Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and 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 frontman is Colin Hay, who performs on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert during 1978–79, Hay formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar and Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone, and keyboards and John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert switching back to lead guitar. The group was managed by Russell Depeller, a friend of Hay, whom he met at La Trobe University. This line-up achieved national and international success during the early to mid 1980s.
Wendy Joan Matthews is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including "Token Angels", "Let's Kiss ", "The Day You Went Away" and "Friday's Child" with Top 20 albums, You've Always Got The Blues, Émigré, Lily, The Witness Tree and her compilation, Stepping Stones. She has won six Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane she provides "extraordinary, crystal-clear vocals [...] a soulfulness that was the mark of a truly gifted singer".
Icehouse are a rock band from Sydney, formed in 1977 as Flowers. Initially known in Australia for their pub-rock style, the band later achieved mainstream success playing new-wave and synthpop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse", adopted in 1981, comes from an old, cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.
Mental As Anything are an Australian new wave and pop rock band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up was Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne de Lisle on drums; and Andrew "Greedy" Smith on vocals, keyboards and harmonica. Their original hit songs were generated by Mombassa, O'Doherty, Plaza and Smith, either individually or collectively; they also hit the Australian charts with covers of songs by Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.
"Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman Neil Finn, and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from the album.
"Truganini" is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil from their eighth studio album, Earth and Sun and Moon (1993). It was inspired by Truganini, a Nuenonne woman from south-east Tasmania. The song uses a recurring Australian issue—drought—to pose the question "what for?", meaning "why did Europeans bother to colonise this harsh place?" The song mentions two prominent indigenous Australians whose lives were altered by European settlement and discusses current day sentiment towards the old country, namely the monarchy.
"Disappear" is a song by Australian rock band INXS, the second single taken from their seventh studio album, X (1990). The song was written by Jon Farriss and Michael Hutchence while they were living together in Hong Kong in 1989.
"Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australian alternative rock band The Church, released on 15 February 1988, and appears on their fifth studio album Starfish. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Kilbey and his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson of Curious (Yellow). It peaked at No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 24 on the United States Billboard Hot 100, No. 25 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and appeared in the Dutch Single Top 100. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, the song won 'Single of the Year'. It was issued simultaneously in both 7" vinyl and 12" vinyl formats by Arista Records (internationally) and Mushroom Records.
"Tomorrow" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair, which was released on 16 September 1994 on their debut extended play album, also titled Tomorrow. The song was later released on Frogstomp, the band's debut studio album, in 1995. Written by lead singer and guitarist Daniel Johns and drummer Ben Gillies, it was produced and engineered by Phil McKellar at the national radio station Triple J's studios for SBS-TV's show, Nomad, which aired on 16 June 1994. After the broadcast the band were signed to the Murmur label – a Sony Music subsidiary – which subsequently issued the Tomorrow EP.
"Under the Water" is a pop song written in 1990 by Owen Bolwell and Stanley Paulzen, produced by Siew for Merril Bainbridge's first album The Garden (1995). The song is about a lover who drowned.
"Something So Strong" is a rock song written by Neil Finn and Mitchell Froom and performed by Crowded House for their eponymous debut album. The track was released as the album's fifth and final single in April 1987. The single peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 3 in New Zealand, No. 7 in the United States Billboard Hot 100, and No. 10 on the Canadian RPM 100.
"Fall at Your Feet" is a 1991 song by Crowded House, from their 1991 album, Woodface. It is the only single from Woodface to be written solely by the group's leader Neil Finn, who co-wrote all other singles from the album with his brother Tim Finn. It peaked at number 17 in the UK, making it Woodface's second most successful single behind the follow-up, "Weather with You".
"Weather with You" is a song by Australian-New Zealand rock band Crowded House. It was the third and most successful single released from the group's third studio album Woodface (1991), reaching top 50 in 10 countries, including the United Kingdom, where it reached number seven. At the APRA Music Awards of 1994, the song won Most Performed Australian Work Overseas. The song was intended to be part of the Finn Brothers' unreleased 1990 debut, but after Capitol Records found the recordings, they were merged with a Crowded House session to become Woodface.
Donald Hugh Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter who wrote many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. Walker is considered to be one of Australia's best songwriters. In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
"Blue Sky Mine" is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released in February 1990 as the first single from their seventh studio album, Blue Sky Mining (1990). The song was inspired by the experiences of workers at the Wittenoom asbestos mines who contracted various asbestos-related diseases. The "blue" refers to blue asbestos, and the "sugar refining company" refers to the Colonial Sugar Refining Company Ltd, the owner of the mines.
"The Day You Went Away" is a song originally recorded by the project Soul Family Sensation in 1991. Australian singer-songwriter Wendy Matthews' cover was released in 1992 as the lead single from her second solo studio album, Lily (1992). The song debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in August 1992, eventually peaking at No. 2 in December of the same year. This is Matthews' highest-charting single on the Australian chart. In the United Kingdom and Europe, the song was released on rooART in 1993 but was not a hit. Matthews subsequently included the song on her 1999 Greatest Hits album, Stepping Stones, and her 2007 compilation album, The Essential Wendy Matthews.
Roger Ashley Mason is an Australian keyboardist who has been a member of new wave groups Models, Absent Friends and Icehouse. He was a session and backing musician for United Kingdom's Gary Numan and for various Australian artists. From the early 1990s he has composed music for television and feature films.
"Two Strong Hearts" is a song written by Andy Hill and Bruce Woolley. Australian singer John Farnham recorded the song and released it as the second single from his 13th studio album, Age of Reason (1988). The song peaked at number six on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in October 1988. At the APRA Music Awards of 1990, the song won the Most Performed Overseas Work award.
