Colin Hay on Men at Work, The Beatles, and the Last Time He Had a Vegemite Sandwich

One of the biggest acts of the initial MTV era, along with Duran Duran, Talking Heads, The Stray Cats, and Pat Benatar, was Men at Work. Led by the Scottish-born Colin Hay, the Australian exports were known for a series of video clips that aired around the clock, filled with peculiar imagery to match the equally idiosyncratic songs. It was almost like an introduction to another culture, “where women glow and men plunder,” as detailed in the chart-topping hit “Down Under.” And very few in the States had heard of Vegemite at the time, let alone a sandwich made with it.

Unfortunately, the ride didn’t last. A lethal combination of interpersonal collisions within the group and the public growing weary of the quirkiness of a band with a flute player and saxophonist led Men at Work to go out of business before the ‘80s even hit an apex. Hay embarked on a solo career, which was effectively dead on arrival, setting the frontman and his former musical outfit up for relegation into footnote status. Then, as so infrequently the case is, there was a second life…

Read the rest of this piece over at Vanyaland, where Hay and I spoke about the peak of Men at Work’s popularity coinciding with the rise of MTV, Scottish by way of Australia singers, and the greatness of The Beatles. Also, here’s one of the biggest hits by the band, “Who Can It Be Now?”

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