Men At Work
About
Men at Work were an Australian reggae-influenced rock band which achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to reach the Number 1 position in album and singles charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom with Business as Usual and “Down Under” respectively.[1] The group won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. The band’s sound is distinguished by its use of woodwind and brass instruments
From Wikipedia
History
[Colin] Hay met the guitarist Ron Strykert in 1978 and they started playing together and composing songs which would
come the basis for their upcoming band, the MEN AT WORK.MEN AT WORK had Hay on lead vocals and guitar, Strykert on guitar, Jerry Speiser on drums, John Rees on bass and the multi-instrumentist Greg Ham on keyboards, sax, flutes
and harmonica.By the time of 1980 they were playing in some hotels and small venues in Melbourne when recorded and released their first independent single, “Keypunch Operator”, which had as b-side an earlier version of “Down Under”.
Little later, they were hired by the CBS Records Peter McIan, to record their first album. “Business as Usual” was released later 1981 in Australia, and in 1982 at America, topping the US charts for 16 consecutive weeks, only
striked out by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. The album went multi-platinum selling more than 10 million copies.The first single of the debut album was “Who Can It Be Now?”, which was also #1 hit just as the subsequent single, “Down Under”. The third single released was “Be Good Johnny”, which reached #3 position on US Charts. MEN AT WORK toured America to promote the album, being the opening act for Fleetwood Mac.
Later 1982 the band got back in
studio for the recording of their second album, “Cargo”, released in 1983 at America, also was a #1. At this time they were receiving a Grammy as Best New Artist. “Cargo” most expressive singles were “Overkill”, “It’s a Mistake” and “Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive”.The release of the second album was followed by
an world tour, including a presentation on the US Music Festival ’83, at the same stage of bands like The Clash and Stray Cats transmitted livewordwidely . One of this tour’s shows, at Berkeley, California, was released in 1984 ashomevideo named “Live in San Francisco… or Was It Berkeley?”.In 1984 they gave a break, and members Speiser and Rees were fired from the band. Later this year, the remaining members (Hay, Strykert
and Ham), joined with studio musicians for the recording of MEN AT WORK’s third album, “Two Hearts”, released in 1985. They had no longer McIan asbut were still under CBS label. The album went gold and got into the Top 50, and just a single got some success, “Everything I Need”, reached the Top 30. producer ,Ron Strykert left the band during the recording of the album. Colin Hay, Greg Ham
and the other musicians did a tour to promote the album and afterthat the band was over.
From Colin Hay’s website
Members
- Jeremy Alsop – bass, backing vocals (1985-1986)
- Colin Bayley – guitar, backing vocals (1985-1986)
- James Black – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1985-1986)
- Tony Floyd – drums (1997-2000)
- Rick Grossman – bass, backing vocals (1998-1999)
- Stephen Hadley – bass, backing vocals (1996-1997, 1999)
- Greg Ham – keyboards, vocals, saxophone, harmonica, flute (1979–1985, 1996–2000)
- Colin Hay – vocals, guitar (1978–1986, 1996–2000)
- Simon Hosford – guitar, backing vocals (1996-2000)
- John Rees – bass, backing vocals (1979–1984)
- Greg Sneddon – keyboard (1979)
- Jerry Speiser – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1979-1984)
- Ron Strykert – guitar, bass, vocals (1978–1985)
- Chad Wackerman – drums, backing vocals (1985-1986)
- John Watson – drums (1996-1997)
- Paul Williamson – saxophone, keyboards, backing vocals (1985-1986)
Images
Videos
Recordings
Studio albums
- Business as Usual – 1981
- Cargo – 1983
- Two Hearts – 1985
Live albums
- Brazil – 1998
Compilations
- The Works – 1987
- Puttin’ in Overtime – 1995
- Contraband: The Best of Men at Work – 1996
- Simply The Best – 1998
- Definitive Collection – 2000
- Super Hits – 2000
- Essential Men at Work – 2003
Known Gigs
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 04/10/81 | Stroud, NSW | Tanelorn Music Festival 1981 |
| 20/02/82 | Shepparton | Goulbourn Valley Hotel |
| 23/02/82 | Wonthaggi, VIC | Miners Rest Hotel |
| 24/02/82 | Traralgon, VIC | Astrodome |
| 25/02/82 | Croydon, VIC | Dorset Gradens Hotel |
| 26/02/82 | Frankston, VIC | Pier Hotel |
| 27/02/82 | Melbourne | Myer Music Bowl |
| 21/04/82 | Sandringham, VIC | Commodore Hotel |
| 21/05/82 | St Kilda, VIC | The Venue |
| 29/01/83 | Somersby | Narara Music Festival 1983 |
| 21/04/83 | Haymarket, NSW | Capitol Theatre |
ur aswome
[…] Men At Work […]
Hi, I been overseas for four months travelling around eeurope, middle east U.K. then onto USA. Our last destination was leaving from San Francisco, a fantastic non australian sang
‘i come from a land downunder” to us as he was putting our rather overweight luggage through, here was someone from USA singing the words, that I as a teenager bought the vinyl, and have never made the effort to remember the words to a song that has been sung and played on air so often, that I ignored the song. This xmas I am going country west to a place called Ceduna where I was born and I would to be able to sing this song on the beach to my other family members, could you please email the words of this song so I can practice
Kind regards
Megan
[…] “Down Under” – Men at Work […]
[…] Men at Work australianmusichistory.com […]
hey!
when ever im bored or sad i remember/listen to their songs
cheers me right up
well done boys keep it up!
sincerely
alicia
great music really happed in my music homework
please help i have an assingnment and i cant find who(influences on their music, who inspired them) anyone please help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙁
[…] copyright law for Australian artists were made clear in the controversial litigation over Men at Work’s 1981 hit Down Under. The band lost a court case in 2010 that found that the song’s iconic […]
[…] copyright law for Australian artists were made clear in the controversial litigation over Men at Work’s 1981 hit Down Under. The band lost a court case in 2010 that found that the song’s iconic […]
[…] copyright law for Australian artists were made clear in the controversial litigation over Men at Work’s 1981 hit Down Under. The band lost a court case in 2010 that found that the song’s iconic […]
They made me want to go down under. 35 years later I still haven’t gone. MAW deserve mentioning along Hoodoo Gurus and… maybe Icehouse? Thanks for the music, still rocks!
[…] copyright law for Australian artists were made clear in the controversial litigation over Men at Work’s 1981 hit Down Under. The band lost a court case in 2010 that found that the song’s iconic […]
[…] Men At Work […]
[…] “Down Under” – Men at Work […]
I was at the 27 February 1982 concert. The line up was Serious Young Insects, Men at Work amd Midnight Oil (pre 10,9,8,7 etc). Probably one of my most memorable concert experiences and yes you could even byo beer back then!!
[…] in Australia was the ‘Down Under vs. Kookaburra’ case in 2010. In 1981, the Australian band Men at Work released their song Down Under, which later became a hit in Australia. The band lost a court case […]
[…] it is licensed or accepted under the narrow fair dealings categories. In 2010 the Australian band Men at Work fell victim to these strict copyright laws as their 1981 hit Down Under was sued for infringement. […]