‘Colin Hay: Waiting For My Real Life’ Is An Engaging Account Of Singer’s Life After Men At Work

What is success when you’ve already taken your band to the top of the pop charts? Can an artist be truly satisfied with their achievements if they don’t continue to reach the same heights as their past glories? Is commercial success more important than artistic success? These are some of the questions posed by Colin Hay: Waiting For My Real Life, the excellent and engaging 2015 documentary about the former lead singer of early ‘80s Australian hit makers Men at Work, which is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

From its inception in 1979 until its messy breakup in 1986, Hay was the frontman and principal songwriter of Men at Work. Thanks to their catchy melodies and memorable videos, the group sold over 30 million records worldwide and showed that an Australian band could be as commercially viable as those from Britain and America. But after the band’s demise, Hay struggled to find himself, both artistically and personally, before being rediscovered by another generation and crafting a new career for himself as a solo artist.

The film opens with a surprisingly diverse and impressive array of Hay’s admirers, from actors Zach Braff and fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman, to members of pop-punkers New Found Glory and metal band System of a Down, all singing the praises of the lazy-eyed singer-songwriter. Despite his everlasting association with “the land down under,” Hay was actually born in Scotland, a land he describes as “bleakly beautiful.” He grew up in a music shop, making his later life seem predetermined.

Due to his father’s distaste for Scotland’s terrible weather and the fact that Hay was a bronchial asthmatic, his family moved across the world to Australia in 1967, which he says, “was like going from black and white to technicolor.” He found his new country a much more open society, where religious differences didn’t matter and kids were bigger and stronger due to better diets and physical exertion under the warm antipodean sun. Hay’s ability with his guitar helped prevent him from getting pounded by his new neighbors who would make fun of his Scottish brogue.

Men At Work formed in Melbourne in 1979 and soon landed residencies in a number of local clubs, sometimes playing five nights a week, building up a dedicated following. They were signed in 1981 and watched their first single, “Who Can It Be Now,” become a hit everywhere but the United States, where the label refused to release it. The label eventually caved, and thanks to the song’s video finding favor on the newly launched MTV, saw it go straight number 1. The follow up single, “Down Under,” did the same, and crystalized the band’s personality as light-hearted wacky Australians and presented the culture of their home country to the world.

Men At Work’s 1983 follow up album, Cargo, was just as big a hit as their first record and that year the band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Hay enjoyed his success, treating his family to new cars, limousines, and caviar. However, oversaturation saw a pushback from American radio, the band soon began bickering over Hay getting most of the media attention and songwriting royalties. By the end of the year, two members were fired and soon another two quit, and the group disbanded for good in 1986.

Despite the massive success of his former band, Colin Hay’s solo career went nowhere. Frustrated by his commercial rejection, he became an alcoholic and a drug abuser. His wife left him and his family worried about his health. Then in 1991, he began putting the pieces of his life back together, got sober, and moved to Los Angeles.

He found strength in his new home and hometown and landed a regular gig at Largo, the artist-friendly dinner theater, known for its mixed bills of comedians and singer-songwriters. Now accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, and mixing his songs with personal anecdotes and self-deprecating humor, his shows consistently sold out and attracted fans from across the city’s cultural landscape. After actor Zach Braff brought Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence to one of his shows, Hay’s began making appearances on the show and his song “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You” was prominently featured in Braff’s 2004 movie Garden State.

Though he’s no longer selling out stadiums or topping the charts, Colin Hay continues to put out highly acclaimed new records and tour packed theaters around the world. His audience is now a mix of older Men At Work fans and those who know him primarily as a solo artist. Hay is immensely likeable, and Colin Hay: Waiting For My Real Life skillfully tells his story, from the heights of fame to the long painful drop down, and thankfully finds him now somewhere happily in-between. As he says at the film’s end, “Creativity is my salvation and going out on the road and those two hours and what you get from that is…you know…you get high.”

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter: @BHSmithNYC.

Where to stream Colin Hay: Waiting For My Real Life