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Colin Hay

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This article is about the musician. For the political scientist, see Colin Hay (political scientist).

Colin Hay
Hay performing in 2018
Hay performing in 2018
Background information
Birth nameColin James Hay
Born (1953-06-29) 29 June 1953 (age 71)
Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • actor
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1978–present
Labels
Member of
SpouseCecilia Noël
Websitecolinhay.com

Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay's music has been used frequently by actor and director Zach Braff in his work, which helped a career rebirth in the mid-2000s.[1] Hay is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

Hay has made appearances in movies such as Cosi (1996) and in television shows such as The Larry Sanders Show, JAG, The Mick Molloy Show, A Million Little Things, and Scrubs.[2] In Scrubs, he performs an acoustic version of the Men at Work hit "Overkill". His music also appeared in the television series What About Brian, The Black Donnellys, Cane, and the BBC medical drama Casualty.

Early life

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Colin James Hay was born on 29 June 1953 in Saltcoats, a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland to James and Isabela Hay.[3] In 1967, when he was 14, the Hays emigrated to Melbourne in Australia.[4][3] His parents owned a small music shop; his father, a piano tuner, had been a stage singer and dancer in Glasgow.[5][6]

Career

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1978–1986: Men at Work

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Main article: Men at Work

In 1978, Hay met Ron Strykert and they formed an acoustic duo.[3] In 1979, Hay and Strykert added Jerry Speiser and Greg Ham started composing songs for what would become Men at Work.[3][7]

The band released their debut studio album, Business as Usual, in 1981, which was followed by Cargo (1983) and Two Hearts (1985) before breaking up in January 1986.

In 1986, Hay joined as guest vocalist with the Incredible Penguins for a cover of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", a charity project for research on little penguins, which peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report in December 1985.[8][9]

1987–1993: Solo career beginnings

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Following the break-up of Men at Work in 1986, Hay released his debut single "Hold Me" in January 1987. The song peaked at number 40 on the Kent Music Report. His debut studio album, Looking for Jack was released in January 1987 and peaked at number 58.

Hay relocated to Los Angeles in 1989.[10] He settled in the Topanga region of the city and has resided in the United States since. In January 2016, he became a US citizen.[11]

In March 1990, Hay released "Into My Life", the lead single from his second studio album, Wayfaring Sons, which was released in April 1990. Neither single nor album reached the ARIA top 100.[12] The album was credited to the Colin Hay Band, which consisted of Gerry Hale, Paul Gadsby and Robert Dillon.[3]

In 1992, Hay released the acoustic album Peaks & Valleys. The album featured Hay's sister, Carol on vocals.[3]

1994–2004: ARIA Hall of Fame and Lazy Eye Records

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At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994, Hay was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as a member of Men at Work.[13]

In 1994, Hay established his own recording label, Lazy Eye Records,[14] and released his fourth studio album, Topanga.

In 1996, Hay reunited with Men at Work and toured South America, which led to the live Men at Work album, Brazil.[7]

In October 1998, Hay released his fifth studio album, Transcendental Highway and in 1999 recorded and released the song "Misty Bay" with his girlfriend, Cecilia Noël.[3]

On 1 October 2000, Hay performed with Men at Work at the 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[15] In 2001, Hay released his sixth studio album, Going Somewhere.[3]

In 2002, Hay released his seventh studio album Company of Strangers and the video album Live at the Continental recorded in 2000.[3]

In July 2003, Hay released his eighth studio album, Man @ Work, re-recording some Men at Work hits and his solo songs,[3] including a reimagined version of "Down Under" recorded with Hay's wife, Cecilia Noël, described as "more carnivale than outback".[16] Hay toured North America with former Beatles Ringo Starr, as a member of his Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.[3]

In 2004, Hay launched his one-man show named Man at Work, a mixture of songs and stories.[3]

2005–2020: Continued success

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In 2006 Hay provided his voice for one of the characters in the animated film The Wild.[3]

In April 2007, Hay released his ninth studio album, Are You Lookin' at Me?.[3] In 2008, Hay plays the role of Nick at the horror movie The Uninvited.[3]

In May 2009, Hay performed at the Artist for the Arts Foundation benefit at Barnum Hall, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, California. Performing alongside Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, Fee Waybill of the Tubes, Venice, and over 70 members of the Santa Monica High School Orchestra and Girls Choir, the benefit helped to provide funds for the continuation of music education in public schools.[citation needed]

In August 2009, Hay released his tenth studio album, American Sunshine.[3]

In 2010, Hay released the live album, Live at the Corner, filmed in 2007 at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia.[3]

In August 2010, Hay performed in Missoula, Montana with a Los Angeles roots rock band named Patrolled By Radar.[17]

