Gregory Norman Ham (27 September 1953 – 19 April 2012) was an Australian musician, songwriter, and actor, best known as a member of the 1980s band

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is Coli ...

. He played saxophone, flute, organ, piano, and synthesizer.

Early life

Ham was born in Melbourne and attended

Camberwell Grammar School , motto_translation = By our deeds may we be known , established = , type = Independent, single sex, Anglican primary and secondary day school , denomination = Anglican , slogan ...

from 1964 to 1971.Gallery of Achievement: Mr Greg Ham (1971)
Old Camberwell Grammarians′ Association, 2008. According to the school's year books, he was remembered for his acting talent in school plays, particularly '' The World We Live In'' (the insect comedy) in 1969 where he played the "parasite". In 1970 he played Mr Seekamp, editor of the ''Ballarat Time''s, in ''Lola Montez'' and, in 1971, Puff in ''The Critic''. In 1967 Ham was photographed airborne by J. Jones in a still photo which won first prize in the Ilford Competition.

Career

Men at Work

In 1972, Ham met

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay's music ha ...

via mutual friend Kym Gyngell. In 1979, he joined the original lineup of

with Hay,

Ron Strykert Ronald Graham Strykert (born 18 August 1957) is an Australian musician. He is best known for playing lead guitar, co-founding and composing songs with the 1980s band Men at Work. Career Strykert co-founded Men at Work with Colin Hay as an aco ...

, and

Jerry Speiser Jerry Harold Speiser (born 12 August 1953) is an Australian musician. He is best known as the drummer and a founding member of 1980s pop/ new wave group Men at Work, Note: n-lineversion established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd ...

. Ham and Hay formed the core of the band from 1979 until 1985 when Ham left, and the band broke up shortly afterward. Ham returned to Men at Work when they reformed in 1996 to tour the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Ham played

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, keyboards,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

for the group, as well as performing backing vocals. He sang lead vocals on songs such as "Helpless Automaton" and "I Like To." Ham also performed the saxophone solo in the song "

Who Can It Be Now? "Who Can It Be Now?" is a song recorded by Australian band Men at Work. It was released in Australia in 1981, prior to the recording of their 1981 debut album '' Business as Usual'', on which the track was later included. "Who Can It Be Now?" r ...

" (a rehearsal take was used in the final mix) and improvised the flute riff in the song "

Down Under The term ''Down Under'' is a colloquialism which is differently construed to refer to Australia and New Zealand, or Pacific Island countries collectively.Oxford English Dictionary (Electronic), Version 4.0, entry fordown under. The dictionary ...

Lawsuit and plagiarism accusation

Larrikin Music bought the rights to the 1930s children's song "Kookaburra" in 1990 for $6,100. In 2009, music publisher Larrikin Music, then headed by Norman Lurie (now retired), sued Men at Work and their record label EMI for plagiarism, alleging that the flute riff copied the 1934 nursery rhyme "

Kookaburra Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...

", to which they owned the publishing rights. The

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

ruled that "Down Under" did infringe the copyright of "Kookaburra" and awarded Larrikin 5% of the song's royalties backdated to 2002. Several appeals by EMI and Men at Work were unsuccessful. In an interview with ''The Age'' newspaper, Ham said he was deeply affected by the judgment and felt it tarnished his reputation, saying: "I'm terribly disappointed that that's the way I'm going to be remembered—for copying something." Colin Hay, Ham's childhood friend and bandmate chooses, however, to remember Ham as “a great, great friend and a great guy” who was a "very inspired and instinctive" musician."

Later career

Ham played brass and keyboard with the R&B band Relax with Max, with frontman Max Vella, girlfriend Linda "Toots" Wostry, on saxophone, James Black on keyboard, David Adam and Ross Hannaford on guitar and John James "JJ" Hackett on drums. Relax with Max played at the Metropol in Fitzroy and on ABC's television comedy ''While You're Down There'' and at the Falls Creek music festival. They supported Australian artists including

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and American soul singers

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

. Ham also performed regularly with jazzy ensemble Miss Dorothy and His Fools in Love. Later in life, Ham taught guitar at Carlton North Primary School and assessed music students for the

Victorian Certificate of Education The Victorian Certificate of Education (often abbreviated VCE) is one credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria. The VCE is the predominant choice for students ...

(VCE).

Death

Ham was found dead on 19 April 2012 at his home in Carlton North, Melbourne. Several newspapers listed the cause as a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. There have been allegations that Ham had a long battle with

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

addiction, and the cause of death is still being debated. It is known that he was depressed and suffering anxiety over the copyright lawsuit filed against him and the members of Men At Work for the alleged similarities between "Kookaburra" and the flute riff in "Down Under". Ham's private funeral was held at the

Fitzroy Town Hall Fitzroy Town Hall is a civic building located in Napier Street in Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It was constructed in two separate stages. The first consisted of a hall and tower which was designed by William J. Ellis and built i ...

in Melbourne on 2 May 2012. Ham was survived by his two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ham, Greg 1953 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Australian pianists Australian flautists Australian keyboardists Australian multi-instrumentalists Australian new wave musicians Australian pianists Australian saxophonists Male saxophonists Men at Work members Musicians from Melbourne People educated at Camberwell Grammar School Male pianists Deaths from coronary artery diseas 20th-century flautists