Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", "Overkill", "It's a Mistake", and "High Wire". Its founding member and frontman is Colin Hay, who performs on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert from 1978 to 1979, Hay formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar with Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone and keyboards, and John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert switching back to lead guitar. The group was managed by Russell Depeller, a friend of Hay, whom he met at La Trobe University. This line-up achieved national and international success during the early to mid-1980s. In January 1983, they were the first Australian artists to have a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the United States Billboard charts: Business as Usual (released on 9 November 1981) and "Down Under" (1981), respectively. With the same works, they achieved the distinction of a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the Australian, New Zealand, and United Kingdom charts. Their second album Cargo...
Extract from Wikipedia: “Men at Work” (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Vinyl
Members
8 people from MusicBrainz
- 1980–1984John Rees
- 1998–1999Peter Maslen — drums (drum set)
- —Colin Bayley
- —Colin Hay — original
- —Greg Ham
- —Jerry Speiser — drums (drum set), original
- —Ron Strykert — original
- —Stuart Speed
Discography
39 releases from MusicBrainz · ★ 2 in my collection
Albums (4)
- 1981★Business As Usual
- 1983★Cargo
- 1985Two Hearts
- —Live in Christchurch 1982
EPs (2)
- 1983Four Big Hits, Vol. 2
- 2011Down Under 2011
Singles (7)
- 1980Keypunch Operator
- 1981Down Under
- 1981Who Can It Be Now?
- 1983Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive
- 1983Overkill
- 1985Everything I Need
- 2011Rock The Millennium - Single
More: singles, compilations, live & other releases
Lives (4)
- 1982Live at the Pep Lounge, New York. 13th Sep ’82 (Remastered) [Live FM Radio Broadcast Concert In Superb Fidelity]
- 1997Brazil '96
- 2010Live in San Bernandino
- 2019Hard Labour (Live 1982)
Compilations (22)
- 1986’81 – ’85
- 1986’81–’85 / Business as Usual
- 1990The Greatest Hits of Men at Work & Mi-Sex
- 1992Cargo / Business as Usual
- 1992The Works
- 1995Men at Work and Friends
- 1995Puttin' in Overtime
- 1996Contraband: The Best of Men at Work
- 1996The Best of Men at Work
- 1997Definitive Collection
- 1997It's a Mistake
- 1998Simply the Best
- 2000Super Hits
- 2001Down Under
- 2003The Essential Men at Work
- 2004Collections
- 2004The Best Of
- 2009Hits
- 2009Playlist: The Very Best of Men at Work
- 2012This Is Men at Work: The Greatest Hits
- 2013The 80s: Men at Work
- 2019Special Of