In May 2011, Hay released his eleventh studio album Gathering Mercury.[3] In 2011, Hay commented on his early solo career, stating, "After Men at Work, for the better part of a decade, I was stumbling around being unfocused. It was pre-internet; I really had to try to find my audiences by going out on tour. Men at Work really didn't build a foundational audience. We came in as a pop band with enormous radio success; once that goes away and the band breaks up the audience tends to go away with it. You're left with what you want to make of it. When you start out doing those tours, you start again [and] you tend not to attract a very big number of people. I'd play to a hundred people or sometimes less".[18]

In December 2013, Hay announced on his website that he was done touring "for the time being" and would spend 2014 writing and recording.[19]

In February 2015, Hay released his twelfth studio album, Next Year People.[20] The album was preceded by the single "Trying to Get to You".[21]

On 4 August 2015, Colin Hay: Waiting for my Real Life, a documentary film about Hay, debuted at the Melbourne International Film Festival.[22]

On 27 January 2017, he released the first single, "A Thousand Million Reasons", from his thirteenth studio album Fierce Mercy, released in March 2017. Fierce Mercy debuted at number 44 on the ARIA chart, becoming his second solo chart entry in Australia. The album was promoted with his segments on Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery and Sunday Night.[23]

Also in 2017, Hay released his first audiobook, Aesop's Fables with Colin Hay, published by Devault-Graves Digital Editions, for which he narrated 24 of Aesop's Fables written by author Tom Graves.

2021–present: "Down Under" remix success

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In August 2021, Hay released his fourteenth studio album, I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself. The album features 10 versions of some of Hay's favourite songs from the Beatles (Norwegian Wood, Across the Universe) Blind Faith, Del Amitri, Dusty Springfield, Faces, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Glen Campbell (Wichita Lineman), Jimmy Cliff (Many Rivers to Cross) and the Kinks (Waterloo Sunset).[24]

In late 2021, Australian producer Christian "Luude" Benson (from the Tasmanian electronic dance music duo Choomba)[25][26][27] remixed Men at Work's "Down Under" as a drum and bass track, with Hay re-recording the vocal for the track's release on the Sweat It Out[28][29] record label.[30] "Down Under" by Luude featuring Colin Hay[31] charted at number 32 on the UK Singles chart on 7 January 2022[32] and at number 48 in Australia (ARIA Top 50 Singles for week of 10 January 2022).[33]

Hay's fifteenth studio album, Now and the Evermore, was released on 18 March 2022.[34][35]

Personal life

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Hay is married to singer Cecilia Noël,[36] who often provides backing vocals at his shows. Noël has also helped with production on Hay's solo studio albums. Hay said of his ninth solo studio album, Are You Lookin' at Me? (2007) that "She was really crucial. She was a really great sounding board for me. She's a really good producer in the sense that she's very musical and has a great sense of song structure and so forth. So she was great to bounce ideas off. And she sang on nearly all the songs. So she was really a great part of this record".[37] Hay and Noël live in Topanga Canyon in the Los Angeles area.[38]

On 13 February 2009, former Men at Work band member Ron Strykert was arrested for allegedly making death threats against Hay.[39][40]

Hay became an American citizen in 2016. He also has a residence in St Kilda, Melbourne.

Discography

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Main article: Colin Hay discography

Acting

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After performing in Men at Work, Hay performed in a number of films and TV shows, usually in small roles.

Year Film/Show Role Notes
1985 Wills & Burke Publican Australian black comedy film
1988 Raw Silk Parker Australian film
1994–95 Blue Heelers Brad Fielding and George Patterson 2 episodes
1996 Cosi Zac Australian comedy-drama film
1997 JAG: Judge Advocate General Miles Episode – "Trinity"
1997 Heaven's Burning Jonah Australian crime film
1998 The Larry Sanders Show himself S6E2
1999 The Craic Barry Australian comedy film
1999 The Mick Molloy Show Gary Builder and himself S1E2 and S1E4
2002–2009 Scrubs 4 episodes
2006 The Wild Fergus Flamingo (voice)
2008 The Uninvited Nick American horror thriller film
2012 Jack Irish – Bad Debts Tony Baker Australian television drama series
2017 FishCenter Live himself[41]
2018 The Resident Rhys Barrett (musician) S2E4
2022 A Million Little Things himself S4E16

Awards and nominations

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APRA Awards

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The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".[42]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2020 Colin Hay Distinguished Services Award[43] awarded
2023 Colin Hay Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music[44] awarded

ARIA Music Awards

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The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Men at Work were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994.[45][13]

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
1994 (as a member of) Men at Work ARIA Hall of Fame Inductee [45][13]
1998 Transcendental Highway Best Adult Contemporary Album Nominated
2011 Gathering Mercury Best Adult Contemporary Album Nominated
2022 "Down Under" (Luude featuring Colin Hay) Song of the Year Nominated [46]
Best Dance / Electronic Release Won
"Down Under" (featuring Colin Hay) (Luude, Peter Hume) Best Video Nominated

Country Music Awards of Australia

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The Country Music Awards of Australia is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They commenced in 1973.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2020 "Next Year People" (with Sara Storer) Vocal Collaboration of the Year Nominated [47]

