Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", "Overkill", "It's a Mistake", and "High Wire". Its founding member and frontman is Colin Hay, who performs on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert from 1978 to 1979, Hay formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar with Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone and keyboards, and John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert switching back to lead guitar. The group was managed by Russell Depeller, a friend of Hay, whom he met at La Trobe University. This line-up achieved national and international success during the early to mid-1980s.
In January 1983, they were the first Australian artists to have a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the United States Billboard charts: Business as Usual and "Down Under", respectively. With the same works, they achieved the distinction of a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the Australian, New Zealand, and United Kingdom charts. Their second album Cargo was No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 in the US, and No. 8 in the UK. Their third album Two Hearts reached the top 20 in Australia and top 50 in the US.
They won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1983, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1994, and they have sold over 30 million albums worldwide. In May 2001, "Down Under" was listed at No. 4 on the APRA Top 30 Australian songs and Business as Usual appeared in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.
In 1984, Speiser and Rees were asked to leave the group, leaving Hay, Ham, and Strykert as a trio, accompanied by session musicians. During the recording of the Two Hearts album, Strykert decided to leave. Soon after the 1985 release of Two Hearts, Ham left also, leaving Hay as the sole remaining member. Hay elected to work as a solo artist shortly thereafter in early 1986, and the Men at Work name was retired.
From 1996 until 2002, Hay and Ham revived the name and toured the world as Men at Work. On 19 April 2012, Ham was found dead at his home from an apparent heart attack.
In 2019, Hay once again revived the Men at Work moniker and began touring with another new group of musicians. No other previous Men At Work members are involved in the current revival.
History
Origins
The nucleus of Men at Work formed in Melbourne around June 1979 with Colin Hay on lead vocals and guitar, Ron Strykert on bass guitar, and Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, sax and keyboards, and then John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert switching to lead guitar. Hay had immigrated to Australia in 1967 from Scotland with his family. In 1978, he had formed an acoustic duo with Strykert, which expanded by mid-1979 with the addition of Speiser. Around this time as a side project, keyboardist Greg Sneddon, a former bandmate of Jerry Speiser, together with Speiser, Hay and Strykert, performed and recorded the music to "Riff Raff", a low budget stage musical, upon which Sneddon had worked.Hay asked Greg Ham to join the group, but Ham hesitated, as he was finishing his music degree. Ultimately, he decided to join the band in October 1979. John Rees, a friend of Jerry, joined soon after. The name Men At Work was thrown into the hat by Colin Hay, and was seconded by Ron Strykert, when a name was required to put on the blackboard outside The Cricketer's Arms Hotel, Richmond. The band built a "grass roots" reputation as a pub rock band. In 1980, the group issued their debut single, "Keypunch Operator" backed by "Down Under", with both tracks co-written by Hay and Strykert. It was "self-financed" and appeared on their own independent, M. A. W. label. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt the A-side was "a fast-paced country-styled rocker with a clean sound and quirky rhythm". Despite not appearing in the top 100 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, by the end of that year the group had "grown in stature to become the most in-demand and highly paid, unsigned band of the year".
In July 1980, the band performed at the second "Rock Against Racism" concert at the Northcote Town Hall in Northcote, Melbourne, along with bands including the Aboriginal band No Fixed Address and Ross Hannaford's Lucky Dog, and feminist circus troupe Wimmin's Circus.
International success – ''Business as Usual'' and ''Cargo'' (1981–1983)
Early in 1981 Men at Work signed with CBS Records, the Australian branch of CBS Records International, on the recommendation of Peter Karpin, the label's A&R person. The group's first single with CBS Records in Australia "Who Can It Be Now?", was released in June 1981 which reached No. 2 and remained in the chart for 24 weeks. It had been produced by United States–based Peter McIan, who was also working on their debut album, Business as Usual.McIan, together with the band worked on the arrangements for all the songs that appeared on Business As Usual. Their next single was a re-arranged and "popified" version of "Down Under". It appeared in October that year and reached No. 1 in November, where it remained for six weeks. Business as Usual was also released in October and went to No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart, spending a total of nine weeks at the top spot. The Canberra Times Garry Raffaele opined that it "generally stays at a high level, tight and jerky... There is a delicacy about this music — and that is not a thing you can say about too many rock groups. The flute and reeds of Greg Ham do much to further that". McFarlane noted that "side from the strength of the music, part of the album's appeal was its economy. The production sound was low-key, but clean and uncluttered. Indeed, the songs stood by themselves with little embellishment save for a bright, melodic, singalong quality".
