"We are the Men and we'll see you again," Colin Hay said with a twinkle in his lazy eye. |

It was 1983 and the singer/guitarist for the Australian pop group Men at Work was accepting the Grammy award for Best New Artist on behalf of his mates, who stood on either side of him at the podium. At the time, the quintet from Down Under was on top of the world, and the group's 1982 debut, Business As Usual, which featured the hits "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under," was still selling in droves.

Two albums and two years later, the band went the way of Best New Artists past (A Taste of Honey, Christopher Cross) and future (Cyndi Lauper, Arrested Development) -- away. Acrimony between Hay, and both drummer Jerry Speiser and bassist John Rees -- which began early in the group's career -- festered until the rhythm section left prior to the recording of the band's third and final album, 1985's Two Hearts. A subsequent, disastrous tour featuring only original members Hay and Greg Ham helped put the Men out of work.

Now, thirteen years after Men at Work last toured North America, an abridged version of the band -- Hay, saxophonist Ham and three new guys -- will kick off a month-long tour across the U.S. beginning October 30 in Seattle and culminating in late November in Washington, D.C. Unlike this summer's Culture Club/Howard Jones/Human League Rewind tour, Men at Work will not travel with any denizens of the early Eighties New Wave era.

"It'll be a small run to show that the band is still alive and they want it to be something they can build on," says band manager Ted Gardner.

The remodeled version of Men at Work has played sporadically over the past few years in Australia, South America, Puerto Rico and on the West Coast. Their gigs two years ago in Brazil spawned a just-released live album, Brazil, which featured one new song, "The Longest Day." Following the tour, Gardner expects Hay to return to his solo career and begin an end-of-the-year tour in support of his latest album, Transcendal Highway. Both Hay and Ham will likely begin work on a new Men at Work record early next year, according to Gardner.

BLAIR R. FISCHER(September 28, 1998)