Since today is Labor Day here in les etats unis (that's America in French), I thought it might be fun to put together a blog entry for Men at Work, the legendary '80s pop group from Australia which put together a string of hits like "Who Can It be Now?," "Land Down Under" and "Overkill," before they crashed and burned from too much touring around the globe.
This video footage above is from the famous Live Aid concert which was coordinated to raise money and awareness for the Ethiopian famine which was happening at the time, and is sadly on the verge of happening again due to the world food shortage crisis from what I gather.
Men at Work was not known for being politically conscious like their Aussie counterparts Midnight Oil, but they did produce this song "It's a Mistake," which is reportedly about the Falkland Islands War between England and Argentina. One has to wonder if those exact words were uttered between Colin Powell and Dick Cheney as they were discussing Iraq in 2003!
The band consisted of lead singer Colin Hay, Greg Ham, Jerry Speiser and John Reiss.
Some unique things I found out about Men at Work:
-They opened up for Fleetwood Mac
-Their first record "Business as Usual" knocked Michael Jackson's "Thriller" from the number one slot.
-They beat out Human League, Asia and The Stray Cats to win the Best New Artist Grammy in 1983
-Briefly reunited in 1996
-Performed during the closing ceremonies of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney
The band now has a Myspace page, which is overseen by some of the band members.
I happen to be one of the 267 members of the Facebook group "Men atWork Appreciation." And, assuredly there is some radio station somewhere playing one of their songs right now. Not bad for a group who only put out three records. All their hits are from their first two records. "Cargo" was the follow-up to "Business as Usual." I actually had a vinyl copy of "Cargo" that I got from the Happy's Flea Market in Roanoke, Va., some two years after it came out. 'Course, no I have no effing idea where it is!
Useful Links:
http://www.myspace.com/menatwork
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