by CHRIS BARRY

In the early 1980s Colin Hay and his band Men at Work were hailed as the biggest thing out of Australia since Air Supply. For almost 18 months they were untouchable, paving the way for such future '80s notables as Yahoo Serious and Jocko to come to these shores and amuse us all with their wacky Aussie antics and lovably stupid sounding accents.

And then, just like that, the Aussie cultural invasion was over. Surprise! But Colin Hay didn't decide to roll over and die after the spotlights dimmed. Living in L.A. and continuing to write and record albums you probably never knew existed, he's currently on the road touring Man at Work, a combo of music and storytelling all wrapped up into one neat little package.

M: Are people genuinely surprised to learn you have a flair for comedy?

CH: Well, I'm not really a comedian. It's not like I have a gag a minute. I tend to tell stories as opposed to gags. Many people just come to hear me play songs and are surprised when I make them laugh as well. You know Ray Davies' show? I suppose what I'm doing is pretty similar. Anecdotal performances, if you will.

M: So it's more Ray Davies than Shecky Greene then.

CH: Well, it was very loose for years, my approach. Eventually a couple of theatre producers approached me and asked me to formalize it, script it, in order for them to try to get some financial backing and get it in a theatre.

M: Were people really nasty to you after Men at Work went kinda south commercially. The old "put you up on a pedestal, and then resent you for it" syndrome?

CH:: Interestingly enough, I address this in my show. Part of it deals with all those kinds of things you feel - all those great moments, and also the moments when you're rejected. You have to develop ways to deal with that, and it's a tricky thing to negotiate sometimes. It can and has destroyed a lot of people, depending on how sensitive you are. That's one of the things I like about living in Los Angeles, there are a lot of other people like me here. People who are just trying to keep doing what they do. You can be anonymous and nobody really cares about you and…

M: Yup, you gotta love a town where nobody cares.

CH: Well, I quite like it. You've got about 30 seconds to say your piece, and then people move on unless you have something interesting to say.

M: Are you still writing as much music as you once might have?

CH: Yeah, I've got a studio in my basement. I've got a lot of half-finished tunes, but I'm really excited about coming home to go downstairs and work on them.

M: Did any of the money Men at Work generated ever make it your way?

CH: Well, I am originally from Scotland, you know. I've still got a few dollars.

Colin Hay appears solo on Friday, July 23, 7pm at Cabaret, $24.50, and as part of Late Nite Down Under on July 22–23, midnight at Kola Note, $22.50

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