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Rating: "Men At Work was an Australian band that achieved extraordinary success riding on the coattails of The Police. Their cocktail of Reggae, Rock, New-Wave, which cleverly echoed the early, fresh sound of Sting & Co., led them to sell over fifteen million records in America alone, with their albums "Business As Usual" and "Cargo". The sound of Men At Work was so similar to the early days of The Police that the international press resurrected the historic rivalry between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones..."
This is what I found written, as a little digression, in a booklet dedicated to The Police released in July 1990.
Men At Work formed in Australia in 1979, in Melbourne, under the impetus of singer and guitarist Colin James Hay, born in Scotland on June 29, 1953, and emigrated to Australia at the age of fourteen with his family. Around this charismatic leader gathered Greg Ham (the same age as Colin), flute, sax, and other instruments player, Ron Strykert (born in 1957), lead guitar and vocals, bassist John Rees, and drummer Jerry Speiser.
They signed with the international giant CBS and released their debut album in the States in August 1982, ironically titled "Business As Usual" (from a phrase by Winston Churchill): the album exploded in international charts, driven by two successful singles such as "Who Can It Be Now" and "Down Under".
Facing this Pop-Rock phenomenon, the music press felt the need to invent tales and stories to explain the success of the album, thus the first comparisons with the creators of "Message In A Bottle" emerged, but the reality is that deus ex machina Colin Hay had remarkable songwriting skills, drawing from the right vein to create carefree Pop-Rock gems, without disruptive political ends, free of any contentious reference.
So we find in this "Business As Usual" eleven catchy tracks, even danceable, with no particular sound innovations, but with a beautiful measure. Like the opener "Who Can It Be Now" which already presents the ingredients of the sound of these five Aussies: dry and precise drumming, a linear bassist, an inspired saxophonist, and a guitarist, Ron Strykert, who behind the scenes (just this time) reprises the Rock sound of "Reggatta De Blanc", but in a more measured way, without overshadowing the other instruments; all of it held together by Colin Hay's warm and unique voice, capable of creating soft tones, rising when necessary, without overdoing it, with an unmistakable timbre: Men At Work are a well-rounded Rock band, also thanks to the skill of Greg Ham, an additional musical resource who dispenses flute sounds and great sax improvisations.
The song "Down Under" will over the years become a second Australian national anthem, as in the closing of the Sydney 2000 Olympics with thirty-four thousand people singing to the iconic Men at Work song, dedicated to their country of origin.
There is room for a punk track like "Helpless Automaton", signed by Ham, which stands out for the drum rhythm similar to Lol Tohlhurst of The Cure: it feels like listening to an accelerated "10:15 Saturday Night". "Catch A Star" is a Reggae track dominated by Colin Hay's voice but also by Strykert's sparkling six-string. It should be noted, however, how the album's sound coordinates evoke the land of kangaroos, the small guitar strokes that evoke the blazing sun, or the winds that provide that exotic flavor that permeates even the sweet song "People Just Love To Play With Words", the only weak point of the album.
A reflective moment is entrusted to the closing track "Down By The Sea", an underwater ballad characterized by calm singing and a slow rhythm, almost wanting to evoke the ocean floors, thanks to the supple guitar and the elusive sax. The highest seal of the album, however, is "Touching The Untouchables", enhanced by solemn singing, in a verse even resembling Mark Knopfler, and a quirky, never banal sax.
Our five rockers are not instrumental aces like Stewart Copeland or Andy Summers, even though they are skilled and capable, nor can they rely on a compositional capacity like Sting for five albums with The Police. However, they are endowed with elegance, a taste for simple, playful song form, which entertains people wherever they are, even in a disco. Had Colin Hay had a dazzling solo career (like the "Blue Turtle" Sting), Men At Work would have entered the higher pastures of Rock history, especially remembered by people.
"Business As Usual" did not change the course of popular music, but works like this, in the Pop-Rock landscape of the '80s, are unforgettable. The album has also been reissued with two live songs: "Underground" and "Who Can It Be Now"; there are also two unreleased tracks: "Crazy" a fun and carefree Rock 'n' Roll, and the instrumental "F19".
The "Work in Progress" continues.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 I Can See It in Your Eyes (03:33)
By your leave, I think that I'll be going now
I think I've stayed a little long
I looked up all my mother's recipes
I can't think what I did wrong
We go to a restaurant, but you don't like wine
You say it's love you want, but there is no time
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
You keep staring at the floor
I used to look at your school photographs
But I don't have them anymore
I wonder who's in my old college rooms
Or stuck on my old locker door
I dream of the ships at sea, on a stormy night
I wish that it was me, but I wake in fright
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
I've only got myself to blame
Winter kisses when your lips were blue
Like chasing wild geese in the snow
Pressing faces on the window panes
But that's a long long time ago
We go to a restaurant
You say it's love you want
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
You're moving on to something more
03 Down Under (03:46)
Travelling in a fried-out Kombi
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said
"Do you come from a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover."
Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscle
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich
And he said
"I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover."
Lying in a den in Bombay
Slack jaw, not much to say
I said to the man, "Are you trying to tempt me
Because I come from the land of plenty?"
And he said
"Oh! Do you come from a land down under (oh yeah yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover."
04 Underground (03:08)
Don't take the fire from your eyes
Must make them feel the heat
They build castles underground for the rich and politic elite
Keep all the home fires burning,
Don't let the lights go out
The streets are empty, and there's nobody about.
We'll be alright in the morning time, yeah
We're doing fine, I'll see you on the night line
There's no need for you to fight, boys,
Hang up all your guns
Find your mask and as best as you can, get ready to run
Keep all the food lines moving,
Don't come cry'n' for more
The signs were there, you should have bought connections before
We'll be alright in the morning time, yeah
We're doing fine, I'll see you on the nightline
It's such a big joke
It's the talk of the town
All the planets to whom I spoke
Are trying their best to play it down
Don't take the fire from your eyes
Must make them feel the heat
But my head's unsteady
I can't seem to keep my feet
We'll be alright in the morning time, yeah
We're doing fine, I'll see you on the nightline
Jump off the Eiffel Tower
Just have a look around
Move fast, in the tunnels of the underground
Move fast, in the tunnels of the underground
Let's go!
05 Helpless Automaton (03:24)
I stay in my room,
All alone in the gloom,
What need I of light?
Machines they can see in the night,
And I feel no pain
Metal heart and a metal brain,
But something is wrong
'cause I still feel that signal coming in so
I stand at your door,
I guess I'll wait a moment more
Your hall light comes on
And now my turn to fire upon
But I wheel away
Defer my plight, for another day
To dream of your face
But a video scren takes its place
Hey, oh it's true
I'm a helpless automaton, Make an ultimatum to you
Hey, it's true
Machin'ry in my pocket, I've even got a docket from you
I went to the man, I told him a robot is what I am,
But he just smiled, said I was a fractious child
"Distrusted not Rusted" That's why I feel so disgusted
But I know he's wrong, 'cause I haven't felt this way for very long
Hey, it's true,
I'm a helpless automaton, make an ultimatum to you
Hey, it's true
Machin'ry in my pocket, I've even got a docket from you
I'm a helpless automaton, make an ultimatum to you
Hey, it's true
Machin'ry in my pocket, I've even got a docket from you
It's true
I'm a helpless automaton, make an ultimatum to you
Hey, it's true
Machin'ry in my pocket, I've even got a docket from you
from you
from you
07 Be Good Johnny (03:39)
Skip de skip, up the road
Off to school you go
"Don't you be a bad boy Johnny
Don't you slip up
Or play the fool"
"Oh no Ma, Oh no Da,
I'll be your golden boy
I will obey ev'ry golden rule"
Get told by the teacher
Not to day-dream
Told by my mother:
Be good Be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good be good (johnny)
Be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good (johnny)
Be good be good.
"Are you going to play football this year, John?"
"Nah!"
"Oh, well you must be going to play cricket this year then,
are you Johnny?"
"Nah! nah! nah!"
"Boy, you sure are a funny kid, Johnny, but I like you! So tell me,
what kind of a boy are you, John?"
I only like dreaming
All the day long
Where no one is screaming
Be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good be good (johnny)
Be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
Be good be good be good
be good be good be good
be good be good be good
be good be good be good
Johnny!
08 Touching the Untouchables (03:42)
Hello to you, my sweet young friends
Have you got money perhaps you could lend?
I wash my leather face in the afternoon sun
My shirt's turn my time's near done
Touching the untouchables but they don't know
Respect the disrespectables, but in the end you know
You turn away, what can I say?
Spend my nights in the telephone booth
I make sure I leave the phone off the hook
There are no Jones' and I pay no rent
I have to stand straight because my back's so bent
Tell my secretary I ain't takin' any calls,
And if you want to find me, just ask the boys...
Down at the wall...That's where I'll be...
Oh...
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Park bench and cigarettes
Can you help me get off this fence?
Can't you see, I'm just an old man
Tryin' hard, do what I can
Touching the untouchables but they don't know
Repect the disrespectables, but in the end you know
You turn away, what can I say?
You'll never, never know
You'll never know
09 Catch a Star (03:32)
Experience babe, kickin' stones and cans
Experience babe, cigarette-stained hands
It's not too late, hear it in the wind
It's not too late, feel passion creepin' in
Intoxication, familiar smells of the hotels
Infatuation, of knowing who you are
You and I, You and I, You and I,
Arrow through my heart,
Catch a star.
Isolation, rows and rows of cars
Isolation, like Jupiter and Mars
Staring faces, set in celluloid
Welcome to the late show, starring Null and Void
Complications, things get in the way
Sweet sensation of knowing you are near and not too far
You and I, You and I, You and I,
Arrow through my heart
Catch a star.
You and I, You and I, You and I,
Freeway through your heart
Catch a star.
Catch a star!
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