Countdown Australian Music Awards

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Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.[48]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1982 himself (Men at Work) Best Songwriter Nominated
1983 himself Songwriter of the Year Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Stewart, Allison (28 April 2011). "Colin Hay a working man from way back". Chicago Tribune.
  2. ^ Vagg, Stephen (14 July 2019). "Australian Singers Turned Actors". Filmink.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Biography of Colin Hay". colinhay.com.br. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Colin Hay". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Colin Hay Dwells on Life and the Hereafter on 'Now and the Evermore'". 7 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Lunch with Colin Hay". 18 January 2013.
  7. ^ a b Entries at Australian Rock Database:
    • Colin Hay/Colin Hay Band: Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan. "Colin Hay". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
    • Men at Work (1979–1986, 1995–present): Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan. "Men at Work". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  9. ^ Spencer, Chris; Nowara, Zbig; McHenry, Paul (2002) [1987]. "Incredible Penguins". The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Notes by Ed Nimmervoll. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2010. Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
  10. ^ "Colin Hay still a man at work". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Crystal Ballroom". Mcmenamins.com. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  12. ^ *For Wayfaring Sons and "Into My Life""Week commencing 9 April 1990". bubblingdownunder.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  13. ^ a b c "Winners by Year 1994". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 9 January 2012.
  14. ^ Sue Kiesewetter. "Singer Colin Hay comes to Fairfield Community Arts Center April 24 - Butler County News at Cincinnati.com". Rodeo.cincinnati.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  15. ^ Gordon, Alan Atwood and Michael (30 September 2020). "From the Archives, 2000: A perfect party to end the world's greatest Games". The Age. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  16. ^ Steve Darnell, "Decision to go solo has paid off for Men at Work's Colin Hay", Chicago Tribune (August 12, 2003), Sec. 2, p. 3.
  17. ^ "Colin Hay with Patrolled by Radar". Missoula Independent. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2011. when Colin Hay—formerly of the group Men at Work—plays the Wilma Theatre with Patrolled by Radar
  18. ^ "Colin Hay is still at work". National Features. 18 May 2011.
  19. ^ "Colin Hay » A message from Colin". Colinhay.com. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  20. ^ "Colin Hay To Release 12th Solo Album Next Year People". noise11. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  21. ^ "New Colin Hay – Trying To Get To You LISTEN". noise11. 26 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Miff 2015". Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Australian Charts: Ed Sheeran Dominates ARIA Albums for Second Week". noise11. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  24. ^ "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself is Out Now". Colin Hay. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  25. ^ "EMI Music announces electronic duo Choomba as latest signing". Themusicnetwork.com. 23 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Premiere: Australian duo Choomba continue to soar with Wantchu". Pilerats.com.
  27. ^ "Choomba | EMI Music Australia". Emimusic.com.au.
  28. ^ "LUUDE". Sweatitoutmusic.com.
  29. ^ "Luude, Colin Hay – Down Under [Sweat It Out]". Musicis4lovers.com. 23 November 2021.
  30. ^ "Down Under – single". Apple Music. 12 December 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  31. ^ "LUUDE FT COLIN HAY | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company.
  32. ^ "BBC Radio 1 – the Official Chart on Radio 1 with Scott Mills, 07/01/2022". Bbc.co.uk.
  33. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Aria.com.
  34. ^ "Now And The Evermore". Colin Hay. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  35. ^ Zimmerman, Lee (25 March 2022). "Review: Colin Hay Offers Another Example of His Everlasting Appeal". American Songwriter. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  36. ^ "'Man At Work' to play Towne Crier", SF Gate, 5:00 pm, Thursday, 8 April 2004.
  37. ^ Work keeps coming in for Colin Hay, SF Gate, 5:00 pm, Thursday, 5 July 2007.
  38. ^ Chris Johnston, "Lunch with Colin Hay", The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 January 2013.
  39. ^ "Men at Work star arrested for threats". Digital Spy. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  40. ^ "Men at Work guitarist threatened to kill singer, police say". Los Angeles Times. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  41. ^ Hay, Colin (25 February 2017). "Colin appears on FishCenter". Colin Hay. Tumblr. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  42. ^ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  43. ^ "Sia Presents Award to Fellow Aussie Colin Hay, Her 'Uncle Collie,' At Inaugural Global APRA Music Awards". Billboard. February 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  44. ^ Varvaris, Mary (13 April 2023). "Colin Hay Wins the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Aus Music at APRA Music Awards". theMusic.com.au. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  45. ^ a b "Winners by Award: Hall of Fame". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  46. ^ Lars Brandle (12 October 2022). "Rüfüs Du Sol Leads 2022 ARIA Awards Nominees (Full List)". The Music Network. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  47. ^ "And the 2020 Toyota Golden Guitar Awards Finalists Are..." TCMF. November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  48. ^ "Countdown to the Awards" (Portable document format (PDF)). Countdown Magazine. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). March 1987. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
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