Cheat Sheet: Colin Hay

Cheat Sheet: Colin Hay

The lead singer for Men at Work -- who, by the way, wasn't even born in the land down under -- lives in L.A. these days and has even appeared on a sitcom: Aidin Vaziri | Colin Hay is the former lead singer and songwriter for the '80s Grammy Award-winning group Men at Work. Men at Work -- weren't they a bit like Duran Duran with bad haircuts? Er, not really. But the Australian group sold 10 million copies of its debut album, "Business as Usual," and scored nearly as many hits as its British counterparts in the early '80s with singles such as "Down Under," "Who Can It Be Now?" and "It's a Mistake." Its videos were also all over MTV, even though they prominently featured Hay's mad stare and championed the disgusting Aussie condiment Vegemite. So what's he been doing for the past 21 years? Men at Work called it quits in 1985 and two years later, Hay released his solo debut album, "Looking for Jack." Its lead single, "Hold Me," just managed to graze the top 100. Since then, he's relocated to Los Angeles, released seven more discs, including 2003's "Man at Work," and played semiregular residencies at intimate West Hollywood hipster hangout Cafe Largo. "I play there as an interim thing until I figure out my next plan of attack," Hay says. It's also where he met Zach Braff. Wait, do you mean Zach Braff, as seen on TV? Exactly. The "Scrubs" actor approached Hay about using his song "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" in a movie he was working on. That film turned out to be "Garden State," and the song appeared on its Grammy Award-winning soundtrack, alongside cuts by the Shins, Thievery Corporation, and Iron and Wine. In his monthly Esquire column, singer John Mayer breathlessly proclaimed Hay's track "without a doubt my favorite song of the year."