Gregory Norman Ham (27 September 1953 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian musician, best known as a member of the 1980s band

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band that was formed in Melbourne, 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", " Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and ...

. He played saxophone, flute, organ, piano, and synthesizer.

Early life

Ham was born in Melbourne and attended

Camberwell Grammar School Camberwell Grammar School is an independent, single sex, Anglican primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Canterbury, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Camberwell Church of England Grammar School was founde ...

from 1964 to 1971.Gallery of Achievement: Mr Greg Ham (1971)
Old Camberwell Grammarians′ Association, 2008. According to the school's year books, he was remembered for his acting talent in school plays, particularly '' The World We Live In'' (the insect comedy) in 1969 where he played the "parasite". In 1970 he played Mr Seekamp, editor of the ''Ballarat Time''s, in ''Lola Montez'' and, in 1971, Puff in ''The Critic''. In 1967 Ham was photographed airborne by J. Jones in a still photo which won first prize in the Ilford Competition.

Career

Men at Work

In 1972, Ham met

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician. 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 is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His ...

via mutual friend Kym Gyngell. In 1979, he joined the original lineup of

with Hay, Ron Strykert, and Jerry Speiser. Ham and Hay formed the core of the band from 1979 until 1985 when Ham left, and the band broke up shortly afterward. Ham returned to Men at Work when they reformed in 1996 to tour the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Ham played

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

, keyboards,

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

for the group, as well as performing backing vocals. He sang lead vocals on songs such as "Helpless Automaton" and "I Like To." Ham also performed the saxophone solo in the song "

Who Can It Be Now? "Who Can It Be Now?" is a song by Australian band Men at Work. It was released in Australia in 1981, prior to the recording of their 1981 debut album '' Business as Usual'', on which the track was later included as its opening track. "Who Can ...

" (a rehearsal take was used in the final mix) and improvised the flute riff in the song " Down Under". In 1983, Ham, as a member of Men at Work, won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...

Lawsuit and plagiarism accusation

Larrikin Records bought the rights to the 1930s children's song "Kookaburra" in 1990 for $6,100. In 2009, music publisher Larrikin Music, then headed by Norman Lurie (now retired), sued Men at Work and their record label EMI for plagiarism, alleging that the flute riff copied the 1934 nursery rhyme "

Kookaburra Kookaburras (pronounced ) are terrestrial animal, terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri language, Wira ...

", to which they owned the publishing rights. The

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

ruled that "Down Under" did infringe the copyright of "Kookaburra" and awarded Larrikin 5% of the song's royalties backdated to 2002. Several appeals by EMI and Men at Work were unsuccessful. In an interview with ''The Age'' newspaper, Ham said he was deeply affected by the judgment and felt it tarnished his reputation, saying: "I'm terribly disappointed that that's the way I'm going to be remembered—for copying something."

Later career

Ham played brass and keyboard with the R&B band Relax with Max, with frontman Max Vella, girlfriend Linda "Toots" Wostry, on saxophone, James Black on keyboard, David Adam and Ross Hannaford on guitar and John James "JJ" Hackett on drums. Relax with Max played at the Metropol in Fitzroy and on ABC's television comedy ''While You're Down There'' and at the Falls Creek music festival. They supported Australian artists including

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

and American soul singers

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

and

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

. Ham also performed regularly with jazz ensemble Miss Dorothy and His Fools in Love. Later in life, Ham taught guitar at Carlton North Primary School and assessed music students for the

Victorian Certificate of Education The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is the credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 10, 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria as well as in some international schools i ...

(VCE).

Death

Ham was found dead on 19 April 2012 at his home in Carlton North, Melbourne. Several newspapers listed the cause as a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Friends of Ham had told newspapers that he had a long battle with

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

addiction, which had escalated after the Kookaburra trial. It is known that he was depressed and suffering anxiety over the copyright lawsuit filed against him and the members of Men at Work for the alleged similarities between "Kookaburra" and the flute riff in "Down Under". Ham's private funeral was held at the

Fitzroy Town Hall Fitzroy Town Hall is a civic building located in Napier Street in Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It was constructed in two separate stages. The first consisted of a hall and tower which was designed by William J. Ellis and built i ...

in Melbourne on 2 May 2012. He was survived by his two children. Colin Hay remembered Ham as “a great, great friend and a great guy” who was a "very inspired and instinctive" musician."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ham, Greg 1953 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Australian pianists Australian keyboardists Australian multi-instrumentalists Australian new wave musicians Australian saxophonists Australian male saxophonists Men at Work members Musicians from Melbourne People educated at Camberwell Grammar School Australian male pianists Deaths from coronary artery diseas 20th-century Australian flautists