Editing Men at Work (section)

===Origins===
The nucleus of Men at Work formed in Melbourne around June 1979 with [[Colin Hay]] on lead vocals and guitar, Ron Strykert on bass guitar, and [[Jerry Speiser]] on drums. They were soon joined by [[Greg Ham]] on flute, sax and keyboards, and then John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert switching to lead guitar.<ref name="McFarlane"/> Hay had immigrated to Australia in 1967 from Scotland with his family.<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> In 1978, he had formed an acoustic duo with Strykert, which expanded by mid-1979 with the addition of Speiser. Around this time as a side project, keyboardist Greg Sneddon (ex-Alroy Band),<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Best Music"/> a former bandmate of Jerry Speiser, together with Speiser, Hay and Strykert, performed and recorded the music to "Riff Raff", a low budget stage musical, upon which Sneddon had worked.

Hay asked Greg Ham to join the group, but Ham hesitated, as he was finishing his music degree.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} Ultimately, he decided to join the band in October 1979. John Rees, a friend of Jerry, joined soon after. The name Men At Work was thrown into the hat by Colin Hay, and was seconded by Ron Strykert, when a name was required to put on the blackboard outside The Cricketer's Arms Hotel, [[Richmond, Victoria|Richmond]].<ref name="Contraband"/> The band built a "grass roots" reputation as a [[Pub rock (Australia)|pub rock]] band.<ref name="McFarlane"/> In 1980, the group issued their debut single, "Keypunch Operator" backed by "[[Down Under (song)|Down Under]]", with both tracks co-written by Hay and Strykert.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="APRA Down"/> It was "self-financed" and appeared on their own independent, M. A. W. label.<ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Holmgren"/> Australian musicologist, [[Ian McFarlane]], felt the A-side was "a fast-paced country-styled rocker with a clean sound and quirky rhythm".<ref name="McFarlane"/> Despite not appearing in the top&nbsp;100 on the Australian [[Kent Music Report]] Singles Chart,<ref name="Kent"/> by the end of that year the group had "grown in stature to become the most in-demand and highly paid, unsigned band of the year".<ref name="McFarlane"/>