again a single bought when it came out and since then it enjoyed a resurgence of fame for songwriter Colin Hay who has done this live and starred frequently in 'Scrubs' covered a killer version of 'Overkill' which we enjoyed immensely too! Quite what he was doing in that is beyond me but it made me laugh (see below)

On this day in music history: January 15, 1983 - “Down Under” by Men At Work hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks (non-consecutive). Written by Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, it is the second consecutive chart topping single for the pop/rock band from Melbourne, Australia. the song is about an Aussie native travelling the world and his encounters with people he meets along the way, with its chorus being a rebuke of greedy Australian land developers plundering the natural beauty of the continent by over development. Issued as the follow up to their US breakthrough hit “Who Can It Be Now?”, it quickly follows its predecessor to the top. Entering the Hot 100 at #79 on November 6, 1982, it climbs to the top of the chart ten weeks later. It tops the chart for three consecutive weeks, before being temporarily bumped from the number one spot by Toto’s “Africa” on February 5, 1983. “Down Under” then rebounds and takes the top spot for one more week on February 12, 1983. The single is Men At Work’s biggest hit on a worldwide basis, topping the charts in seven other countries including Australia. “Down Under” is also the subject of a lawsuit in 2009 when Larrikin Music, the copyright owners of the Aussie children’s song “Kookaburra” claim that the band plagiarized part of the song on “Down Under”. In spite of Hay and Strykert claiming in court that no plagiarism was intended, the court rules in favor of Larrikin Music receiving 5% of the publishing royalties for “Down Under” generated from 2002 to the present. “Down Under” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

(Alt Vers. = alternate version . . . .  oh don't do THAT - ED