Men At Work - Hard Luck Story

What this video is

Hard Luck Story was produced during Men at Work's dissolution phase, released as part of Two Hearts (April 1985) — the band's third and final studio album, which reached only No. 16 in Australia and No. 50 in the US, a sharp commercial decline from their Grammy-winning peak. By this point, founding drummer Jerry Speiser and bassist John Rees had been dismissed, and guitarist Ron Strykert departed during recording.…

Why it matters

Represents the late-phase Australian New Wave music video: less conceptually playful than the band's earlier EMI-era work, leaning into performance-led sincerity that anticipates the more grounded singer-songwriter aesthetic Hay would pursue as a solo artist. Sits within a broader 1985 moment when…

The director

Tony Stevens is an Australian editor and director who helmed multiple Men at Work music videos in the early-to-mid 1980s, later building a career primarily in Australian documentary film and television editing (credits include Remembering the Man, 2015;…