Melbourne, Australia · new wave · rock · pop-rock

Men at Work

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The Australian new-wave band behind one of the most recognisable flute riffs ever committed to tape — Colin Hay's charm does the rest.

Men at Work grew out of an acoustic duo Colin Hay, who had emigrated from Scotland in 1967, formed with Ron Strykert in 1978 in Melbourne. Jerry Speiser joined on drums the following year, and Greg Ham came aboard on flute, saxophone and keyboards, with John Rees taking up bass and Strykert moving to lead guitar. Russell Depeller, a friend of Hay's, managed the group.

Their debut album, Business as Usual, became an international success at the start of the 1980s on the strength of "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under". In January 1983 the band became the first Australian act to have a simultaneous number-one album and single on the US Billboard charts, a feat also achieved at home in Australia and in New Zealand and Britain.

The band's music combined new wave and pop with reggae inflections and Hay's wry, accented delivery, anchored by Ham's saxophone and flute lines. The follow-up albums Cargo and Two Hearts kept them near the top of the Australian charts through 1985, and the group won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1983.

Speiser and Rees left in 1984, and Strykert departed during the recording of Two Hearts; Ham exited after its 1985 release, leaving Hay as the sole remaining member and prompting the band's split. Hay moved into a long solo career, later reviving the Men at Work name with Ham between 1996 and 2002. Ham died in 2012, and Hay revived the moniker again in 2019 with a new lineup.

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