Men at Work Artistfacts

1979-1986, 1996-
Colin HayVocals, guitar
Greg HamKeyboards, harmonica, saxophone, flute
John ReesBass
Jerry SpeiserDrums
Ron StrykertGuitar
Colin Hay was born in the small town of Saltcoats, Scotland. He was the second of three children, having an older brother, Dereck, and a younger sister, Carol. His father, James, is a piano tuner, and his mother, Isabel, is a singer. In 1967, Colin's father, who owned a music store, moved the family from their native Scotland to Australia when Colin was 14.
Their first album, Business As Usual, spent 15 weeks at #1 in the US, which was a record for a debut album. It was eventually knocked off the top spot by Michael Jackson's Thriller.
At the 1983 Grammy Awards, they won for Best New Artist.
Starting in 1996, the band re-formed to play select gigs, but were largely inactive. Colin Hay, who was dropped by MCA Records after his 1990 solo album, spent much of the '90s building a new fanbase by playing in small venues around Los Angeles, where he moved in 1991. Among his new fans was Scrubs star Zach Braff, who got him on the show in 2002. The following year, Hay signed with Compass Records, which re-released the solo albums he put out as an independent artist.
The band got its name when performing at the Cricketer's Arms Hotel in Richmond, a small town near Melbourne. Colin and Ron spotted a street sign in the parking lot, denoting caution of a road construction crew.
Before joining Men At Work, Greg Ham was once a school teacher in Melbourne. >>
Suggestion credit:
Annabelle - Eugene, OR
Their debut album was released in Australia in November 1981 and went to #1 there in March 1982, where it stayed for 10 weeks. It quickly caught on around the world, except in America, where their label, CBS, was slow to release it. CBS finally issued it Stateside that May; the first single, "Who Can It Be Now?," took off thanks to MTV, leading the album up the chart.
Fleetwood Mac brought them along as the opening act of their Mirage tour, which ran September-October 1982. In November, Men At Work toured as headliners, supported by an Australian band called Mental As Anything. The Fleetwood Mac tour gave them valuable experience playing large venues.
Their second album, Cargo, was released in America less than a year after Business As Usual appeared there. This kept them on the air with singles like "Overkill" and "It's A Mistake," but led to burnout for listeners and band. Their next album, Two Hearts, was released in 1985; it sold poorly and the band split soon after.
They made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in the issue dated June 23, 1983. The magazine did an extensive photo shoot with the full band, but only Hay and Ham made the cover. Even though they had nothing to do with the decision, this caused some tension in the band.

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