''Two Hearts'' is the third and final studio album by Australian rock group

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 ...

, released on 23 April 1985.Feely, Marty. "June Hot Album Releases." Billboard 01 June 1985: 74. Print. Drummer Jerry Speiser and bassist John Rees had left the band prior to the album's production, while guitarist Ron Strykert left the band during recording sessions. Touring behind the album saw sole remaining members

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 ...

and

Greg Ham 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. He played saxophone, flute, organ, piano, and synthesizer. Early life Ham was born in Melbourne and attend ...

joined by guest musicians. It peaked at No. 16 in Australia, and No. 50 on the US chart.

Background

During 1984 the band took a break as members pursued other interests. Upon reconvening later that year, tensions during rehearsals between Hay and Speiser over songwriting and the band's management led to a split in the band. Both Rees and Speiser were told they were "not required", as Hay, Ham and Strykert used session musicians in their stead: primarily Jeremy Alsop on bass guitar (ex-Ram Band, Pyramid,

Broderick Smith Broderick Smith (17 February 1948 – 30 April 2023) was an English-born Australian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and sometime actor. He was a member of 1970s bands Sundown, Carson, and The Dingoes. In the 1980s, he was part of Br ...

) and Mark Kennedy on drums (

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, Ayers Rock,

Marcia Hines Marcia Elaine Hines AM (born July 20, 1953) is an American-born Australian singer and TV personality. Hines made her debut, at the age of 16, in the Australian production of the stage musical ''Hair'' and followed with the role of Mary Magdalen ...

). Strykert, though credited as a full band member on the finished album, left the group shortly before the album sessions ended, appearing on eight of the ten tracks.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said "Australia's most successful (in America) pop band returns from a lengthy hiatus with a well-polished and oft times hard rocking effort which lends meat to the Men At Work legacy. Colin Hay's quirky and distinctive vocals and lyrics are still intact and the groups' execution is much improved. Look for a good response to the singles 'Everything I Need' and 'Man with Two Hearts'." In a brief retrospective review, ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

called it "a bland, synthesized variation on mainstream pop, featuring none of the melodic sensibilities or subtle humor of their first two albums."

Tour

Hay and Ham hired new band mates to tour in support of ''Two Hearts'', with Alsop and Kennedy joined by James Black on guitar and keyboards (

Mondo Rock Mondo Rock are an Australian rock band, formed in November 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria. Singer-songwriter Ross Wilson (musician), Ross Wilson founded the band, following the split of his previous band Daddy Cool (band), Daddy Cool. Guitarist Er ...

The Black Sorrows The Black Sorrows are an Australian blues rock band formed in 1983 by mainstay vocalist Joe Camilleri (ex-Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons), who also plays saxophone and guitar. Camilleri has used various line-ups to record 17 albums, with five reachin ...

). Soon after a third guitarist, Colin Bayley ( Mi-Sex), was added and Kennedy was replaced on drums by

Chad Wackerman Chad Wackerman (born March 25, 1960) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and rock drummer, who has played with Frank Zappa and Allan Holdsworth. He has worked as a band member, session musician, sideman, and bandleader. He is the older brother o ...

(

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

). Australian singers

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the rock, soul, jazz and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her single " Bedroom Eyes" re ...

and

Renée Geyer Renée Rebecca Geyer (11 September 195317 January 2023) was an Australian singer who was an acclaimed jazz, soul and R&B musician.* 1st edition nline * 2nd edition rint She released 15 studio albums with '' Moving Along'' (1977) and ...

had also worked on the album and performed live as guest vocalists. On 13 July 1985 Men at Work performed three tracks for the Oz for Africa concert (part of the global

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

program)—"Maria", "Overkill", and an unreleased one, "The Longest Night". They were broadcast in Australia (on both

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

and

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

) and on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in the US. "Maria" and "Overkill" were also broadcast by

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

(ABC) during their Live Aid telecast. Ham left during the band's time touring behind the album. The final Men at Work performances during 1985 had jazz saxophonist Paul Williamson (The Black Sorrows), replacing Ham. By early 1986 the band was defunct and Hay started recording his first solo album, '' Looking for Jack'' (January 1987), which had Alsop and Wackerman as session musicians.

Track listing

Personnel

;Men at Work *

- keyboards;

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 ...

; drum programming on "Giving Up", "Snakes and Ladders", and "Still Life"; lead vocals on "Giving Up", "Stay at Home", and "Still Life"; backing vocals on "Everything I Need" *

- acoustic guitar; electric guitar (except on "Sail to You", "Hard Luck Story", and "Still Life"); drum programming (except on "Snakes and Ladders" and "Still Life"); lead vocals (except on "Giving Up", "Stay at Home", and "Still Life"); backing vocals; additional keyboards and

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

on "Man With Two Hearts"; electric

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

on "Maria"; bass and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

on "Hard Luck Story"; drums on "Everything I Need" and "Hard Luck Story" * Ron Strykert - electric and steel guitars (except on "Everything I Need" and "Snakes and Ladders"); acoustic guitar on "Maria"; bass on "Man With Two Hearts" ;Session musicians *Jeremy Alsop -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(except on "Man With Two Hearts", "Everything I Need", and "Hard Luck Story") *James Black -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

on "Snakes and Ladders" *George Butrumlis -

piano accordion A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deir ...

on "Maria" *

- backing

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

on "Giving Up" and "Stay at Home" *Phil Colson -

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

on "Everything I Need" *Paul Gadsby - bass on "Everything I Need" *

- lead vocal on "Maria" *J.J. Hacket -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

on "Maria" * Mark Kennedy - percussion; drums on "Man With Two Hearts", "Giving Up", "Sail to You", and "Stay at Home" ;Production *Colin Hay, Greg Ham - Producers *Russell Deppeler - Management *Colin Hay, Greg Ham, Bob Clearmountain - Mixing, except "Children on Parade" *Tim Kramer, Colin Hay, Greg Ham - Mixing, "Children on Parade"

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1985 albums Men at Work albums Columbia Records albums