Men at Work – Business as Usual: #810 of best 1,000 albums ever!

Why is Men at Work’s Business as Usual on my best 1,000 albums ever list?

Who can it be now? Why, it’s the band from down under, of course.

What does Men at Work’s Business as Usual mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?

Growing up, I always naturally associated two at-the-time huge songs: Men at Work’s “Down Under,” and Men Without at Hats’ “Safety Dance,” and I think I vaguely assumed that both bands were from Australia. Of course, it turns out that Men Without Hats hail from Canada whereas Men at Work do their thing… well, you know, if you know the song. Which holds up great, too, as it turns out.

There are many amazing and hilarious things about the “Down Under” music video, but I’ll just point out the guy playing a flute while sitting on a tree branch, with a stuffed animal koala strung up next to his head because… Australia?

Here’s the “Safety Dance” music video, which is gloriously strange and fantastic in its own right.

But back to Business… As Usual, as it were. “Down Under” and “Who Can It Be Now?” were both smash hits and put the band on the map, so to speak, in the U.S. Here’s the saxophone-driven latter, the riff of which will absolutely get stuck in your head. The percussive guitar and Colin Hay’s vocals give this a chill Australian version of The Police vibe.

What’s a little surprising about Business As Usual is how well the rest of the album holds up. I’m a huge fan of “Helpless Automaton,” for example, which has a little bit of a Devo vibe and leans into the band’s new wave leanings.

And “Catch A Star” is a fun Aussie-style pop song.