Greedy Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrew "Greedy" Smith is a musician for Australian band Mental As Anything and sometime artist/solo musician/television personality.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Born Andrew McArthur Smith in Sydney, Australia on 16 January 1956, he later attended North Sydney Boys High in the same year group as future Australian Cricket captain Allan Border. Showing an interest in Art, he moved onto the East Sydney Technical College in Darlinghurst in the mid 1970s whilst also holding down a part time job as a bottle shop attendant. At college he met fellow students Martin Murphy, Chris O'Doherty, David Twohill and Steve Coburn, whose band, Mental As Anything, had been playing art school parties and dances since May of 1976. Whilst at the time playing harmonica in another band, Smith eventually started appearing on stage with the Mentals from around December of that year. He was eventually cajoled by the others to learn keyboards on an old wedding reception organ to fill out the sound from which point he quit the other band.
[edit] Art Career
Although he attended art school he is not as well known an artist as the other Mentals alumni. His best known artwork is his Storm Clouds Over the Piazza series that was exhibited at the Mentals III travelling art exhibition in 1997. These portraits are based on his legendary unfinished novel of the same name, a rambling WW2 saga that he used to mention in interviews but is actually fictional in itself.
[edit] Nickname
Smith acquired the nickname Greedy around 1978 or 1979 when before Mentals show he demolished the better part of a bucket of KFC prior to going on stage. He was however still billed as Andy Smith on a promotional photo from early 1979.
[edit] Mental As Anything
[edit] Solo & Side Projects
In 1982, Smith played with Twohill in a group called The Space Shuttle Ramblers that recorded an EP, however the tapes were destroyed in a studio flood prior to release. In 1992, during the Mentals sabbatical he formed a side group called Greedy's On The Loose that played gigs and recorded however no product eventuated. In 1996 he recorded a solo album Love Harmonica for TWA in his home studio. This led to live work with a band dubbed Greedy's People and the re-recording in full band mode and subsequent re-release of the album. This new version of the album also on TWA, retitled Greedy's People, included a bonus recording of the Carpenters Close To You.
[edit] Media Work
As the most gregarious Mental, in the early days he was often relied upon to give inteviews for TV, radio and press. This lead to further media opportunities such as hosting episodes and segments of the music shows Countdown (and the associated Countdown Awards) and Sounds. In the late 80s he was a regular judge on the Red Faces segment of Hey Hey It's Saturday and in the early 90s he hosted Tonight Live With Steve Vizard for a week in the absence of the regular host. He has more recently appeared regularly on the music quiz show Spicks and Specks
[edit] Discography
- Love Harmonica 1996
- Greedy's People 1997
