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On this day, 27 April 1987, Australian new wave band Mental as Anything played The Ritzy, Cardiff.
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 the National Art School, the city's leading 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 a name.
Their Australian hit "Live It Up" (May 1985) 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.
