Favorite Male Vocalist
Back in the day I was an instant fan of Men at Work and I still proudly own all their albums. That's right, vinyl. Old school. I was pretty broken up when the band broke up, but I happen to luck up one day and see that the lead singer Colin James Hay had released a solo album, "Looking For Jack". It was awesome.
Sadly I never heard of another release and he drifted into obscurity in my mind. Another great performer bites the dust. The problem, it turns out wasn't that he stopped making music. The problem was he was in Australia, and I was in Podunk USA buying my music from Roses.
Fans of the show Scrubs brought to my attention that there was this guy Colin Hay that was performing songs for the show and sometimes in the show. I caught a link from Youtube and it turned out it was the same guy, only better.
Time has a way of making male performers voices richer, and their lyrics better. This was true for Sting, Billy Joel, and others. It was also true for Colin Hay. Plus he is one of those rare performers who sounds exactly the same way live as he does in the studio.
One of the first tracks I have heard in my rediscovery has been "Beautiful World". I don't know if it is mostly the sound, mostly the lyrics, or the package as a whole. It pretty much is exactly the song I want to hear because it feels like the song which describes how I'm feeling. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the song as much as I do. Check it out below, in this live performance. You know, it really is a beautiful world.
Comments
Wow that was nice.
Did you notice his guitar? It sounded like he had a banjo backing him up, really cool sound.
I don't miss the town but I sure miss the coast.
Posted by: Rob | April 4, 2007 11:29 AM
I found Colin Hay through Scrubs as well. This is the song I fell in love with. You have to excuse the fact that someone edited Scrubs to fit the song (really pretty depressing). Instead, just close your eyes and enjoy the the music and lyrics.
"Waiting for my Real Life to Begin"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9sFMcwnw-E
Posted by: gypsyrdrnnr | April 4, 2007 4:58 PM
If you like those songs, check out some of his others:
Maggie
My Brilliant Feat
I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You
Wash It All Away
He actually has several albums (Looking for Jack is actually a song on the 'Going Somewhere' album):
Topanga
Transcendental Highway
Peaks and Valleys
Going Somewhere
Company of Strangers
and I believe even one called 'Man at Work'.
Check out his official site at http://www.colinhay.com/
Me, a fan? Nooooo. ;)
Posted by: Mario | April 5, 2007 12:15 PM
Yesterday I ordered Man @ Work and Going Somewhere from Amazon. :)
I have noticed that he redoes a lot of his own earlier work. For instance, both CD's I purchased have versions of "Beautiful World".
Posted by: Woody Cavenaugh | April 5, 2007 1:02 PM