Songoftheday 1/31/13 - Jump down the shelters to get away the boys are cockin' up their guns, tell us general, is it party time, if it is can we all come?...

Men At Work - "It's A Mistake"
from the album Cargo (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 12

Today's Song of the Day is by Australian rock group Men At Work, who by the summer of 1983 were the new darlings of the American pop scene, with a hugely successful debut album with two #1 singles, "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under". After winning a Grammy for Best New artist, the guys released their sophomore record Cargo, and went to #3 with one of my favorite songs of the 80s, "Overkill".

The that song's followup they released the Cold War snark "It's A Mistake", written by singer Colin Hay from the viewpoint of a armyman waiting to find out if they're going to war.

"It's A Mistake" became the band's fourth and most recent top-10 hit, while also reaching the top-10 on the adult-contemporary format and top-30 on rock radio. It was moderately less successful in the rest of the world, reaching the top-20 in Germany and Ireland, and top-40 in Britain and their home country.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


..and here's the band performing the song on Saturday Night Live...

Up tomorrow: Timeless geology.