By February the following year both "Down Under" and Business as Usual had reached No. 1 on the respective Official New Zealand Music Charts – the latter was the first Australian album to reach that peak in New Zealand. Despite its strong Australian and New Zealand showing, and having an American producer, Business as Usual was twice rejected by Columbia's US parent company. Thanks to the persistence of Russell Depeller and Karpin, the album was finally released in the US and the United Kingdom in April 1982 – six months after its Australian release. Their next single, "Be Good Johnny", was issued in Australia in April 1982 and reached No. 8 in Australia, and No. 3 in New Zealand.
Men at Work initially broke through to North American audiences in the western provinces of Canada with "Who Can It Be Now?" hitting the top 10 on radio stations in Winnipeg by May 1982. It peaked at No. 8 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart in July. In August the group toured Canada and the United States to promote the album and related singles, supporting Fleetwood Mac. The band became more popular on Canadian radio in the following months and also started receiving top 40 US airplay by August. In October "Who Can It Be Now?" reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while Canada was one single ahead with "Down Under" topping the Canadian charts that same month. In the following month Business as Usual began a 15-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
While "Who Can It Be Now?" was still in the top ten in the US, "Down Under" was finally released in that market. It entered the US charts at No. 79 and ten weeks later, it was No. 1. By January 1983 Men at Work had the top album and single in both the US and the UK – never previously achieved by an Australian act. "Be Good Johnny" received moderate airplay in the US; it reached the top 20 in Canada.
"Down Under" gained international media exposure in September 1983 through television coverage of the Australian challenge for the America's Cup yacht trophy in September 1983 when it was adopted as the theme song by the crew of the successful Australia II.
The band released their second album, Cargo, in April 1983, which also peaked at No. 1 – for two weeks – on the Australian charts. In New Zealand it reached No. 2. It had been finished in mid-1982 with McIan producing again, but was held back due to the success of their debut album on the international market, where Business as Usual was still riding high. Cargo appeared at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and No. 8 in the UK. The lead single, "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" was issued in Australia ahead of the album in October 1982 and reached No. 6, it peaked at No. 28 in the US the following year as the third single in that country. "Overkill", followed in March 1983 made it to No. 5 in Australia, and No. 3 in the US. "It's a Mistake" reached No. 6 in the US. The band toured the world extensively in 1983.
''Two Hearts'' and break-up (1984–1986)
In 1984, long standing tensions between Hay and Speiser led to a split in the band. Both Rees and Speiser were told they were "not required", as Hay, Ham and Strykert used session musicians to record their third album, Two Hearts. Hay later attributed the firing to a dispute over the band's manager, Russell Deppler, stating, "The rhythm section got sacked because they wanted to sack the manager, who was my friend." Speiser opined, "Russell was good for hustling gigs in Melbourne and Sydney but once the band became international and multi-million, the sheep farmer from Warrnambool had no idea." Studio musicians included Jeremy Alsop on bass guitar ; and Mark Kennedy on drums. Two Hearts was produced by Hay and Ham. It was a critical and commercial failure compared to their previous albums and only peaked at No. 16 in Australia, and No. 50 on the US chart. Strykert had left during its production.Four tracks were released as singles, "Everything I Need", "Man with Two Hearts", "Maria", and "Hard Luck Story" ; only the lead single charted in Australia and the US. The album relied heavily on drum machines and synthesisers, and reduced the presence of Ham's saxophone, giving it a different feel compared to its predecessors. Hay and Ham hired new bandmates, to tour in support of Two Hearts, with Alsop and Kennedy joined by James Black on guitar and keyboards. Soon after a third guitarist, Colin Bayley, was added and Kennedy was replaced on drums by Chad Wackerman. Australian singers Kate Ceberano and Renée Geyer had also worked on the album and performed live as guest vocalists.
On 13 July 1985 Men at Work performed three tracks for the Oz for Africa concert —"Maria", "Overkill", and an unreleased one, "The Longest Night". They were broadcast in Australia and on MTV in the US. "Maria" and "Overkill" were also broadcast by American Broadcasting Company during their Live Aid telecast. Ham left during the band's time touring behind the album. The final Men at Work performances during 1985 had jazz saxophonist Paul Williamson, replacing Ham. As of October 1985, the band's official line-up was a sextet of Hay, Alsop, Bayley, Black, Wackerman and Williamson, but by early 1986 the band was defunct. At that time, Hay started recording his first solo album, Looking for Jack, which had Alsop and Wackerman as session musicians.