The 71-year-old driving force behind Men At Work has committed to three different stage acts in recent years, and his electric solo band has rebranded to commemorate the band that put him on the map in the early ‘80s.
“It’s not really resurrecting that band so much, as it is really going out and playing a Men At Work set list with the band that I already have,” Hay told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay during a phone call from Philadelphia.
Contrary to how he’s depicted in his biggest hit, he wasn’t born and raised in Australia. He was born Scottish and spent his adolescence playing football (soccer, you American) or hanging out in his parents’ music store before moving Down Under as a teenager. And while he takes plenty of pride in being one of Australia’s favorite sons, he still gets sentimental about his old stomping grounds now and then.\\“When you leave somewhere when you’re that age, the memory of where you’re from becomes heightened,” he added.
Hay’s other two stage acts include a one-man acoustic show—where he talks about his family and religious fans trying to convert him—and being part of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band.
The funny Beatle’s team reached out to Hay in 2003 while he was driving, asking if he’d join his star-studded repertoire that had previously featured the likes of Clarence Clemons and Joe Walsh.
“I think that they have lists of people who they consider,” Hay told CL Tampa, adding that as long as you’ve had hits and are still capable of performing, you just might get a call.
Hay told CL Tampa last year that the way he keeps his mighty-as-ever voice in shape is by warming up, but he doesn’t do it alone. He still has a vocal coach who sends him scales to sing ahead of his gigs. And you know what? Hay must be doing something right, because the way he absolutely nails the high-octave chorus of “Africa” during a Ringo show (usually co-starring Toto guitarist Steve Lukather) will catch you off guard.
Read our full Q&A with Colin Hay below.
Hi, Colin. I’m calling from Tampa. How are you?
In Tampa, Florida?
Yeah.
How is it there at the moment?
So freaking hot, dude. As usual.
Oh, really? High humidity?
High humidity. Anyway, thanks a lot for doing this. I really appreciate it. You’re on your way to Philadelphia, right?
We’re in Philadelphia.
Oh, nice. If you don’t mind me asking, is Edgar Winter sitting out this run of Ringo shows?
Yeah.
Who’s on keyboards, then?
A guy called Buck Johnson, who lives in Nashville. He usually plays with Aerosmith…keyboards and vocals.
Oh, wow. Not anymore. I want to talk a little bit more about Ringo in a little bit here, but I’ll start with some of the Men At Work stuff. The band’s been back for about five years now. What made you want to resurrect it after so long?
Well, it’s not the original band. It’s the same band that I have in Los Angeles. So, that’s the first thing. It’s not really resurrecting that band so much, as it is going out and playing a Men At Work set list with the band that I already have.
OK, so you just added the Men At Work name to your band.
Yeah. I first did it in Europe, and then I did a tour a couple of years ago with Rick Springfield, and a couple of other things. And then, I’m just doing this run in October. I’m not really sure why, to be honest. Maybe it’s some kind of reclamation of something I was once part of that was floating around the universe unmanned, so to speak. So I just thought I’d do a tour and see what happens. It’s experimental, really, to see whether I have an audience and how many of them there are.
It’s good to do it once in a while, just to play those songs. Almost exclusively, those songs for people who have either seen the band, never seen the band, have never heard the music, or have some kind of interest. And the idea was first triggered when I was in Europe with Ringo, and just seeing all the audiences who just have this great love for all those old songs, because all the songs we play with Ringo, they’re old songs. So I wondered if I could do a tour there, so I did a tour of Europe as Men At Work. And, it’s just something I’ll probably do now and again.
Cool. So, I get that this isn’t the original group, so how heavily did you have to rearrange those Men At Work songs for this band? Like, how different are they from the originals?
They’re all pretty much the same as on the record, so when they learn the songs, they learn them from the records. But I’ve been playing with the same musicians now for probably the last seven years or so, so they learn the songs, and then you arrive at rehearsal, and we play the songs, and everyone plays the songs how they hear them. So they have the flavor of that band in a way. Like, I have three Cuban guys playing with me, and Cecilia, my wife, sings with me. I have a woman called Scheila Gonzalez playing sax, flute and keyboards. And so, you always play with the musical personality of the musicians you’re playing with, so that’s how they sound. They sound like those songs, for sure. *laughs*
Chris Trapper’s opening this show, and I know you’ve been acquainted with him for a little while now. Tell me a little bit about your fascination with him.
*laugh* I don’t have a fascination with Trapper! You know, I love his music and I love him. We’re friends, but every time I go out on the road, he sticks his hand up and says, “hey, can I do a few of these shows?” And I always say “yes,” because I like him, and I like his music.
He wrote something for Now And The Evermore, right?
Well, he didn’t write it for my album. He wrote the song and I loved it, so I recorded it on Now And The Evermore.
Let’s talk about your history a little bit. It’s been said that Men At Work built up its reputation at the Cricketers Arms Hotel, kind of like how The Beatles built theirs up at the Cavern Club. Have you been back to the Cricketers Arms since you made it big?
Yeah, I have. It’s kind of funny: They used to have plaques and things in the corner, talking about the band. Bits of paraphernalia, memorabilia and stuff like that in the corner where we used to play, because there was no stage: We used to just set up in the corner and play. And the last time I went in there, I was talking to the barman and I said, “I wonder what happened to all the Men At Work memorabilia that used to be in the corner.” He goes “ah, they took it away, mate. They just put it in the storage upstairs.” *laughs*
Ah, no.
