| The Music Men | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Melbourne, Australia |
| Years Active: | 1988–present |
The Music Men (also styled as The Musicmen) are an Australian comedy act,[1] originally consisting of ten English soccer players, visiting Australia. They first appeared on Australian television performing "I am the Music Man" on the Red Faces segment of Hey Hey It's Saturday in 1988.[2]
In late 1993 the band consisted of Paul Harris, Martin Woodall, Peter Cocker, Dean Hennessy, Joe Sweeney, Sean Lane, Joe Carroll, Mike Hanley, Phil Griffin and leader David Brooks.
In 1993 advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi approached them to star in an advertisement for Toohey's Gold.[2]
In 1993, Michael Gudinski from Mushroom Records signed the group and they released a single "I Am a Football Fan" in September 1993.[2] Their debut album, What Can You Play? was released in November 1993 and peaked at number 74 on the ARIA charts. John Mangan of the Age wrote that "the music is weedy and electronic but it's only there to fill the gaps between the singers' enthusiastic vocals."
In September 1995, the group released "Ablett's in the Air", which peaked at number 41 on the ARIA charts. The song was set to the tune of "Love is in the Air".
In October 2021, they released the single "Those Were the Days".[2]
| Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [3] | |||
| What Can You Play? |
| 74 | |
| How-Is-Eee |
| — |
| Year | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [4] | ||
| "I Am a Football Fan" | 1993 | — |
| "Ablett's in the Air" | 1995 | 41 |
| "Those Were The Days"[5] | 2021 | — |
| "Merry Xmas Everybody"[6] | — | |