This band from Australia called Men At Work hit the scene in the early 1980's with an album called Business As Usual. Some of the songs were kind of silly, but they were catchy tunes. Who Can It Be Now and Land Down Under were being played everywhere. Be Good Johnny was another fun song from the album.
The band was so popular at that time that they ended up getting a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. As luck would have it, they won. I'll never forget when lead singer Colin Hay, as part of the acceptance speech, said, "We are the men, and we'll see you again."
What's funny is this happened around the time of their second album, Cargo, but the band broke up after their third album. It was almost like Colin jinxed the guys from there on out, and it was really a shame. As pop rock bands go, these guys were good.
Their best songs may have been on Cargo with It's A Mistake and Overkill. Overkill isn't just my favorite song by these guys, but it's one of my favorite songs period. It's one of those songs that has something to say that many people can relate to.
Overkill is about the anxiety we all feel about life sometimes. We start worrying over things like bills, relationships and everything else. Will it be okay? Then, we get to the point where we can't even fall asleep because of the stress. The message of the song is that it will all be okay.
The band's third album, Two Hearts, was their last studio album before they broke up, but they managed to leave their mark on the industry. Land Down Under and Who Can It Be Now are still playing on the radio, and they have sold over 30 million records. There are many bands who only dream of that kind of success.
