A clever band from Melbourne, Australia with a working-class ethos, Men At Work's music resonated with a wide swath of music fans. The band sold 30 million albums in a few short years before dissolving prematurely, and much to my dismay, in 1985.
Men at Work rose to the top of the charts very quickly. Signing with CBS Records in
early 1981, the band first entered America as an opening act for Fleetwood Mac. In October of 1982, "Who Can It Be Now?" reached No. 1 on
the US singles charts and the band’s debut album "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 released, and by January 1983 Men at Work had the top album and single in both the US and the UK.
During that time span I saw the band in concert four times, including an energized show at the Santa Barbara (California) Bowl, and the band’s biggest-ever gig: The US Festival in 1983. The band played in front of a couple hundred thousand sweating, smiling faces in an enormous natural amphitheater about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, near San Bernardino.
It was “New Wave Day” at the now-legendary but largely forgotten festival, whose lineup included The Clash, INXS, Oingo Boingo, A Flock of Seagulls, English Beat and The Stray Cats. But Men At Work was the clear fan favorite. That’s when it really hit me just how popular this band had become in such a short time.
And the reason was Hay, who wrote and sang the songs and had a quirky but accessible stage presence that you just can’t fake. He was a star whose abundant wit and charisma were matched by his musical gifts. He was, and is, a brilliant songwriter and singer.
Hay, who grew up in Scotland before moving to Australia, effortlessly connects with audiences. He loves telling stories both in his songs and between them. He does it with humility, gentle sarcasm and self-deprecating humor, sometimes the R-rated variety.
But what is most remarkable about Hay is what he voluntarily, willfully walked away from. He seems perfectly content now strumming an acoustic guitar in front of a couple thousand fans. A career as a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar has brought out the real Colin Hay, a thoughtful and gifted if still wisecracking artist.
Despite fronting one of the most popular bands in the world in the 1980’s, Hay was clearly the architect of his own remodel. He calls on an abundance of musical styles in his songs – everything from Americana to reggae to hard rock to latin to Irish. His music is a favorite of such disparate bands as Metallica, the Lumineers, Mastodon, and the Infamous Stringdusters.
Post-Men At Work, Hay has recorded 13 solo albums, including the last five of them on Compass Records, a small, terrific Nashville-based independent record label co-founded in 1994 by musicians who defiantly and courageously clutch to the notion that people still care about records.
Hay’s solo work is exceptional. His post-Men At Work songs, which include new classics such as “Beautiful World” and “Waiting For My Life to Begin,” have appeared countless TV shows and movie soundtracks. And he may have saved his best solo work , for his most recent: Fierce Mercy, an emotional tour de force.
The record is a gentle wake-up call for those of us who are getting older and in denial. The song, “The Last to Know,” gives us a large clue as to what the album’s all about
“When you’re in your 20s, you think you’ve got all the time in the world,” Hay said recently. “You get older, and you go through a quickening. Everything seems to get faster. With the changing weather patterns, or the polar ice caps melting, we’re getting all of these warnings, and a lot of them are incredibly fierce. But they still feel somewhat merciful — they’re not destroying us totally. We’re all being told, ‘Listen, you can still maybe address this, and it won’t get to the point where I have to take you all out. You’ve still got a shot.’”
When it was announced that Hay would be appearing again here in San Diego at Humphrey’s, I bought tickets and was genuinely excited about seeing him again and hearing him sing some of the songs off of Fierce Mercy. I always find time to see Hay in concert, and I love his solo work, as does my wife.
But each time we see him, in the back of my mind I futilely hope that this will be the night in which he plays a few more tunes from his former band. Don’t get me wrong. I understand the need for an artist to stay vital and creative and to continue growing and writing and not just become an oldies act doing an impression of his or her younger self singing 30-year old songs. I get it.
But we love those Men At Work songs with a passion. We are all hungry to hear them. And now we are apparently about to be fed. Colin has finally decided to bring Men At Work back. The tour begins next month in Europe. But the recent setlist of Hay’s solo tour suggests he has already begun to break out and break in some of the old songs.
I counted six Men At Work songs on one of his most recent gigs: Down by the Sea, It’s a Mistake, Who Can It Be Now, Overkill, Down Under and Be Good Johnny. I’m hoping for perhaps even one or two more tonight. Mind you, I still want to hear some of his solo stuff tonight. But for longtime fans like me, this is a rare opportunity to finally get to hear these classic songs performed live.
Here’s how it came about. In a recent announcement, Hay said that while touring Europe last year with Ringo, the audience’s appetite for the classic Men At Work tunes was “insatiable. I started to wonder about the feasibility of mounting a European tour with my band to play primarily those dear old songs.”
Hay noted that for the last three decades, he has spent the bulk of his time making solo records and touring the US, building an audience playing his new music, and he intends to continue doing that.
But, he said, “I know how much a lot of fans love the old Men At Work hits, and I do enjoy playing them. In short, that’s what I’m going to do in the summer of 2019. I’ve decided to take on a short tour in Europe playing the Men At Work material."
Hay said the band will consist of himself and a group of top LA-based musicians with whom he’s worked over the years.
While "Who Can It Be Now?" was still in the top ten in the US, "Down Under" was released, and by January 1983 Men at Work had the top album and single in both the US and the UK.
