lead singer Colin Hay stated: He lived next to drug dealers, and people would often confuse Hay's apartment for the dealers'. The number of people that would knock on his door unnerved him to the point where he was scared to open his door, regardless of who was there.
Although Men at Work didn't last long in the limelight, their first 2 albums were very memorable. Another hit from this album would be: Be Good Johnny. From the Cargo album: Overkill, It's a Mistake, Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive.
I heard that they wrote this song due to one of the band members living in a next door apartment to a drug dealer. They said the stream of people mistakenly knocking on the door at all hours of the day and night became unbearable. So he quit answering the door and be quiet when anyone would knock. So they wrote the song. Who can it be now?
When I was a kid there was a neighbor my mom didn't like talking to so whenever we saw her coming we had to turn off the lights and hide behind a wall, she was known to look in the windows if nobody answered.
I really liked Men At Work. They have some catchy tunes. Quarterflash - HARDEN MY HEART - has a very good sax at the beginning and middle parts of the song.
Fun Fact for you, Phil and Sam: Greg Hamm, the saxophonist on this song, also played the flute on the previous Men At Work song you'd reacted to, "Down Under"
For me, there are two memorable sax pieces, “Never Tear Us Apart, by INXS and “Turn the Page”, by Bob Seger; when you hear this one, to start the song, right away, you know what it is.
@@rossdownes4240 Is "Baker Street" more familiar than this riff? I'd say flip a coin to choose. But the original "Turn the Page" is more recognizable than all the rest of those that were mentioned. Plus, it's from the 70s, not the 80s, like Men At Work, so it's gotten more exposure by far. Hell, Bob Seger is still around. Men At Work vanished in the early 80s and never returned. *grins*
Try Men At Work's "Overkill" next. Colin Hay, the lead singer and guitarist with the lazy eye and fantastic voice, still does solo tours regularly and is fantastic to see. He also performs with the Ringo Starr band.
If any one group can be recognised as the Voice of Australia, it must be The Seekers. Not as globally famous as AC/DC or INXS or even Kylie Minogue, but quintessentially Australian.
Just as memorable sax solos/riffs or even moreso are in Pink Floyd's Money, Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty, Foreigner's Urgent and in many Supertramp songs such as The Logical Song.
Singer Colin Hay is still performing today, and has a ton of solo material. Brilliant songwriter, and a great entertainer. He's a great storyteller, and is really funny.
You also reacted to Air Supply, which is another Aussie band. You still have to react to Rick Springfield & Little River Band, also Aussies. Olivia Newton-John lived in Australia from age 5.
A lot of people consider the sax riff in "Baker Street" sung by Gerry Rafferty as the greatest ever. The whole song is a masterpiece and also contains a great guitar section.
Did you hear "8 out of 10 cats" demonstrate how the Baker St sax solo can make almost any song sound better? Just a joke of course but it was fun to listen to a few unlikely examples they created.
He lived in a horrible place. Who can it be now? Don't Open The Door!!! Cmon guys. It was drug addled stuff. We all went through this. Not just America.
You guys should check out "The Motels" from the same time frame as Men At Work. Start with something from their "All Four One" Album, I think you'll like Martha Davis and The Motels.
No, no, no! The most recognizable sax riff, as @MrRandyv said, is still Alto Reed's tenor on "Turn the Page" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. 50+ years later, and the original tune is still on the radio, not to mention the outstanding cover by Metallica. Men At Work? Just a flash in the pan. They rode in on the wave of cool Aussie stuff at the time, which started with "Crocodile Dundee." They had a great couple of years, then faded away. Too bad, they were a fun, cool group.
This song came out when mental health was a taboo subject worldwide and using music / celebratities to show no human being is immune to having a MH issue e.g. stress, anxiety, depression, burnout etc. just normalising it has closed many an institution where human beings were being kept drugged, tortured (electricity shock treatment), out of view of the so called civil public. But now many have integrated into society and people are just people where some experience extremes more than others. But bias will always remain in generating fear based control or the ignorant people. Should think about Midnight Oil early hit Power & the Passion. Or the Angels "The Underground" (an acceptible song) as bigger than aussie AC / DC here downunder in Oz / NZ.
Agree with most of what you guys said, but I would also emphasize that part of its popularity is because it was just such a fun song to dance to there right at that time. And of course if you want somebody acting out a crazy persona, go no farther than David Byrne and the Talking Heads also from this era and from slightly before actually,.
I know one of the top sax songs Tequila! Only song that was a bit with one word for lyrics! I guarante if you hear it it will be in tour brain all day!
Fun fact. This song came out at a time when the book 1984 was still in the public mind, and it was not the only one of this type. Rockwell (and Michael Jackson) came out with Somebody's Watching Me. While the video was a deliberate attempt to capitalize on the super-popular Olivia Newton-John hit Physical where in the lyrics of the song were 'well, suggestive' so the video was made to focus on getting healthy (to cash in on the Jane Fonda Aerobics videos popularity--this was back when women still wanted to retain control over their eating and growing waistline). By making the video that was so opposite of the lyrics Olivia had not only propelled her single and album to number one world-wide, she ignited a health workout craze.
