Colin Hay

Colin Hay

Colin Hay (born Colin James Hay, 29 June 1953, Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, Scotland) is a Scottish-Australian musician, who made his mark during the 1980s as lead vocalist of the Australian band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay is married to singer Cecilia Noel, who often provides backup vocals at Hay's shows.

Early life and Men at Work

Hay was born in Scotland, but moved to Australia at the age of fourteen with his family. In 1978, Hay met Ron Strykert and the men began playing acoustic music as a duo. Soon after, Hay and Strykert formed the band Men at Work, adding Jerry Speiser (percussion), John Rees (bassist) and Greg Ham (flautist/saxophonist). The group released their debut album Business as Usual in 1981.

Later career

Following the breakup of Men at Work in 1985, Hay released several major label solo albums, including Looking for Jack (Columbia) and Wayfaring Sons (MCA), to some commercial success. In 2002 Hay appeared as the Troubadour in the Scrubs episode "My Overkill", and in 2004 he contributed to the Garden State soundtrack with his solo song "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You". In addition to recording, Hay also established his own recording label, Lazy Eye Records, and has made appearances in cult movies and television shows, such as The Larry Sanders Show, JAG, and The Mick Molloy Show. Hay's most recent television appearances have been on the NBC show "Scrubs", which along with episodes of ABC's "What About Brian", NBC's "The Black Donnellys" and the CBS drama "Cane" have included performances of some of his previous songs. Hay has also been a member of Ringo Starr's Eighth and Tenth All Starr Band. Also in a recent interview Colin hinted that he was working on new material, his fanbase predict an album in 2009.

Solo discography

• Looking for Jack (1987)
• Wayfaring Sons (1990)
• Peaks & Valleys (1992)
• Topanga (1994)
• Transcendental Highway (1998)
• Going Somewhere (2001)
• Company of Strangers (2002)
• Man @ Work (2003)
• Are You Lookin' at Me? (2007)

Trivia

• The band Lazlo Bane, whose song "Superman" is used as the theme for the television series Scrubs, has also performed the Men at Work song Overkill with Hay on guest vocal. Hay then went onto perform Overkill on the Scrubs episode "My Overkill" appearing in several scenes singing the song.

• In December 2005, Hay and Heather Mills digitally re-released "My Brilliant Feat" as a charity single as a tribute to the late footballer George Best, who died on 25 November of that year. Proceeds were forwarded to the Donor Family Network, supporting organ donor families and promoting organ and tissue donation. The single is available on iTunes with a bonus music video tribute to Best.

External links

• Official Homepage
• Colin Hay at IMDb
• Colin Hay at Allmusic.com
• Template:MySpace
• Interview with and performance by Hay on public radio program and podcast The Sound of Young America