Talk:Men at Work

Inappropriately Phrased Section

I pulled this section out of the article due to the wording of it. It's good information, if it can be cited, but it needs to be cleaned up.

A correction on the other article. Jerry Speiser left the Men first, followed by John Rees. Men at work released an album down under

A correction on the correction. Jerry Speiser and John Rees were both fired from the band on the same day, according to Rees in a 1985 article in The Age, which is the major newspaper in the band's hometown of Melbourne. Rees stated that Speiser phoned him and asked, "Well, have you gotten a letter yet?", meaning that Speiser himself had, and that the letter spelled the end of the careers of both men with the Men. Rees also said that he had done a radio interview with Greg Ham just two days before being fired, and that it was very hurtful to him because Ham clearly knew that Rees' days were numbered, yet said nothing as Rees spoke enthusiastically about the band's future. Also at the time of the firing, Rees and Speiser were working on new tracks for the third LP.

Rees states that he was fired simply because he was Jerry Speiser's friend, and that the terrible relationship between Speiser and frontman Colin Hay was the direct cause of both men being kicked out of the band.

In a particularly nasty and transparent insult to Speiser, almost all of the percussion on the third LP, Two Hearts, was either done by Hay himself or by electric "drum programming."

Ron Strykert left the band during the Two Hearts sessions. One day, he simply stopped showing up to the studio. Strykert has stated that he was nursing a nasty heroin addiction at that point, and never really liked Men at Work in the first place.

Two Hearts was a total flop, especially when you compare the album to the smash hits of Business as Usual and Cargo.

Greg Ham left the group right after the release of Two Hearts, leaving only Hay to create a "new" Men at Work. It, too, was a complete disaster, and a major tour of the US had to be cancelled due to "lack of interest." Ironically, one of the members of the "new" Men at Work was drumming prodigy Chad Wackerman, a percussionist who Speiser greatly admired and respected, according to Modern Drummer magazine. In another irony, Speiser speaks enthusiastically in the same interview about the use of computers and electronics as a tool in drumming.

Picture

Just wondering if we can a picture of them because the page would look better with one.Thanks Sparrowman980

MySpace

I don't think MySpace qualifies as a reputable source of information according to Wikipedia standards. I removed the link to the MySpace page in the template, as it doesn't seem to exist; the other two (one in a footnote and another in the "External links" section) could well be "official", so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and left them there for now, but their veracity should probably be investigated. B7T (talk) 04:53, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Single release dates

Yes, both "Who Can It Be Now" and "Down Under" were released in 1981 in Australia and in 1982 in the U.S., but "Down Under" wasn't released in the U.K. until 1983. I'm ot sure we want to get that detailed on those, though, and should probably leave their release dates at 1981. Comments? Dewelar (talk) 16:01, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Member history update

I've expanded the member section listing to include the other Men At Work lineups that have existed (ie, pre-Business As Usual, post-Two Hearts, reunion.) Any additional info anyone has, particularly regarding the precise lineage of the reunion lineups and info on the Sydney Olympics performance, would be much appreciated. Colinclarksmith (talk) 12:14, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm not really sure all these musicians can be considered "members" of the band if they were basically backing up Colin Hay on tour, or on studio recordings. MFNickster (talk) 03:04, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

It's true. The participants of the reunion (circa '96-'98) were treated as proper members initially, but later musicians were merely treated as backups for Hay and Ham. CCS81 (talk) 03:16, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Summer of 1982?

The band soon released their second album Cargo. It had been finished in the summer of 1982

This wording is very dubious. In the southern hemisphere, summer is a season that includes New Year, so it is misleading to use "summer of <year>" in a southern-hemisphere context because it is ambiguous.

There is also a chance that it is worded according to Northern-hemisphere seasonal conventions which would be a very flagrant breach of the MOS. One should never use northern-hemisphere seasons in southern-hemisphere topics (and vice versa)!!

To comply with the MOS, it is best to substitute a date range, month range or similar clear descriptor. -- B.D.Mills  (T, C) 03:24, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Random untitled, unsigned statement

I am really young, but i really enjoy hearing to men at work even if they recorded songs in the 80s. Down under is really good. You should all listen to this song.

Same here, hey you should extend this article!

2004 "New York State Fair" set?

Someone added a blurb about Men At Work performing in 2004 at the "New York State Fair." I deleted the line - I sincerely apologize if I'm in error, but I simply cannot find anything to confirm this. Please correct me if I'm wrong and fill in the details as you understand them. Colinclarksmith (talk) 22:34, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

It seems the band played this fair several times, including 2001, but I couldn't find anything on 2004. Again, please correct me if possible. Colinclarksmith (talk) 14:14, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

copyright controversy heading added, tv quiz show as the cause of suit

Made Down Under/Kookaburra lawsuit section a heading and updated from news of suit as well as added origin of suit and added news of final verdict, references added. <mrbill66>/Veritas100 (talk) 13:04, 6 July 2010 (UTC)