Fundamental (Mental As Anything album)

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Fundamental (As Anything)
Fundamental as Anything.jpg
Studio album by
Mental As Anything
Released1 March 1985
Recorded1984
StudioRhinoceros Studios, Sydney, Australia
GenrePop, new wave
Length39:24
LabelRegular Records
ProducerRichard Gottehrer
Mental As Anything chronology
Creatures of Leisure
(1983) 		Fundamental (As Anything)
(1985) 		Greatest Hits Vol. 1
(1986)
Singles from Fundamental
  1. "You're So Strong"
    Released: March 1985
  2. "Live It Up"
    Released: 31 May 1985
  3. "Date with Destiny"
    Released: September 1985
  4. "Big Wheel"
    Released: November 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic4/5 stars[1]

Fundamental or Fundamental As Anything is the fifth studio album released by Australian rock/pop group Mental As Anything.[2][3] The album was produced by Richard Gottehrer and was released on Regular Records in March 1985.[2][3][4] It peaked at #3 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums charts.[5]

Recording[]

The band had intended to use Gary Langan as producer as they admired his work with Art of Noise and were happy with the "wild" album he had planned. O'Doherty said, "He took on too much at the time and he got zonked out at all the stress and he pulled out something like five days before he was meant to be on the plane." The replacement was Richard Gottehrer, but they had to wait for a gap in his schedule, delaying the recording. O'Doherty said, "It’s too long because we’ve got four songwriters in the band and we ended up with over 30 songs demoed for Fundamental, more than enough for two albums."[6]

Demos Of Unreleased Songs[7][8][]

(Recorded in the spring and summer of 1984)

  • This Town
  • Who's Yours, If I'm Not Now
  • New Suit (Later released as a B-side to the Concrete And Clay single from Martin Plaza's 1985 Plaza Suite album)
  • Blue Healer
  • Drunk At A Party
  • Be Round
  • Don't Remember
  • Wake Up
  • K9NV
  • Celebrate
  • Suspended
  • Find My Way Home
  • You Never Know
  • Disgraceful
  • I've Got A Friend

Singles[]

The first single from the album, "You're So Strong" (March 1985), peaked at #11 in Australia[5] and also charted in the Top 30 of the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.[9] It was followed by their biggest Australian hit "Live It Up" (May 1985) which climbed to #2.[5] The album spawned two additional singles, "Date with Destiny" in September and "Big Wheel" in November.[2][5] "Live It Up" reached the Top 40 in European charts including the UK where it peaked at #3,[10] #4 in Norway,[11] and #6 in Germany,[12] after it featured in the 1986 Australian film "Crocodile" Dundee.[2]

Track listing[]

Fundamental (As Anything)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You're So Strong"Andrew "Greedy" Smith[13]3:29
2."Big Wheel"Martin Plaza[14]4:46
3."Live It Up"Smith[15]4:14
4."Surf & Mull & Sex & Fun"Peter O'Doherty[16]3:39
5."Good Friday"Plaza[17]4:29
6."Date with Destiny"Smith[18]3:04
7."Hold On"O'Doherty[19]3:02
8."Stones of the Heart"Reg Mombassa[20]3:22
9."I Just Wanna Be Happy"Mombassa[21]3:28
10."Splashing"Mombassa[22]3:20
11."Bus Ride"Plaza[23]3:02

Personnel[]

Musicians[]

Additional personnel[]

Recording details[]

Art work[]

  • Art direction — Jana Hartig, Ken Smith, Sue Woollard
  • Design — Martin Plaza, Greedy Smith (and cover design)
  • Photography — Paula Clarke (cover photo), Paul Clarke, Hugh Hamilton, Frank Lindner (and sleeve photo), Francine McDougall

Release history[]

Region Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia March 1985 Regular Records LP RRLP1212
12 May 1986 Festival CD D20208
1986 Epic CD CDEPC 26836
10 September 1989 Festival CD D20208
United States 1986 Columbia LP BFC 40299
Netherlands 1987 Epic LP, Cassette EPC 450641
UK 1985 Epic LP, Cassette EPC 26836

Chart positions[]

Year Chart Peak Position
1985 Kent Music Report 3

References[]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Mental as Anything'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Nimmervoll, Ed. "Mental As Anything". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd (Ed Nimmervoll). Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d 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.
  6. ^ George Kay (1 September 1985). "Method In Their Mentalness". Rip It Up. No. 98.
  7. ^ "NFSA - Title Details". colsearch.nfsa.gov.au. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  8. ^ "NFSA - Title Details". colsearch.nfsa.gov.au. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Artist Chart History - Mental As Anything - Singles". Billboard.com. Nielson Business Media Inc. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  10. ^ "UK Singles Chart runs". UK Charts Plus. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  11. ^ "Mental As Anything discography". Norwegian charts portal. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  12. ^ "Mental As Anything - Live It Up". Australian charts portal. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  13. ^ ""You're So Strong" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  14. ^ ""Big Wheel" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  15. ^ ""Live it Up" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  16. ^ ""Surf and Mull" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  17. ^ ""Good Friday" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  18. ^ ""Date with Destiny" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  19. ^ "APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  20. ^ ""Stones of the Heart" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  21. ^ ""Drunk at a Party" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  22. ^ ""Splashing" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  23. ^ ""Bus Ride" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
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