Artist:Men At WorkSong:Down Under
Album:Contraband: The Best Of Men At Work
For a very brief time, the Aussie band Men At Work were the hottest band in pop music in the 80s. They had two number one hit and are the only Aussie band to have a number one single and album at the same time. But they faded as quickly as they rose and by the mid-80s they had faded. Maybe their music wasn't that good in the first place. Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Colin Hay was born June 19, 1953 in Kilwinning, Scotland and moved to Australia with his family at age 14. In 1978 he formed a duo with guitarist Ron Strykert. They expanded the group with drummer Jerry Speiser and keyboard player Greg Sneddon. After working in the studio, Sneddon left and was replaced by sax player Greg Ham. Bassist John Rees joined and they were named Men At Work. After touring Australia, they signed with Columbia in 1981. Their 1982 debut album Business As Usual and the debut single Who Can It Be Now? topped the Aussie charts. But Columbia in the US rejected the album twice before the band's management convinced them to release it. Who Could It Be Now and Down Under both topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Business As Usual topped the Billboard Hot 200 and went 6X Platinum. Men At Work also won the 1983 Best New Artist Grammy. Their 1983 album Cargo also topped the charts and went 3X Platinum. But their 1985 album Two Hearts only went Gold. Men At Work was having problems during recording. Speiser and Rees had already been fired and then Strykert left and Hay brought in session musicians to finish the album. Then Ham left during the subsequent tour. It was over for Men At Work in 1986. This budget comp has all their hits. Colin Hay signed as a solo artist with MCA but he was never successful as a solo artist. In recent days, he has toured with Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band and he has also reunited with Ham for a couple of Men At Work tours. Strykert released a solo album in 2009. They also lost a lawsuit regarding the use of the traditional Aussie song Kookaburra in Down Under. But for a short time, Men At Work were hot stuff. Here's the video for Down Under by Men At Work.
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