| Whatever Happened To Rock Band Men
At Work
Remember the boys from down under who came
out with great 80's hits such as "Down Under" and "Who Can It Be?"
Well they happen to be still performing! The lead singer Colin Hay
and band member Greg Ham are still performing as the new Men at Work, while
the other original members have since left the band.
Men at Work first came onto the scene when
they started performing at pubs in Melbourne. In 1982, they hit the
big time with their album "Business As Usual," which spent fifteen weeks
in the number one spot. The album was recorded on a modest budget
of only $17,000 and the band became one of the biggest music successes
in the early 1980's winning the grammy for "Best New Artist Grammy" in
1983.
The band had a messy break up in 1985 after
the failure of their "Two of Hearts" album. "Musical differences,
philosophical differences, personal differences -- there were problems
from Day One, we should have called it quits with Men at Work a lot earlier
than we did. That way there wouldn't have been all the ugliness, the 'lawyers
at 50 paces' and all that.", Hay was quoted as saying in the Chicago Tribune
in 1987.
Hay continued to release albums in Australia
during the 1990s; he also began an acting career. In 1993, Men At
Work were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's
Hall of Fame.
In 1996, Hay and Ham decided to resurrect
Men at Work with a South American tour and surprise shows in the U.S.
In 1998, the recorded a live album "Brazil" in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In 1999, they did a comeback tour of Australia, Japan, Venezuela, Bolivia,
Mexico and America. "Even when that was happening I thought, this is bloody
ridiculous," Hay said. "Because we were always a quirky wee band coming
in from a very odd place." |