Mouth to Mouth (Mental As Anything album)

Mouth to Mouth is the sixth studio album by Australian pop rock band Mental As Anything, released in July 1987, and the album was produced by Richard Gottehrer. The album peaked at number 14 on the Australian chart.

Recording

Bassist O'Doherty said, "Gottehrer programmed all the drums and virtually all of the bass. So there was virtually no point in me and [drummer] Bird being there. I remember feeling pretty desolate, thinking 'I fucking hate this'. It wasn't fun anymore. I was programmed out, basically."

Reception

Jane Gazzo said the album, "epitomised 80s keyboard experimentation. With spacy, ethereal synthesiser treatments and expansive gated drum sounds." She also noted of the title track "some felt marked the band's departure into overindulgence".

Track listing

Australian release:

International releases:
The US/Canada version of the album drops "Ruby Baby", and adds the band's cover of "Love Me Tender". Releases in the UK and continental Europe also drop "Ruby Baby", and add "Love Me Tender" and a new version of "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?", which is remixed and overdubbed with some new vocals and instrumentation. Production of both these international tracks was by Mark Opitz.

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

Additional personnel

• Martin Armiger — guitar
• Mary Bradfield-Taylor — vocals
• Rick Chadwick — keyboards
• Sandi Chick — vocals
• Andrew Farriss — keyboards
• Mark Kennedy — percussion

Recording details

• Producer — Richard Gottehrer
• Engineer, mixing — Thom Panunzio
• Assistant — Allan Wright

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

Charts

Release history

References