Global InformationMen at Work information
Men at Work | |
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 Men at Work in 1983 Top: John Rees; middle: Jerry Speiser, Ron Strykert, Colin Hay; bottom: Greg Ham | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
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| Years active | 1978–1986, 1996–2002 (occasional reunions until 2012), 2019–present |
| Labels |
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| Members | Colin Hay |
| Past members |
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Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", "Overkill", and "It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is Colin Hay, who performs on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert during 1978–1979, Hay formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar and 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 (released on 9 November 1981) and "Down Under" (1981), 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 (2 May 1983) 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 (3 April 1985) 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 (October 2010).
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 (accompanied by new group members). On 19 April 2012, Ham was found dead at his home from an apparent heart attack.[6]
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.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Men at Work – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ^ Hyden, Steven (19 April 2012). "Greg Ham of Men At Work, originator of the flute riff in "Down Under", found dead". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ^ Tortorici, Frank (28 June 1999). "Men At Work's Colin Hay". MTV. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ^ Brandle, Lars (30 July 2009). "Men At Work Loses First Stage In Copyright Dispute". Billboard. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ^ Fletcher, Alex (30 July 2009). "Men At Work accused of plagiarism". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- ^ Pena, Shirley (19 April 2014), "Remembering Greg Ham: 1953–2012", examiner com