Mental Notes is the debut album by New Zealand band Split Enz. The album cover was painted by band member Phil Judd. Original vinyl copies featured Judd saying "Make a mental note" in the runout groove of the record's second side (after the final track "Mental Notes"), causing the phrase to be looped perpetually on manual turntables until the stylus is removed.
Recording Bassist Mike Chunn later complained about the "totally unsympathetic treatment we'd had when we were recording in Australia. The engineer in Sydney thought we couldn't tune our guitars and that we were unprofessional and he just showed total disinterest right through."
Much of the material derived from Tim Finn's and Phil Judd's fascination with the work of the English writer and artist Mervyn Peake – notably "Spellbound", the epic track "Stranger Than Fiction" (their concert centrepiece), and "Titus", named after the hero of Peake's Gormenghast trilogy.
Track listing
Track notes Songs which were re-recorded for the album Second Thoughts are denoted with an asterisk (*). This version of "Spellbound" has Phil Judd singing lead vocals. A 1974 demo version, found on The Beginning of the Enz album, has Tim Finn singing lead.
Personnel Personnel as listed in the album's liner notes are:
Split Enz Tim Finn — vocals, piano Phil Judd — vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, cover painting Eddie Rayner — acoustic and electric pianoes, Mellotron, synthesizer, organ, Clavinet Wally Wilkinson — lead guitar Mike Chunn — bass guitar, piano on "Titus" Emlyn Crowther — drums Noel Crombie — percussion
Production Richard Batchens — engineer David Russell — producer Graeme Webber — artwork
Charts Chart (1975) Peakposition Australia (Kent Music Report) NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. 35scope="row"
References