It's tempting to include Men at Work in the "one-hit wonder" category. Yes, the group did indeed have more than one hit, but since its flame burned so intensely and quickly, it seems like the group was "there and gone" in the blink of an eye. Regardless, Colin Hay and company penned some of the biggest pop hits of the early '80s, all of which are showcased on the German import double-disc set Definitive Collection. The initial printing of the set came with a second disc, which was comprised of tracks not included on the first (sorry folks, no rarities here). And this is where the set's problem lies. Men at Work only issued three albums during the '80s -- 1982's Business As Usual, 1983's Cargo, and 1985's Two Hearts -- before riding off into the sunset. So you get a total of 25 tracks on the two discs of this collection, with only six on the second disc. Now, CDs can hold much more than just a mere six tracks, and if they expanded this by just five tracks or so, all three of these albums could have fit nicely over two discs -- with plenty of space to spare. Hence, you do get the largest Men at Work collection out there, but one that could have really saved the buyer some bucks. Regardless, such early MTV favorites as "Who Can It Be Now?," "Down Under," "Be Good Johnny," "Overkill," "Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive," and "It's a Mistake" are as tuneful and enjoyable as ever (remember the good old days when bands actually wrote their own songs and didn't have to resort to outside writers?). And by listening to Definitive Collection, you even may pick up on a major flaw that the band committed career-wise. There were several other potential hit singles on Business As Usual ("People Just Love to Play With Words," "Underground," and especially the gorgeous "Down By the Sea"), but instead of milking the album completely, they opted to issue the not-as-strong Cargo, while the debut was still doing hefty business on the charts.It's tempting to include Men at Work in the "one-hit wonder" category. Yes, the group did indeed have more than one hit, but since its flame burned so intensely and quickly, it seems like the group was "there and gone" in the blink of an eye. Regardless, Colin Hay and company penned some of the biggest pop hits of the early '80s, all of which are showcased on the German import double-disc set Definitive Collection. The initial printing of the set came with a second disc, which was comprised of tracks not included on the first (sorry folks, no rarities here). And this is where the set's problem lies. Men at Work only issued three albums during the '80s -- 1982's Business As Usual, 1983's Cargo, and 1985's Two Hearts -- before riding off into the sunset. So you get a total of 25 tracks on the two discs of this collection, with only six on the second disc. Now, CDs can hold much more than just a mere six tracks, and if they expanded this by just five tracks or so, all three of these albums could have fit nicely over two discs -- with plenty of space to spare. Hence, you do get the largest Men at Work collection out there, but one that could have really saved the buyer some bucks. Regardless, such early MTV favorites as "Who Can It Be Now?," "Down Under," "Be Good Johnny," "Overkill," "Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive," and "It's a Mistake" are as tuneful and enjoyable as ever (remember the good old days when bands actually wrote their own songs and didn't have to resort to outside writers?). And by listening to Definitive Collection, you even may pick up on a major flaw that the band committed career-wise. There were several other potential hit singles on Business As Usual ("People Just Love to Play With Words," "Underground," and especially the gorgeous "Down By the Sea"), but instead of milking the album completely, they opted to issue the not-as-strong Cargo, while the debut was still doing hefty business on the charts.false2025-11-07 23:28:13Definitive Collection20032003-06-172003-06-1776PopPop RockRock11343722488657c859d6e-6e75-36e7-b2e2-6fdf5bb4600c395cc503-63b5-4a0b-a20a-604e3fcacea23f532854-a523-303a-bee6-82d28bd4a983/media/data/media5/Music/Men at Work/Definitive Collection/folder.jpgMen at WorkMen at WorkMen at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", "Overkill", and "It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is Colin Hay, who performs on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert during 1978–1979, Hay formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar and 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 (2 May 1983) was No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 in the US, and No. 8 in the UK. Their third album Two Hearts (3 April 1985) reached the top 20 in Australia and top 50 in the US.
They won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1983, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1994, and they have sold over 30 million albums worldwide. In May 2001, "Down Under" was listed at No. 4 on the APRA Top 30 Australian songs and Business as Usual appeared in the book 100 Best Australian Albums (October 2010).
In 1984, Speiser and Rees were asked to leave the group, leaving Hay, Ham, and Strykert as a trio, accompanied by session musicians. During the recording of the Two Hearts album, Strykert decided to leave. Soon after the 1985 release of Two Hearts, Ham left also, leaving Hay as the sole remaining member. Hay elected to work as a solo artist shortly thereafter in early 1986, and the Men at Work name was retired.
From 1996 until 2002, Hay and Ham revived the name and toured the world as Men at Work (accompanied by new group members). On 19 April 2012, Ham was found dead at his home from an apparent heart attack.In 2019, Hay once again revived the Men at Work moniker and began touring with another new group of musicians. No other previous Men At Work members are involved in the current revival.