaza Jacob Cook Martin Cilia Craig Gordon Peter Gray Steve Coburn Wayne de Lisle Reg Mombassa Greedy Smith Peter O'Doherty David Barraclough Murray Cook Mike Caen Robbie Souter Zoltan Budai James Gillard
Studio albums	Get Wet (1979) Espresso Bongo (1980) Cats & Dogs (1981) Creatures of Leisure (1983) Fundamental (1985) Mouth to Mouth (1987) Cyclone Raymond (1989) Liar Liar Pants on Fire (1995) Garàge (1998) Beetroot Stains (2000) Road Case (2002) Plucked (2005) Tents Up (2009)
Compilation albums	Greatest Hits Volume 1 (1986) Best of (1999) Essential As Anything – 30th Anniversary Edition (2009)
Singles	"The Nips Are Getting Bigger" "Possible Theme for a Future TV Drama Series" "Come Around" "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet" "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?" "Too Many Times" "Working for the Man" "Apocalypso (Wiping the Smile Off Santa's Face)" "Live It Up" "He's Just No Good for You" "Whole Wide World"