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MERCURY RISING
When Katy Perry appeared at Rod Laver Arena last month,
she got the crowd to request some Australian songs. "What?"
she said, "you want me to do some Men At Work?" I doubt
very much that Katy's screaming, young fans suggested Men
At Work. More likely is the fact that Men At Work is one
of the few Aussie acts Katy knows.
Thirty years ago next month, Men At Work released their
major label debut, the single Who Can It Be Now?, which
went to number one in Australia and the US. And it was 28
years ago next month that Men At Work became the first Australian-based
band to appear on the cover of the US edition of Rolling
Stone (a feat that's been worked into the local version
of Rock of Ages). In a piece headed "Men At Work: Out To
Lunch", Kurt Loder dined with the band at the Grace Darling
and claimed that Sydney was "more charismatic" than Melbourne,
"a not particularly scintillating place even at the height
of the annual Moomba Festival, whose float-filled parade
must surely rival similar civic celebrations in, oh, Boise,
or maybe Buffalo, for sheer fun and frolic." The piece ended
by asking if the band would be a victim of too much success.
"It's a reasonable sort of problem to have," singer Colin
Hay replied.
Kurt Loder called Men At Work "the biggest home-based rock
band in Australian history", but perhaps we need a quick
recap: Their debut album, Business As Usual, spent 15 weeks
at number one in America. Underlining this achievement is
the fact that no Aussie-based act has had a US number one
album since (AC/DC and Keith Urban have had one each). Two
singles from the album topped the US charts. Since then,
only three Australian songs - INXS' Need You Tonight and
Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply and I Knew I Loved You
- have gone all the way. At the start of 1983, Men At Work
became the only non US/UK act to have a number one single
and album in the US and UK at the same time. Only six other
acts have achieved this feat - The Beatles, The Monkees,
Simon & Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson and Beyonce.
And Men At Work remain the only Australian act to win one
of the so-called "big" Grammys (taking the trophy for Best
New Artist in 1983). They were also mentioned in Footloose
("What Men? Where do they work?!"). In the title-track of
his 2007 album, Are You Lookin' At Me?, Colin Hay sang:
When I flew across the ocean, I was number one/ People gave
me everything, and I didn't need a gun.
Colin continues to live in the shadow of Men At Work's success.
Articles, like this one, focus more on the past than the
present. Which is a shame, because he remains one of our
finest singer-songwriters. If you need any proof, just check
out Send Somebody, Dear Father and Half A Million Angels
on his wonderful new solo album, Gathering Mercury (out
now on The Planet Company/MGM). Colin Hay is playing at
the Corner on Sunday.
BOOK 'EM, CAITLIN
It's always a thrill seeing and hearing music in unusual
places. A week after watching the glorious Died Pretty in
misty rain in ACDC Lane, we found ourselves at the East
Melbourne Library seeing one of our favourite young artists,
Sydney's Caitlin Harnett. Yep, they have gigs in libraries.
Head to melbournelibraryservice.com.au for more info on
the Acoustica series. Seeing Caitlin with just voice and
guitar and no microphone was breathtakingly beautiful. As
the librarian said to Caitlin after the gig, "That was blissful."
EASEY DOES IT
Don't forget to subscribe to PBS this week!
SEEKING ASYLUM
Marc Welsh was in Have A Nice Day when Howzat! got to know
him at the start of the '90s. But by then, the Welshman
had already lived a rock 'n' roll life. His band Asylum
started on the Gold Coast in 1985; moving to Sydney in 1987,
where they had a big alternative hit with Leopards on the
Waterfront label. Renowned rock 'n' roll author Murray Engleheart
raved in Juke: "Welsh and his two partners in crime are
destined to be the next featured stencil on discerning jackets
across the country. You see, Asylum power is really power."
Asylum came to Melbourne just once, playing at the Tote
in 1988 with Bored! and God. Now, 23 years later, they return
to the Melbourne stage, as part of the Espy's MS benefit,
"Monster Session", on Saturday. And in a nice twist, Glenn
Lewis (Violetine) - who Welshman replaced in HAND - will
be guesting on bass (Asylum's original bass man, Jason Breitfuss,
is in Vegas for a 40th). And it certainly is a monster line-up,
with X, Cosmic Psychos, Fireballs, Bored!, Lime Spiders,
The Meanies and more. Asylum will be selling copies of their
limited edition compilation, Teenage Tiger.
CHART WATCH
DJ Havana Brown spends a second week in the Top 10.
We Run The Night DJ HAVANA BROWN (number 10)
From The Music THE POTBELLEEZ (20)
Loud STAN WALKER (38, debut)
Damien Leith's Roy Orbison tribute spends a second week
at number two.
Roy DAMIEN LEITH (number two)
Rrakala GURRUMUL (14)
The Life of Riley DRAPHT (22)
When I First Met Your Ma VARIOUS (28)
Best Of DAVID HOBSON (30)
Weekend Detention CONTINUOUS CALL TEAM (36)
Kosciuszko JEBEDIAH (40)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
Send Somebody COLIN HAY
You Can SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR
Indecision PHIA
Before Now CAITLIN HARNETT
Thinkin Of You ASYLUM
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