Men At Work – Down Under (Extended Mix) (Australia 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1986

NEW 2023 Transfer
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration

Originally posted January 23, 2013

AN 80s AUDITORY ICON

“Down Under” is a song recorded by Australian rock band Men at Work. It was originally released in 1980 as the B-side to their first local single, “Keypunch Operator”, released before the band signed with Columbia Records. Both early songs were written by the group’s co-founders, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert. The early version of “Down Under” has a slightly different tempo and arrangement from the later Columbia release. The best-known version was then released on Columbia in 1981 as the second single from their debut album Business as Usual (1981).

The hit song went to number one in their home country Australia in December 1981, and then topped the New Zealand charts in February 1982. The song topped the Canadian charts in October 1982. In the United States, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on 6 November 1982 at No. 79, and reached No. 1 in January 1983. Topping the US Billboard chart for four non-consecutive weeks, it eventually sold over two million copies in the US alone. Billboard ranked it at No. 4 for 1983. In the UK, the song topped the charts in January and February 1983: the only Men at Work song to make the UK top 20. The song also went to No. 1 in Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland, and was a top 10 hit in many other countries.

“Down Under” is perceived as a patriotic song in Australia; it remains popular and is often played at sporting events. In January 2018, as part of Triple M’s “Ozzest 100”, the ‘most Australian’ songs of all time so far, “Down Under” was ranked number 2 behind Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sanh”.

Colin Hay told Songfacts: “The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the over-development of the country. It was a song about the loss of spirit in that country. It’s really about the plundering of the country by greedy people. It is ultimately about celebrating the country, but not in a nationalistic way and not in a flag-waving sense. It’s really more than that.

This 12″ was released in Australia to promote the band’s first Greatest Hits package, “81-85, ” issued in November 1986.

SIDE A:
Down Under (Extended Mix) 5:29
Engineer – Ian MacKenzie*
Mixed By – Greg Ham
Music By – Strykert*
Words By, Music By – Hay*

SIDE B:
Sail To You (Extended Mix) 5:50
Mixed By – François Kevorkian
Producer – Colin HayGreg Ham
Written-By – C. HayG. HamR. Strykert*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1982 Down Under U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #1
1982 Down Under U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks #13
1982 Down Under U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play #33
1982 Down Under U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks #1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: CBS – BA 12229
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Australia
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: New wave, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

NOTES:
Limited Edition

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


Password: burningtheground

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Carlos
Carlos
August 24, 2023 3:54 pm

Muchas gracias Paul!!!

negative1
August 24, 2023 7:46 am

hi paul, great selection. i only discovered the long version a few years ago. because i never saw an import, and didn’t really know about remixes at the time. this is my favorite song from them, and they are one of the first concerts i ever attended. its too bad that they had so much pressure on them, after doing so well. the second album was ok, but not as good, and they dropped off the scene after that. i’ve seen them in concert recently, but its mostly the lead singer colin hay with other members, and they still sound… Read more »

Retro Hound
Retro Hound
August 24, 2023 4:13 am

They won the Grammy for Best New Artist, and well deserved! They really were a breath of fresh air (to borrow from Jeff). I didn’t realize you had posted this 10 years ago, but thrilled for your new meticulous transfer. Thank you Paul!

Grant
Grant
August 23, 2023 7:21 pm

Thanks for this DJPaul!

ING
ING
August 23, 2023 7:20 pm

Such another awesome memory. Prime “I want my MTV era” music for me! Some songs can’t be separated from their videos!

Martika
Martika
August 23, 2023 3:18 pm

I don’t know what it is about 80s Ozz music, but I absolutely love it. It seems that Australian bands (like Men At Work, INXS, Icehouse, Real Life, Midnight Oil, Divinyls, The Church, Kids In The Kitchen) found the perfect balance between guitar rock and synthpop. Glad to finally have a perfect transfer of the extended remix! Thank you, Paul!

Martika
Martika
Reply to  Martika
August 23, 2023 3:20 pm

For completists: The 1st M@W single with the original version on the flipside: DOWN UNDER

ING
ING
Reply to  Martika
August 23, 2023 7:19 pm

Awesome I was just about to ask Paul if he had that!

Martika
Martika
Reply to  ING
August 24, 2023 11:36 am

yeah, it’s quite clear that the original would NOT have been a major hit … lol … amazing what a good producer can pull out of a song!

Jeff
Jeff
August 23, 2023 10:48 am

Good choice, Paul!! Men At Work was a breath of fresh air for me. Loved their debut single, “Who Can It Be Now” so this turned out to be a terrific follow up. My roommate, Doug, bought the album on the basis of this song. He really enjoyed the flute playing.

Thanks, Paul, for these Pop/Dance 12-inchers. Gosh, I miss the 1980’s.

Jeff

Jeff
Jeff
Reply to  DjPaulT
August 29, 2023 10:51 am

Paul, this was such a find for me as I’ve never heard this version before. Most excellent!!!

Jeff