Men at Work were an Australian rock band best known for their 1981 hit "Down Under". Formed in 1979, 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. This line-up achieved national and international success in the early 1980s.

By mid-1996, after a ten-year absence, Hay and Ham reformed Men at Work to tour South America. They had enjoyed strong fan support there during their earlier career and demands for a reunion had persisted. The 1996 line up had Stephen Hadley on bass guitar and backing vocals (ex-The Black Sorrows, Paul Kelly Band); Simon Hosford on guitar and backing vocals (Colin Hay backing band); and John Watson on drums (The Black Sorrows). The tour culminated in a performance in Sao Paulo, which was recorded for the Brazilian release of a live album, Brazil '96, in 1997, which was co-produced by Hay and Ham for Sony Records. It was re-released worldwide in 1998 as Brazil with a bonus track, "The Longest Night", the first new studio track since Two Hearts.  In 1997 drummer Tony Floyd replaced Watson but by 1998 the lineup was Hay, Ham, James Ryan (guitar, backing vocals), Rick Grossman (of the Hoodoo Gurus) on bass  and Peter Maslen (ex-Boom Crash Opera) on drums. In 1999 Ryan, Grossman and Maslen were out and Hosford and Floyd were back in, along with bassist Stuart Speed. Rodrigo Aravena was brought in on bass in 2000, along with Heta Moses on drums. Moses was replaced by Warren Trout in 2001 as Stephen Hadley returned on bass.  The band toured Australia, South America, Europe and the US from 1998 to 2000. Men at Work performed "Down Under" at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, alongside Paul Hogan of "Crocodile" Dundee (1986).  One of their European tours for mid-2000 was cancelled and the group had disbanded by 2002, although Hay and Ham periodically reunited Men at Work with guest musicians (including an appearance in February 2009, when they performed "Down Under" as a duo at the Australia Unites Victorian Bushfire Appeal Telethon).

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