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Colin Hay’s first covers collection is a cracker, showca By Jeff Jenkins
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tuck at home during lockdown, Colin Hay was moved by the passing of Gerry Marsden. The lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers, who had an actual pacemaker inserted after heart surgery, died in January this year when a blood infection travelled to his heart. Hay started singing his favourite Pacemakers song, ‘Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying’, which was a hit in 1964 when Hay was 11 and living in Saltcoats in Scotland, three years before the Hay family moved to Melbourne. “Your heart may be broken tonight,” Hay sang in his home studio, “but tomorrow in the morning light, don’t let the sun catch you crying.” Hay sent his recording to his friend and co-producer Chad Fischer, who said, “This is great, send me another!” So, Hay recorded ‘Waterloo Sunset’. And then ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘Norwegian Wood’. Before he knew it, he had recorded 10 of his favourite songs, celebrating his childhood heroes – “they hit with such strength and power, there was really just The Beatles and then everyone else” – to the most recent song, ‘Driving With The Brakes On’ by Del Amitri, “a great Scottish band”. Hay had been planning to release a new originals album, Now and the Evermore, in 2021 – he released the title track as a single last year – but his label, Nashville’s Compass Records, suggested delaying the release until he could tour post-COVID. Hay calls the covers collection “an interim record, something to keep you going while you’re waiting”. It’s aptly titled: I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself. Colin Hay completists will also be pleased to learn that his solo debut, 1987’s Looking For Jack, is finally available digitally. “It took a long time for Sony to actually acknowledge they even had that record. I tried to buy it from them, but they made it financially impossible. But now they’ve made it available, which is good.” Hay has also revisited his catalogue online, with “Men At Work Mondays” and “Tuesday’s Talk”, where he chats about each of the songs. It’s a fascinating insight into the Melbourne band that spent 15 weeks at number one in the US with their debut album, Business As Usual, which was released 40 years ago.
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YouTube also features Hay’s appearance on The Larry Sanders Show. “He was a genius,” Hay says when I ask about Garry Shandling, who played Larry Sanders. “I got to know him a bit. He came to see a show of mine at Largo. I was just about to go on stage and he said, ‘I’m not going to stay.’” But at the end of the night, Shandling greeted Hay backstage. “I stayed. It was strong. I want you to be on my show.” “I had a song called ‘Can’t Take This Town’ and he heard it that night,” Hay explains. “I think it fitted a Larry Sanders storyline, where he’s thinking about leaving because all the corporate stuff is driving him nuts.” Hay remembers sitting nervously in the dressing room. “I was there for hours before I was called. The scripts were so brilliant, every single show was like a precious jewel. It was all scripted – except the bit where I sat on the set with Larry, that wasn’t scripted at all. And I was terrified. “Garry kept walking into my dressing room, with his head in his hands, saying, ‘Oh, what are we going to do? … Oh, we’ll be fine.’ And then he’d walk out. “The level of my terror was growing by the minute.” Hay and Shandling ended up riffing for about 15 minutes, which was edited to a 45-second chat about Hay’s lazy eye. “I think it’s a gift,” the talk show host said. “I wish I could look away.” As the Larry Sanders audience applauded, Shandling turned to Hay and said, “That was great. You’re hilarious.” And then he added, “Fuck you.” “It was one of the highlights of my life,” Hay recalls. Shandling, who lived in Brentwood, would occasionally visit Hay’s home in Topanga. Hay will never forget one visit. Shandling spotted the singer from the top of the driveway. “Are you sick?” he yelled. Hay laughed. “No, I’m not sick.” “I think you’re sick,” Shandling continued. “I’m not going to come down, I think you have the flu.” “I don’t have the flu.” “Somebody told me you have the flu.” And then he left. “He was a one-off,” Hay smiles. I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself is out now on Compass Records.
I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF The songs that Colin covered … and the classic covers before Colin came along. I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself – written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David, first recorded by Chuck Jackson in 1962. Classic cover: Dusty Springfield, 1964 Waterloo Sunset – written by Ray Davies, first recorded by The Kinks in 1967. Classic cover: David Bowie, 2003 Wichita Lineman – written by Jimmy Webb, first recorded by Glen Campbell in 1968. Classic cover: Johnny Cash, 2002 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) – written by LennonMcCartney, first recorded by The Beatles in 1965. Classic cover: Waylon Jennings, 1966 Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying – written by Gerry and the Pacemakers, first recorded by Louise Cordet in 1964. Classic cover: Rickie Lee Jones, 1989 Ooh La La – written by Ronnie Lane and Ronnie Wood, first recorded by the Faces in 1973. Classic cover: Rod Stewart, 1998 Driving With The Brakes On – written by Justin Currie, first recorded by Del Amitri in 1995. Classic cover: Kasey Chambers, 2005 Across The Universe – written by Lennon-McCartney, first recorded by The Beatles in 1969. Classic cover: Fiona Apple, 1998 Can’t Find My Way Home – written by Steve Winwood, first recorded by Blind Faith in 1969. Classic cover: Alison Krauss, 2003 Many Rivers To Cross – written and first recorded by Jimmy Cliff in 1969. Classic cover: Toni Childs, 1989
