Business as Usual is the debut studio album by Australian new wave band Men at Work, which was released in November 1981 in Australia, and April 1982 in the United States. It spent nine weeks at the top of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart from December 1981 through to March 1982. The Australian version had a black and white cover design; overseas releases had a similar design, but in a black and yellow colour scheme. Business as Usual was one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. It spent an unprecedented 15 weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 from late 1982 to early 1983; and five weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom Albums Chart in early 1983. Business as Usual was also one of the highest selling Australian albums in the early 1980s, with 6 million copies shipped in the US.
In February 2010, a Federal Court judge in Sydney found that the flute riff from "Down Under" had been plagiarised from the Australian song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree", written in 1932 by Marion Sinclair. The Federal Court determined that the copyright was still current (Sinclair died in 1988) and had been assigned to Larrikin Music. The judge found that "a substantial amount of the original song" had been reproduced in "Down Under". Larrikin Music had suggested 60% of the royalties would be appropriate compensation, but the court decreed they shall receive only 5%, and only on mechanical rights for the song since 2002, and on future profits.
By early 1981, Australian new wave group, Men at Work consisted of Greg Ham on flute, saxophone, keyboards and vocals; Colin Hay on vocals and guitar; John Rees on bass guitar; Jerry Speiser on drums and backing vocals; and Ron Strykert on lead guitar and vocals.[3][4][5] Hay was the group's main songwriter both on his own, with Strykert, or with other bandmates.[3][4] The group signed with the Australian branch of Columbia Records, which issued their second single, "Who Can It Be Now?", in June that year.[3][4] As record producer they used United States-born Peter McIan (Franne Golde, Serious Young Insects).[3][4][5] The track was one written by Hay alone,[6] and, in August, it peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[7][8]
The group had already returned to the studio to continue working with McIan, who produced their debut album, Business as Usual, which included the earlier single.[3][4][5] The second single from the album, "Down Under", was released in November and was a reworked version of the B-side to their debut single, "Keypunch Operator", from the previous year.[3] "Down Under" was co-written by Hay and Strykert,[9] and became the group's first number-one hit in December – which stayed at the top for six weeks.[7][8] The album was released on 9 November 1981, it entered the top 50 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart in December peaking at No. 1 for nine weeks and appearing in the top 50 for 118 weeks.[7][10]
The non-album B-side, the jam-oriented instrumental "Anyone for Tennis", was omitted from the 2003 remaster of Business as Usual (which contained both the other non-album B-sides from this era). It appears only on the B-side to "Who Can it Be Now?".
Australian musicologistIan McFarlane described Business as Usual: "Aside from the strength of the music, part of the [its] appeal was its economy. The production sound was low-key, but clean and uncluttered. Indeed, the songs stood by themselves with little embellishment save for a bright, melodic, singalong quality".[3] Gerry Raffaele for The Canberra Times felt "[it] generally stays at a high level, tight and jerky, although I still favour the tracks which have appeared as singles ... There is a delicacy about this music – and that is not a thing you can say about too many rock groups".[14]
"Crazy" is a B-side of the "Down Under" single in Australia and North America.
The live versions of "Underground" and "Who Can It Be Now?" were recorded at a concert at Olympia in São Paulo, Brazil on May 6, 1996[20] and are also from the 1998 live album Brazil.
"F-19" is a B-side of the "Be Good Johnny" single in Australia.
"Who Can It Be Now?" was the first single released from the album. It was released as a single in Australia in June 1981 and in the U.S. in May 1982. It reached #2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in August 1981.
"Down Under" was the second single released from the album. It was released as a single on 2 November 1981. The single peaked at #1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart for six weeks.
"Be Good Johnny" was the third single and final single released from the album. It was released in April 1982 and reached #8 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.
^ abcdeNimmervoll, Ed. "Men at Work". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music (Ed Nimmervoll). White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
^ ab"'Down Under' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 24 July 2014. Note: User may have to click 'Search again' and provide details at 'Enter a title:' e.g Down Under; or at 'Performer:' Men at Work
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