Day After Day #344: Overkill

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Overkill (1983)

When people think of Men at Work, they think of a pop-rock band from Australia that scored some fun hits in the early '80s. And they wouldn't be wrong, but there was a lot more to the band than just wacky pop trifles.

Men at Work was formed in Melbourne in 1979 by singer-guitarist Colin Hay, bassist Ron Strykert and drummer Jerry Speiser. The group soon added Greg Ham (flute, sax and keyboards) and John Rees on bass, with Strykert moving over to lead guitar. The band started playing pubs and in 1980 released a single, "Keypunch Operator," with "Down Under" as the B-side. Although the single wasn't a hit, the band became a known quantity and by early 1981, they had signed with CBS Records in Australia.

Their first single for CBS was "Who Can It Be Now?", a sax-driven upbeat number that came out in June 1981 and hit #2 on the Australia singles chart, staying on the chart for 24 weeks. A rearranged version of "Down Under" was released in October and went to #1. Men at Work's sound was light and reggae-tinged, and undeniably catchy. Hay's voice was elastic and agile, much like Sting's in some respects.

Men at Work's debut album Business as Usual was released in November 1981 in Australia and went to #1, doing the same in New Zealand soon afterward. Despite this success, the album was rejected twice for U.S. release. But the band's management persisted, and the album finally received a North American release in April 1982. The band's breakthrough in North America actually took place in western Canada with "Who Can It Be Now?" reaching the top 10 on radio stations in Winnipeg in May 1982; the song eventually hit #8 in Canada. By the summer, the song cracked the top 40 in the U.S. and the band began a North American tour supporting Fleetwood Mac. "Who Can It Be Now?," aided by a popular video on MTV, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in October. A month later, Business as Usual hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for 15 weeks.

"Down Under" was the next single in the U.S. and it also went to #1; in January 1983, Men at Work became the first Australian artist to have the top album and single in the U.S. Being a young metalhead, I was at first resistant to the band, but it was hard to deny the sheer catchiness and fun of those early singles. My younger brother (who was 10 at the time) liked them, so that was probably a turnoff as well, but I was won over by repeated listenings.

Men at Work's second album, Cargo, was released in April 1983, hitting #3 in the U.S. and #8 in the U.K. "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" was the first single released in Australia, but "Overkill" was the lead single in the U.S. and it definitely hit different. It was a departure from the band's usual jaunty sound, instead featuring Hay ruminating on the potential pitfalls of success and the impact it was having on his mental state.

"I can't get to sleep/I think about the implications/Of diving in too deep/And possibly the complications/Especially at night/I worry over situations/I know will be alright/Perhaps it's just imagination/Day after day it reappears/Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear/Ghosts appear and fade away."

The song is carried by Ham's smooth sax work and Hay's introspective vocals, which present a different side of the band. Even the video had a different vibe from the band's usual wacky visuals, presenting Hay walking around the Melbourne suburb of St. Kilda at night.

"Alone between the sheets/Only brings exasperation/It's time to walk the streets/Smell the desperation/At least there's pretty lights/And though there's little variation/It nullifies the night/From overkill/Day after day it reappears/Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear/Ghosts appear and fade away/Come back another day."

The song had an immediate impact, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 in Australia and top 10 in Canada, Ireland and Norway. Cargo similarly hit #3 on the Billboard 200 as the band toured heavily around the world in 1983. "Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Jive" reached #28 in the U.S., but "It's a Mistake" got to #6.

This was the last album to feature the band's original lineup. Simmering tensions between Hay and Speiser resulted in a schism in the band, with Rees and Speiser being dismissed. Hay, Ham and Strykert continued on with session musicians to record the next Men at Work album, 1985's Two Hearts. Strykert left during the production process and the album was a critical and commercial failure compared to the band's previous releases, hitting #16 in Australia and #50 in the U.S. Ham left the band during the subsequent tour, which featured additional musicians including drummer Chad Wackerman (who previously played with Frank Zappa). By early 1986, the band was defunct and Hay started working on his first solo album.

After a 10-year break, Hay and Ham reformed Men at Work in 1996 to tour South America, where they had a strong following. They added Stephen Hadley on bass, Simon Horsford on guitar and John Watson on drums and released a live album from the tour in Brazil the following year and worldwide in 1998. Men at Work, with a shifting lineup, continued to tour from 1998-2000 in Australia, South America, Europe and the U.S., also playing "Down Under" at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The band split up again in 2002, but Hay and Ham would occasionally reform the band to play shows.

In February 2010, Larrikin Music Publishing won a copyright lawsuit against Hay and Strykert, their record label and music publishing company, alleging that Men at Work had taken music from the 1932 song "Kookaburra" as the flute line in the song "Down Under." Larrikin demanded between 40% and 60% of the previous six years of earnings from the song, but a judge ruled that although the flute line was based on "Kookaburra," it wasn't the hook nor a major part of "Down Under." In July 2010, a judge ruled that Larrikin should be paid 5% of past (from 2002 on) and future profits. Ham, who had added the flute riff, took the decision hard, leading to depression and anxiety. His body was found in his home in April 2012 after he suffered a fatal heart attack at age 58.

Hay maintained an active solo career after the band's initial split and has released 15 solo albums since 1987; he played with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band on several tours since 2003. His 2003 album Man @ Work featured acoustic covers of Men at Work songs, including "Overkill."

Strykert continued to play music and released a solo album in 2009; he also has expressed resentment towards Hay over royalties and was arrested in 2009 for allegedly making death threats against Hay. Ham, Rees and Speiser all continued to play music after leaving the band. 

"Overkill" got some renewed popularity in 1997 when the band Lazlo Bane (fronted by Chad Fischer, who had played drums for School of Fish) covered it; the cover featured Hay's vocals in the second half of the song. Hay also appeared in the video, which was on MTV2's Top 10 of 1997 list and got some play on alternative stations like WFNX. Fischer continued to work with Hay, playing drums in his touring band and collaborating in the studio.

The old adage about not judging a book by its cover definitely applies to Men at Work. "Overkill" showed they were capable of much more than bouncy songs about Australia.