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https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/mar/02/mental-as-anything-australian-pop-band-documentary-tour>
"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 that 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.
The documentary, which is released in Australian cinemas on 5 March, tells the
story of a bunch of art students turning their hobby into a hit machine: the
international success and the platinum records – and then the meddling studios,
the drinking problems and the lawsuits. It shows a band coming to terms with
their heritage and legacy – and how they managed to keep the show on the road."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
