MARTIN PLAZA

Martin Plaza was born Martin Edward Murphy in 1956 on the North Shore of Sydney. He attended St. Pius X College in Chatswood, excelling in sporting and artistic pursuits but showing little interest in other subjects. After attending Hornsby Technical College, he switched with fellow student Steve Coburn to the East Sydney Technical College in Darlinghurst in the mid-1970s where he met Chris O'Doherty. Around this time, he was working part-time at KFC. With O'Doherty (later known as Reg Mombassa), Coburn and another student, David Twohill, he formed the pop/rock band Mental As Anything in May 1976. Mental As Anything went on to become one of Australia's most popular bands touring widely in Australia and overseas.

In the early days of Mental As Anything, band members would often invent pseudonyms for each other that combined an exotic last name with a common Australian first name. Martin Plaza was one of the products of that amusement whilst obviously being inspired by the famous Sydney pedestrian mall Martin Place. He has in the past jokingly stated that his full name is Martin DeJesus Plaza.

In 1986, Plaza performed with the Rock Party, a charity project initiated by the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) composed of many Australian and New Zealand artists including members of Crowded House, GANGgajang, Models, and Mental As Anything. The Rock Party released a 12" single "Everything to Live For", which was produced by Joe Wissert, Phil Rigger and Phil Beazley.

In 1986, Plaza had a #2 hit in Australia with a cover of the 1960s Unit 4+2 song "Concrete and Clay", and the subsequent solo album 'Plaza Suite' also charted. ''Concrete and Clay'' was also released in the UK, NZ and the Netherlands. Further singles were not as successful. In 1991 another planned solo album morphed into a collaboration with former Models member, James Freud. Entitled 'Beatfish', it became one of the first Australian Dance or House albums. Another surprising turn was his 1994 album 'Andy's Chest'. Composed almost entirely of Lou Reed covers, it divided critics at the time. Another collaboration with Freud in 1996 produced the Hawaiian-inspired Moondog project; however, Plaza only appears on some tracks.

SINGLES
''Concrete And Clay (#2) / New Suit'' 1986 CBS
''Best Foot Forward (#51) / Rollerina'' 1986 CBS
''Use Me All Over / Ruby Baby'' 1986 CBS
''Labour Of Love (#78) / Labour Of Love (Instrumental Version)'' 1990 CBS
"Satellite of Love" 1994 RCA
"Women" 1994 Ariola

ALBUMS
'Plaza Suite' (#12) 1986 CBS
'Andy's Chest' (#58) 1994 RCA

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Plaza

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/