Sunday, May 16, 2010

Weekend Retro Rewind | Men At Work



Men At Work Video For Be Good Johnny & Land Down Under

In 1982 I was 10. In 1982 I loved Top 40 music and Men At Work were one of those Top 40 bands. Men At Work are an Australian band got their name from the "Men At Work" sign when stuck on what to call themselves. With hits such as "Be Good Johnny", "Land Down Under", "Overkill" and "Who Can It Be Now?" Men at Work still sorta wow me today.

Wiki states that Men At Work are the only Australian band to ever have a #1 album (Business as Usual) and single ("Down Under") on the US charts at the same time. They were also a hit in the UK during that time period with a #1 single and album. This Aussie band took home the 1983 Grammy award for Best New Artist and have sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Lead singer Colin Hay has a solo career today and has appeared on several episodes of Scrubs. I have a theory that hottie, Zach Braff is a big fan of his seeing as Colin Hay was also featured on the Garden State movie soundtrack. The Garden State soundtrack is one of my favorite movie soundtracks next to Rushmore, ET and Karate Kid (first one).

Below are two of my favorite Men At Work songs from the old days, enjoy!





36 comments:

Babes Mami said...

I love your retro lovin. I didn't know the first song but I knew the second one! Chris was giving me the 'what the eff' look when I played them. Hahaha

Morgan said...

Great album by Men at Work! Colin Hay's voice is so hot!

Anonymous said...

Fun stuff, as always. I guess we're the same age. The 80s were so much fun!

I'm not the biggest fan of Scrubs, but so many people who share my sense of humor love it.

Ally said...

Babes-ahhh, youth.... that's all I'm going to say :)

Morgan - you truly are an "old soul" ... i <3 you.

Fabu - I hate to admit this, but I think I'm more of a Zach fan (yum) than a Scrubs fan. Ha ha!

Joe Cap said...

I loved the 80's retro bands...but you are so young...you missed out on the great music from the 60's and 70's.

m. said...

I come from the land down under.

You have no idea how much damage that song dealt out to our reputations.
Haha.

TS Hendrik said...

I liked Zach Braff on Scrubs and then with Garden State, but after that he stuck to doing crap movies and I got tired of him. But yeah Garden State had a killer soundtrack.

And yeah, I loves me some Men At Work too.

MoonDoggie said...

A few months ago someone won a court case against them for plagiarism - claiming the flute riff was ripped off a classic old girl guides song 'Kookaburra'.

Men at Work admitted to using it as inspiration but it sounds nothing like it if you ask me (and I'm well acquainted with the song).

More about it here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8499973.stm

Ms. A said...

It wouldn't let me play the second one, but I remember them both. Nice trip down memory lane. I was much younger on the first trip!

ScoMan said...

Was there controversy about "Land Down Under" internationally?

There was a big thing here because the flute in the chorus ripped off one of our songs "Kookaburra Sits On The Old Gumtree".. but it's all sort of happening 30 years after the song was at it's peak.

Why nobody noticed it at the time I don't know.

1950s Atomic Ranch House said...

I love 80's music, but a lot of the songs remind me of bad relationships and crappy HS/college times! Ahhhh!! lol...

Unknown said...

Actually, I have never heard these songs. But they were great. Maybe, they are in my Dad's Music collection shelf. He has a few that his Grandpa had gifted him...:)

Anonymous said...

Men At Work were part of the Aussie invasion much like the British invasion back in the 60's and 70's

Maggi said...

I loved seeing Hay on Scrubs, what was the one where Cox smashes his guitar? That was my favorite episode of his I think. :D

The mad woman behind the blog said...

Awesome! I so loved these guys and scrubs, and the Braf.
Thanks for the flashback....so many fun memories.

Copyboy said...

Yeah, Land down under kicks butt. Little known fact about me – I used to be able to play WHO CAN IT BE NOW – on the song flute. Be good. Be good...

RMb said...

i love men at work (my husband does too which is good because then i can play them without worrying about driving him nuts). also, i love scrubs & i think zach braff is hilarious as JD (ditto donald faison as turk... and john c. mcginley... oh johnny c...) ANYWAY. i thank zach for introducing the shins to the world & for reminding us of how awesome some songs from the past were.
thank YOU too! :)

RMb said...

ps. the deleted comment was mine... it posted twice for some reason, sorry!

Ally said...

Loving all of your comments!

Attention Aussies: Forgive me if I've offended any of you ... I didn't know about the controversy. Should have done better research. I just kinda wanted to show the videos and say they were cool in the '80s :)

Anonymous said...

I was JUST listening to Colin Hay...the new stuff though.

Jason, as himself said...

I loved these guys. Still do, once in a while. I love the concept of your blog and I am now a follower. Thanks for following The Jason Show!

Katie's Dailies said...

I loved these guys back in the '80's, and loved their MTV videos. Just last night we were all in the car, & an '80's song came on the radio, and my son said, "You know, I think the best stuff came from the '70's and '80's". Oh, he is soo right!

Bossy Betty said...

Oh! I now want a vegemite (sp?) sandwich!

Kelly and Sara said...

Thanks for sharing, love the retro. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend!

http://peace-love-tbell.blogspot.com/

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

I loved them too, especially The Land Down Under. Too bad they were sued (which I just learned by reading your comments) and aren't still making music. Or are they? They were awesome!
xoRobyn

Riot Kitty said...

I remember when, at age 10, I found out that the entire band was gay - and even then I got the pun.

Tracie said...

I remember when they hit it big in the states and everyone was talking about Vegemite. Love the
80's!

Crazy Brunette said...

I LOVE 80's music!!!! I can't get enough 80's movies...

I MISS the 80's. I don't believe I got to enjoy them like I fucking should have damnit!

Macey said...

The light blue shirt and white pants SCREAM 1980's. Or Miama Vice. I love Down Under. :)

Dr. Heckle said...

Whoa. Uh oh, having flashbacks...

LaraAnn said...

I enjoy some Men at Work songs. My brother has the Scrubs DVDs - I watched them with him.

Marlene said...

Who can it be now? Oh boy...it's in my head...it's in my head! (It just took the place of Hotel California from Rawkn Robyn's blog...lol).

Lady Hill said...

I adore this band. Land Down Under is one of my fave songs.

I def think Zack has a thing for them too and I've said that to my hubby b/c he was also in some behind the scenes thing or something I don't remember what and he was humming Land Down Under

Blast from the Past said...

Land down Under - On my 80's Mix CD! Great for driving to!

California Keys said...

Zach Braff - How I love thee....

Land Down Under is a favorite of mine! You can rock that song at any party!

b-chica said...

Can't believe none of the comments mention the fact that part of "Be Good Johnny" was later used in the opening of "SuperNanny". I had never heard the song (that I can remember) before today and always wondered whether it was something else besides the intro to that show.

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