You know the kid smile, the crooked eyebrow and the voice, but unless you’ve tuned in to the music of Colin Hay in the past few years, you don’t know his music.
Sure, Hay — the former front man of ’80s mega-pop band “Men at Work” — still plays the hits that he made famous, including “Down Under” and “Who Can It Be Now,” plus plenty of new tunes. But the post-Men At Work difference is that Hay is now master of his own destiny, playing his own work — including several famous songs — the way he wrote them. That means they’re a bit slower, in different keys, and much darker.
“I’m not the kind of songwriter that specifically collaborates with other people,” Hay said. “I’m not against it, I’m just not planning to do it. I don’t really have that kind of organized schedule.”
That’s likely a relief after the madness of Men at Work, which kept the band constantly on the road touring and playing major festivals when the group wasn’t recording videos for the then-new MTV. Little wonder that after about six years of playing the songs the way record industry execs prescribed — up-tempo and sugary sweet — the band that won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist broke up.
“I really am lucky,” Hay said. “For one minute, my band was king of the world. I know what it’s like to achieve that.”
After Men at Work, Hay went into various musical projects and finally settled on a solo career playing to single-digit audiences for years. Whether it’s constant touring, a renaissance of ’80s music or just karma, Hay’s loyal audience has begun to take off, packing clubs.
Now on his second swing through the area supporting the 2007 album “Are You Lookin’ At Me,” Hay can be expected to once again pack the house. At one of his last area shows, which appeared to be near capacity, fans greeted the former MTV star with enthusiastic applause and cheers as he played his songs in the slower tempos in which he wrote them. If anyone was nostalgic for the up-tempo, sweet ’80s versions of those songs that featured woodwinds and brass instruments, you sure couldn’t tell.
“It is quite exciting at the moment,” Hay said. “The year is over before you even realize it.”
If you go
Colin Hay with Janet Robin
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria
Details: $25; 202-397-7328, ticketmaster.com
