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Business as Usual Original Australian vinyl cover art  by Released9 November 1981 / June, 1982(US)RecordedMarch–September 1981 at Richmond Recorders, , , Length38:11 / Peter McIan chronologyBusiness as Usual
(1981)
(1983) from Business as Usual ""
Released: 6 June 1981 ""
Released: October 1981 ""
Released: April 1982 "Underground"
Released: 1982

Business as Usual is the debut album of Australian  band , which was released in November 1981 in Australia, and April 1982 in the United States. The group members were  on flute, saxophone, keyboards and vocals;  on vocals and guitar; John Rees on bass guitar;  on drums and backing vocals; and  on lead guitar and vocals. It spent nine weeks at the top of the Australian  Albums Chart from December 1981 through to March 1982. The Australian version had a black and white cover design; overseas releases had a similar design but in a black and yellow colour scheme. Business as Usual was one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. It spent an unprecedented 15 weeks at No. 1 on the US  from late 1982 to early 1983; and five weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom  in early 1983. Business as Usual was also one of the highest selling Australian albums in the early 1980s, with 6 million copies sold in the US, and 15 million sold worldwide. Surprisingly, the disc also made it to #31 on 's Black Albums chart.

The first single from the album, "", was released in Australia in June 1981, prior to the recording of the rest of the album. It reached No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in August that year. The second single, "", which was issued in October peaked at No. 1 for six weeks. A third single, "", appeared in April the following year and reached No. 8.

In February 2010 a Federal Court judge in Sydney found that the flute riff from "Down Under" had been plagiarised from the Australian song "", written in 1934 by Marion Sinclair. The Federal Court determined that the copyright was still current (Sinclair died in 1988) and had been assigned to Larrikin Music. The judge found that "a substantial amount of the original song" had been reproduced in "Down Under". Larrikin Music had suggested 60% of the royalties would be appropriate compensation, but the court decreed they shall receive only 5%, and only on mechanical rights for the song since 2002, and on future profits.

In October 2010, Business as Usual was listed in the book, .

Background

By early 1981, Australian new wave group,  consisted of the late  on flute, saxophone, keyboards and vocals;  on vocals and guitar; John Rees on bass guitar;  on drums and backing vocals; and  on lead guitar and vocals. Hay was the group's main songwriter both on his own, with Strykert, or with other band mates. The group signed with the Australian branch of , which issued their second single, ', in June that year. As record producer they used United States-born Peter McIan (, ). The track was one written by Hay alone, and, in August, it peaked at No. 2 on the Australian  Singles Chart.

The group had already returned to the studio to continue working with McIan, who produced their debut album, Business as Usual, which included the earlier single. The second single from the album, "", appeared in October and was a reworked version of the  to their debut single, "Keypunch Operator", from the previous year. "Down Under" was co-written by Hay and Strykert, and became the group's first number-one hit in December – which stayed at the top for six weeks. The album was released on 9 November 1981, it entered the top 50 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart in December peaking at No. 1 for nine weeks and appearing in the top 50 for 118 weeks.

Reception Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingB+

Australian , , described Business as Usual: "Aside from the strength of the music, part of the [its] appeal was its economy. The production sound was low-key, but clean and uncluttered. Indeed, the songs stood by themselves with little embellishment save for a bright, melodic, singalong quality". Gerry Raffaele for  felt "[it] generally stays at a high level, tight and jerky, although I still favour the tracks which have appeared as singles ... There is a delicacy about this music — and that is not a thing you can say about too many rock groups".

Accolades Countdown Music and Video Awards YearNominee/workAwardResultBusiness as UsualBest Debut AlbumWon""Best Debut SingleWonMen at WorkBest New TalentWonMen at WorkMost Outstanding AchievementWon Grammy Awards YearNominee/workAwardResultMen at Work (performer)Won Track listing Side oneNo.TitleWriter(s)Length1.""3:252."I Can See It in Your Eyes"Hay3:323.""Hay, 3:454."Underground"Hay3:075."Helpless Automaton"3:23Side twoNo.TitleWriter(s)Length6."People Just Love to Play with Words"Strykert3:337.""Hay, Ham3:398."Touching the Untouchables"Hay, Strykert3:419."Catch a Star"Hay3:3110."Down by the Sea"Hay, Strykert, Ham, 6:53