Colin Hay, former lead singer of Men At Work, can identify with Justin Bieber’s fall from grace. He has been there too.
In the 80s Men At Work were the most successful Australian band in the world. The debut album ‘Business As Usual’ was simultaneously number one in the UK and USA.
Men At Work won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1983 and sold over 30 million albums. By 1986, the band was defunct, the hanger-on disappeared and the band members were alone.
Hay sent this advice to Justin Bieber in an open letter on this Facebook page:
Dear Mr. Beiber,
I am using you as a distraction, I have a show tonight, and I should be practising my pentatonics. I will, in a minute.
It would seem that your antics of late have caused comments from many, and predictably, those with the least amount of talent, lash with the harshest tongues. It happens. Your kind of success has always been precarious.
In the early 80s, I had monumental commercial success with my old band Men At Work, and although time and circumstances were different, some parallels can be drawn.
Our first album “Business As Usual” sold over 10 million copies, was number 1 on the Billboard charts for 16 weeks, until Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” knocked us off. Good company indeed.
We were kings for a couple of years. It was explosive. When the dust settled, I was alone. I looked around and everyone had left the party.
My acoustic guitar was sitting in the corner, and luckily for me, it waited patiently till I eventually picked it up. For only in creative endeavor and service to others, do we receive by default, some salvation. Nothing else is important, everything else is distraction, like this note to you. But I felt compelled to write to you, albeit indirectly.
I don’t know you, but I care about you, as you are a little one, like all of us, and in the end we all cry for our mama. The person holding your diet coke and slice of pizza is not necessarily your friend, and when your entourage shrinks, whether by design or circumstance, be glad, and just breathe.
We know you can sing, dance, and apparently are quite handy with a spray can. But, we haven’t really heard you speak. Only time will tell if you have something to say.
Colin
Watch Colin Hay perform Norwegian Wood at Noise11.com
Watch Colin Hay perform Goodnight Romeo/Prison Time at Noise11.com
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