During that time span I saw the band in concert four times, including an energized show at the Santa Barbara (California) Bowl, and the band’s biggest-ever gig: The US Festival in 1983. The band played in front of a couple hundred thousand sweating, smiling faces in an enormous natural amphitheater about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, near San Bernardino.
It was “New Wave Day” at the now-legendary but largely forgotten festival, whose lineup included The Clash, INXS, Oingo Boingo, A Flock of Seagulls, English Beat and The Stray Cats. But Men At Work was the clear fan favorite. That’s when it really hit me just how popular this band had become in such a short time.
And the reason was Hay, who wrote and sang the songs and had a quirky but accessible stage presence that you just can’t fake. He was a star whose abundant wit and charisma were matched by his musical gifts. He was, and is, a brilliant songwriter and singer.
Hay, who grew up in Scotland before moving to Australia, effortlessly connects with audiences. He loves telling stories both in his songs and between them. He does it with humility, gentle sarcasm and self-deprecating humor, sometimes the R-rated variety.
But what is most remarkable about Hay is what he voluntarily, willfully walked away from. He seems perfectly content now strumming an acoustic guitar in front of a couple thousand fans. A career as a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar has brought out the real Colin Hay, a thoughtful and gifted if still wisecracking artist.
Despite fronting one of the most popular bands in the world in the 1980’s, Hay was clearly the architect of his own remodel. He calls on an abundance of musical styles in his songs – everything from Americana to reggae to hard rock to latin to Irish. His music is a favorite of such disparate bands as Metallica, the Lumineers, Mastodon, and the Infamous Stringdusters.
Post-Men At Work, Hay has recorded 13 solo albums, including the last five of them on Compass Records, a small, terrific Nashville-based independent record label co-founded in 1994 by musicians who defiantly and courageously clutch to the notion that people still care about records.
Hay’s solo work is exceptional. His post-Men At Work songs, which include new classics such as “Beautiful World” and “Waiting For My Life to Begin,” have appeared countless TV shows and movie soundtracks. And he may have saved his best solo work , for his most recent: Fierce Mercy, an emotional tour de force.
The record is a gentle wake-up call for those of us who are getting older and in denial. The song, “The Last to Know,” gives us a large clue as to what the album’s all about
“When you’re in your 20s, you think you’ve got all the time in the world,” Hay said recently. “You get older, and you go through a quickening. Everything seems to get faster. With the changing weather patterns, or the polar ice caps melting, we’re getting all of these warnings, and a lot of them are incredibly fierce. But they still feel somewhat merciful — they’re not destroying us totally. We’re all being told, ‘Listen, you can still maybe address this, and it won’t get to the point where I have to take you all out. You’ve still got a shot.’”
When it was announced that Hay would be appearing again here in San Diego at Humphrey’s, I bought tickets and was genuinely excited about seeing him again and hearing him sing some of the songs off of Fierce Mercy. I always find time to see Hay in concert, and I love his solo work, as does my wife.
But each time we see him, in the back of my mind I futilely hope that this will be the night in which he plays a few more tunes from his former band. Don’t get me wrong. I understand the need for an artist to stay vital and creative and to continue growing and writing and not just become an oldies act doing an impression of his or her younger self singing 30-year old songs. I get it.
But we love those Men At Work songs with a passion. We are all hungry to hear them. And now we are apparently about to be fed. Colin has finally decided to bring Men At Work back. The tour begins next month in Europe. But the recent setlist of Hay’s solo tour suggests he has already begun to break out and break in some of the old songs.
I counted six Men At Work songs on one of his most recent gigs: Down by the Sea, It’s a Mistake, Who Can It Be Now, Overkill, Down Under and Be Good Johnny. I’m hoping for perhaps even one or two more tonight. Mind you, I still want to hear some of his solo stuff tonight. But for longtime fans like me, this is a rare opportunity to finally get to hear these classic songs performed live.
Here’s how it came about. In a recent announcement, Hay said that while touring Europe last year with Ringo, the audience’s appetite for the classic Men At Work tunes was “insatiable. I started to wonder about the feasibility of mounting a European tour with my band to play primarily those dear old songs.”
Hay noted that for the last three decades, he has spent the bulk of his time making solo records and touring the US, building an audience playing his new music, and he intends to continue doing that.
But, he said, “I know how much a lot of fans love the old Men At Work hits, and I do enjoy playing them. In short, that’s what I’m going to do in the summer of 2019. I’ve decided to take on a short tour in Europe playing the Men At Work material."
Hay said the band will consist of himself and a group of top LA-based musicians with whom he’s worked over the years.
“The set list obviously will feature all the known and even lesser known Men At Work songs, perhaps with a couple of later songs thrown in, but make no mistake, it will be a Men At Work show, billed as such so that the people know they will be coming to hear a Men At Work set list,” Hay said.
He added that he will miss his good friend Greg Ham, an original member of Men At Work who played the sax, the flute and much more who sadly died in 2012.
“He is gone but never forgotten, and his contribution to the sound and personality of the band is forever,” Hay said. “I loved being in Men At Work. I had a plan. I loved writing those songs, and I am in awe of what we managed to achieve in such a short time. It was powerful, though short lived. So, I’m going to stage a Men At Work tour in Europe for a few weeks next summer, and see what happens. Hope to see you then!”
When he said “we’ll see what happens,” I’m pretty sure he is telling his fans that a subsequent American tour will happen if all goes well in Europe, which it undoubtedly will.
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