Colin Hay, former Men at Work frontman, given global honour

Colin Hay has earned global recognition for his ‘distinguished’ services to Australian music.

Australian singer-songwriter Colin Hay Picture: Paul Mobley

When Colin Hay learned he would become the first songwriter to receive the distinguished services award for outstanding contribution to Australasian music at the Global APRA Music Awards, held in Los Angeles on Thursday, the honour was enough to give him pause.

“I got a little bit teary, to be honest. I felt quite emotional about it,” Hay said.

Then the master wordsmith got thinking about the implication of the adjective “distinguished”. With a laugh, he said: “I thought, wow, is it the beard? Is that why they’re giving it to me? I must be getting old.”

As the frontman of Men at Work, Hay wrote and performed a string of hit songs including Down Under, Who Can It Be Now? and Overkill.

Men at Work sold an estimated 30 million albums worldwide, with 1981 debut, Business As Usual, spending 15 weeks at No 1 on the US Billboard chart. When the band broke up in 1985, Hay embarked on a second career that includes 13 solo albums and continues today.

“I haven’t been sitting around on my bum: I’ve been working and entertaining the people,” said Hay. For nearly three decades, the Scottish-born singer-­songwriter has lived in Los ­Angeles, a shift that coincided with a life-changing decision to give up alcohol.

“I was struggling for many years, and it was very difficult to stop in Australia because it’s a big drinking culture,” he said.

“I’m still addicted to alcohol — it’s just that I don’t drink ­anymore.”

Hay’s most popular work was dealt a blow in 2010 when the federal court ruled the flute part of Down Under infringed on the copyright to Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree and ordered that 5 per cent of royalties be paid to publisher Larrikin Music.

The Global APRA Music Awards co-ordinated by APRA AMCOS — the collection body that represents music composers and publishers — are an extension of the annual celebration of excellence among the nation’s songwriters, which will be held in Sydney in April. As befitting the global appeal of Australian music, the LA event will soon be followed by two more in Nashville and London.

For Hay, the distinguished services award arrives just before the man goes back to work: from March to May, he’ll undertake a solo tour of the US, followed by rejoining Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band as a touring singer and guitarist mid-year, before ending 2020 with an Australian solo tour.

“I feel that I’m doing the best work I’ve ever done, although sometimes it’s been more of a ­secret than having commercial success,” said Hay.