Men at work

When it comes to music, we often speak about bands from the United States or Europe. But when there is a moment to look back in time and ask ourselves, “what great Aussie bands are there?” Today we are looking at a band from Victoria. 

Melbourne is the Australian home of art, culture, music, and craftwork. But the lively and vibrant city is also home to one of Australias favourite bands —Men At Work.

The Aussie band fetched the good vibes of their home city and presented us with reggae-like tunes in the form of songs such as “Down Under” and “Who Can It Be Now”. 

And while we still use one of their greatest songs as a substitute national anthem. We’d like to dig deeper and find out what makes Men At Work one of the greatest Aussie bands of all time. 

The legacy of Men At Work

Our journey takes us back to 1979, to teeming Melbourne city when the band Men At Work was founded. Men at Work was started by guitarist Ron Strykert and Scottish singer Colin Hay. The name of the band was from a moment in Hay’s life. He drove past a construction site on which one devoted worker did all the labour. Inspired by this uproarious sighting of the guy’s sluggish colleagues, he named the band Men At Work. 

Later on, the duo introduced three new band members to their group: Greg Ham, John Rees and Jerry Speiser. Together, they released their first EP, “Business As Usual”, making them an international sensation while delivering the most notable debut album of all time and thus breaking US-American records. Their album stayed at the peak of the charts for over 15 weeks. And even got labelled with sixfold Platinum. 

With catchy guitar rhythms, roaring saxophone leads, melodic flute cadences and witty song vocals, the Aussie band soon became the leader of the New Wave era. Shaped by progressive rock, pop themes and reggae rock, the crew delivered well-known global hits “Down Under” and “Who Can It Be Now”, which also stayed at the number 1 position on the US charts.

At the start and despite being anointed bland and tasteless in the early days. Men At Work gained millions of fans worldwide with their charm and humour. 

Break through

Their massive breakthrough led them to go on tour with Fleetwood Mac. They Aldo won the Best New Artist Grammy in 1982. Velocity and stardom led Men At Work to their second album, “Cargo” and their renowned hit “Overkill”, reaching Platinum status. Sadly, after the band’s triumphant world tour, the band went on hiatus in 1984. They returned one year later without fellows Speiser and Rees. 

In 1985, the band attempted one last try with their third and final studio album, “Two Hearts”. But as most of the celebrated rock bands out there, have to take a bite of the sour apple. So did Men At Work they gave their last goodbyes in the same year and left the worldwide stages altogether. Only Hay pursued a solo career and later on collaborated with former colleague Ham to resurrect the band. But following Ham’s tragic death in 2012, it seems as if the band now has laid down their cherished life of being one of the best Aussie bands our country has ever seen. 

From escaping the Australian pub scenery to be coming Down Under’s most famous pop-rock bands. The members of Men At Work created a lifelong anthem that still chimes through numerous radios around the world today. Our Australian icons blessed the world with catchy tunes we will not forget for quite a while.

What’s your favourite Men At Work Song? Leave a comment below! and don’t forget to love, like, share, and follow!