Business as Usual, the debut album of Australian New-Wave band Men at Work, which was released in in Australia on 9th November 1981. Men at Work formed in 1979 and is best known for their 1981 hit "Down Under". Their founding mainstay was Colin Hay on lead vocals; he formed the group with Jerry Speiser on drums and Ron Strykert on lead guitar. They were joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone and keyboards and John Rees on bass guitar.
They are the only Australian artists to reach the Number 1 position in album and singles charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom with Business as Usual and 'Down Under'. The group won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist and sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
The band released two more studio albums, Cargo (1983) and crumbled apart by the time the third album, Two Hearts (1985), came out.
The band disbanded in 1986 but reformed in 1996 to disband again by 2002.
On 19 April 2012, Greg Ham (flute, saxophone, and keyboards) was found dead at his home from an apparent heart attack at age 58.
Tracklist
1. Who Can It Be Now? 3:20
2. I Can See It In Your Eyes 3:26
3. Down Under 3:39
4. Underground 3:04
5. Helpless Automaton 3:18
6. People Just Love To Play With Words 3:33
7. Be Good Johnny 3:33
8. Touching The Untouchables 3:47
9. Catch A Star 3:28
10. Down By The Sea 6:48
Down Under (Lyrics)
Traveling in a fried-out Kombi
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said
Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover
Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six-foot-four and full of muscles
I said, "do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
And he said
I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover, yeah
Lyin' in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say
I said to the man, "are you trying to tempt me
Because I come from the land of plenty?"
And he said
Do you come from a land down under? (oh yeah yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover
Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover
Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover
Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover
Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
(Colin James Hay / Ronald Graham Strykert)