I usually agree with you 2 totally but it takes me a long time to type a simple message because my fingers refuse to do what I need them to. For example, i have at this moment, been working on this messsge for an hour.
You really REALLY need to check out Daryl Braithwaite. He is just an awesome Australian artist, simply fantastic. The whole Edge album from 1988 is stunning, as is Rise from 1990 and Taste The Salt from 1993. I rate him just as highly as John Farnham.
@barsandbarbells2022 PHIL! SAM! I have a mind-blower for you to check out. PLEASE! *smiles* A month ago, you did "2112" by Rush and titled it "IS THIS THE BEST PROGRESSIVE ROCK SONG EVER?" Well, that is a fantastic tune, but years before it Emerson, Lake, and Palmer put out the "Brain Salad Surgery" album (VERY popular! Everyone I knew bought the album) with the suite of tunes "Karnevil 9." ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fLS0Med0s6E.html It's a story, similar to "2112" in that format. But that is where the similarity ends! *grins* Keith Emerson designed/built the first (I think?) full-blown synthesizer for the album. The tune is almost 30 minutes long, but since you opened the door to long tunes recently, I think it's fair game. I guarantee you will be glazed and amazed! So just do it! *laughs* Oh, I'll bet most of your subscribers who are over 60 will remember "Karnevil 9" when you play it.
@barsandbarbells2022 HI, GUYS! I got back to the house and settled in a while ago, and played ELP's "Karn Evil 9" - -LOUDLY! *grins* Yes, most definitely review it. It'll probably be the most complex prog rock tune you've ever heard/covered, possibly outdoing anything by Yes. Keith Emerson smoking Rick Wakeman, or close to it? Yep, THAT hot! OK, a tip: before and after 8:42 or so, where the song winds down then picks up again, when Greg Lake sings "Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends" - - Well, that is where people have to get up and flip over the album! *laughs* That's enough from me. Have fun with it!
My FAVORITE song from Men at Work is the 1983 hit "It's a mistake". I was 16 years old when that song come out! I really LOVE the music video to the song it is so GOOD!
Sorry Sam, you need to keep working on that Aussie accent.. throw in a few "Yeah, Nah, Yeah's" next time.. 😜 Phil, you keep mentioning "Down Under" having a Reggae sound.. Ska Reggae was very popular in the late 1970's and early 80's in Australia, at least in the music scene i was into.. I went to see Men At Work at a pub called the Hacienda Tavern in Ferntree Gully, Melbourne around 1980, they were unknown at the time and maybe it was the venue but we walked out after a couple of songs they were that bad only to see them on TV a year or so later with the music video "Down Under" which was obviously a smash hit.. I remember my brother in-law mentioning to me about how bad they had been on that night and how good they were now.. Go Figure.. Oh and there are so many great Aussie bands to list but look up "Mental As Anything" they would make for some great reactions.. Dave.
All these 80s songs are what I grew up listening to. Mostly on the radio with Casey Kasem's America's Top 40. I was a US Army Brat going to an American High School in Heidelberg, Germany. This was the 80s so we Americans living in Germany at the time had 1 English TV channel and 1 English radio station,... NO internet 😢 I always had the radio going on weekends while doing my homework or lighting my model airplanes on fire. 😏 🖖
Some great Aussie bands that you have done for sure and this song is a beauty.....now try Little River Band, 'It's A Long Way There' full album version for sublime musicianship and harmonies.....or go wild with The Vines 'Get Free', 'Outtathaway', 'In The Jungle', 'Ride', 'Metal Zone', 'Rave It', 'Wicked Nature' or 'Everything Else'. Their songs can be very short so maybe do two....if you do any.🙂
According to The Princess Bride Australia is entirely populated by criminals. Have you done any songs by The Little River Band? Cool Change is probably the best Australian song ever.
You've gotta check out "Overkill", both by the band, and the solo acoustic version by lead singer Colin Hay. And for a super fun song by a lesser-known Aussie band, check out "Live It Up", by Mental as Anything.
Lead singer and songwriter, Colin Hay, was influenced by jazz and reggae music, just like bands like The Police and Madness were. It's obvious, if you've got any kind of ear for musical genres.
"Hello Phil & Sam, I thought I'd drop off another new group to check out, if interested. "Larkin Poe - Mad As A Hatter" (by the channel: Gramaphone Armageddon) --Larkin Poe is an American roots rock band led by sisters Rebecca Lovell & Megan Lovell, their style is considered to be folk rock, southern rock, and blues rock music. Their known for their strong southern sounding harmonies, heavy electric guitar riffs and are often compared with the "Allman Brothers Band" one of the biggest southern rock jam bands to come out of "muscle shoals". Sam be prepared cause this ones a tear jerker, so have those tissues handy (just sayin') lol This is magical stuff, guys! (ear candy👂🎶🍬)
Colin Hay is one of my favourite vocalists..he always enjoys himself and has a great sense of humour. He is still performing. I suggest you do Overkill...either Men at Work's version or Colin's acoustic version. Oh and it is reggae/rock...anyone saying otherwise you should ignore...2 of my favourite artists are Bob Marley (just reggae) and Men at Work. Men at Work fits in with The Police who are also reggae/rock.