Yeah. And I just thought to myself, that’s one of the differences between Australia and the United States. If it was the United States and there was a famous band from some pub, they would have a big sign outside, and tourists would come and check it out. But not in Melbourne. It’s funny…
While we’re on the topic of Melbourne, a common misconception about you is that you were born in Australia. But of course, that’s not true. You moved there when you were a teenager. Once you were settled in, what did you miss the most about Scotland?
What did I miss the most about Scotland… my childhood. Just because, I think it depends on where you’re brought up. Sometimes, people have horrendous childhoods and they can’t wait to forget about it. But my childhood was really marked. It was a pretty idyllic, really. I grew up in a music shop, of all things. My mother and father had a music shop, and there was an outdoor swimming pool we would go to in the summer, and it was right by the water.
So it was, in terms of places you could be brought up, it was pretty great. I went to Australia, which was kinda fantastic in many ways. But I think when you leave somewhere when you’re that age, the memory of where you’re from becomes heightened. The memory of it. So, I would have lots of…kinda hallucinogenic dreams of going back to Scotland. But probably the main thing that I would have missed, really, in terms of physical things was playing football…playing soccer.
Right on. So, I’ve seen your…um, friend, Sting twice this year…
*laughs* “my friend.” That’s funny. He’s so great, though. He’s amazing. Go on, what were you saying?
Nah, you’re good. But so, I saw Sting once in a stadium, and once in a theater with an orchestra, and he seemed to be more comfortable and in his element with the orchestra. Now, not that I get a similar vibe from you—especially having seen you perform so many times—but at this point in your life, you’re holding down Men At Work, the Ringo gigs, and your solo shows. If you had to pick, which one of those three shows would you say showcases the most authentic version of yourself?
The solo show. They’re all authentic, but they’re all part of who you are. But I suppose my natural game, if you like, is probably just standing, playing guitar and singing.
And telling stories.
Actually, the week I saw your solo show, it was the week your dog, Rico died, and I have to know: How are you and Cecilia holding up?
Oy. Oh, we’re good. We have another dog. We planned on adopting this other dog before Rico died…the week before he died, actually, Cecilia was signing the adoption papers. But then, we decided to hold off because we were doing some gigs, and we thought “well, we don’t want to adopt her and then go away somewhere.” So we waited until we came back to sign the papers. And then, we were signing the papers, and Rico passed away, which was horrendous, if you’ve ever lost a pet prematurely, that you thought was going to last a lot longer. It was a horrible thing, and still is, really. But anyway, the week after, we picked up our new dog, Tinker Bardot. She’s a shepherd pitbull cross, and she now is a recipient of all our love. *laughs*
See, pitbulls get such an unfair reputation. People think they’re all big and scary, but they’re actually some of the sweetest dogs ever.
Oh, yeah. I’m a big fan of the pits.
I want to ask about Ringo just a little bit. How did you first become personally acquainted with him? Because you’ve been with him on and off for years.
I just got a call when I was from the freeway, asking me if I wanted to do a tour with Ringo in 2003. I think that they have lists of people who they consider. You have to have had hits, and you have to be able to still stand up straight and play your songs. So, I think that’s one of the reasons that they considered me. And then, I got the call, and it took me about two seconds to say yes.
Cool. You were on the freeway?
Yeah, I was on—no, I was on Santa Monica Boulevard, actually.
Ah. Close enough.
I remember hearing a story about how your dad played you a Beatles record one day when you were a kid, and everything changed for you. Do you remember which record it was?
“From Me To You.” Yeah, I’d heard the Beatles before that, but I’d heard “She Loves You,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” and “Please Please Me.” Because of course, all the records that came out in Britain were different from the records that came out in States, so I, dare I say, got the proper sequence of records, before they were tampered with by the Americans, you know? *laughs*
You are so right.
They thought they knew better, you know?
Mm-hmm.
You know, one of the prime examples of cultural arrogance that the music industry suffers from. But anyway, yeah, it was “From Me To You,” and he said, “oh, come listen to these guys. I think they’ll do quite well.”
I definitely agree with you about how Americans tampered with the records too much. I remember I got a U.S. copy of Rubber Soul for my birthday one year, and there was no “Nowhere Man” and no “Drive My Car.” I was just like “what the hell is this?”
Crazy, huh? That’s just wrong.
It is just wrong! Like, I don’t care that “Nowhere Man” landed on a later album in the U.S. I want my Rubber Soul.
Yeah, absolutely.
Last question for you, and I’ll let you go. Last year, I asked you at a virtual press conference with Ringo and the guys how you keep your voice in great shape. You said that all it takes for you is warming up. What do you warm up to? Like, do you sing scales or do you pop in a CD?
Yeah, it’s scales. I take lessons. I still have a vocal coach, and I have a bunch of scales that she gives me, that she records and sends to me, so I do those. And I’m also just lucky in a sense, that it’s just genes. My father had a great voice, and whatever he had, he passed onto me. And so, I’m a recipient of that from my father. Yeah, I’m just kind of lucky that my voice has got some resilience, but I do warm up, and that helps a lot. Getting enough sleep helps as well. And, yeah, that’s about it. And, you know, obviously not abusing yourself like I used to in the past. So that helps as well.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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This article appears in Oct 10-16, 2024.