Ron Strykert

Ron Strykert
Birth name Ronald Graham Strykert
Born (1957-08-18) 18 August 1957[1]
Origin Korumburra Australia
Genres Pop, rock, new wave, acoustic
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, percussion
Years active 1978–present
Labels Columbia Records
Le Coq Musique
Associated acts Men at Work

Ronald "Ron" Graham Strykert (born 18 August 1957) is an Australian musician. He is most well known for playing lead guitar, providing vocals, co-founder and composing songs with the 1980s band Men at Work.

Career

Strykert co-founded Men at Work with Colin Hay as an acoustic duo in 1978, regularly performing at the Cricketer's Arms Hotel in Richmond, Victoria.[2] From 1979 to 1985 he provided guitar, vocals and bass guitar for that group.[3] He contributed to all three Men at Work studio albums. He wrote or co-wrote many of their songs, including "Down Under" which appears on their first album Business as Usual. He sings lead vocals on "Settle Down My Boy", one of his self composed songs on their second album Cargo.

Strykert played bass guitar on the very first recordings of the early group in a stage musical called Riff Raff in 1979. When bassist Johnathan Rees was later added in 1980 to the band, he moved forward to lead guitarist.[4] He developed a unique soaring style of playing which added a high amount of energy to their songs. His signature playing went from long sustained notes as is often the case with the bass guitar, to a rapid fire lead guitar attack in a split second. He would often duel with fellow guitarist Hay adding dimension to his presentation as well as blending strong backing vocals. He often weaved his guitar playing around the stylistic playing of Greg Ham on his keyboards, saxophone, clarinet and flute.

As a founding member of the group, Strykert was concerned when the group lost their rhythm section of Jerry Speiser and Rees who completed the band's excellent hit making chemistry. During the process of recording their Two Hearts album, he decided to leave the group in 1985.[5]

Compositions

Strykert composed and co-composed thirteen songs for Men at Work:[6]

Title Composed From
"Keypunch Operator" Hay & Strykert Early single
"Down Under" Hay & Strykert B side to early single, A side single & Business as Usual
"Anyone For Tennis" Hay, Strykert, Ham, Speiser & Rees B side to "Who Can It Be Now?" single
"Crazy" Strykert B side to "Down Under" single
"People Just Love to Play with Words" Strykert Business as Usual
"Touching the Untouchables" Hay & Strykert Business as Usual
"Down by the Sea" Hay, Ham, Strykert & Speiser Business as Usual
"Settle Down My Boy" Strykert Cargo
"Upstairs in My House" Hay & Strykert B side to "Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Jive" 12" & Cargo
"I Like To" Strykert Cargo. A live version of this song appears as the US B-Side of "Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Jive".[7]
"Shintaro" Strykert B side to "It's a Mistake" single
"'Till the Money Runs Out" Hay, Strykert, Ham, Speiser & Rees B side to "Overkill" single
"Sail to You" Hay, Strykert & Ham Two Hearts

Release performance

Strykert took part in thirteen singles released by Men at Work. Nine of them charted. He took part in three albums released. All three charted.[8]

Awards

Strykert with Men at Work won the following awards:

Hay & Strykert received the following awards from APRA Awards for their composition "Down Under":

Solo Release

In 2003, Strykert released a solo debut titled Paradise on compact disc. It was released by an independent label Le Coq Musique and contained the following tracks composed and produced by Strykert:[9][10]

Track Title Time
1 "In The Air" 3:06
2 "Heartbeat" 2:54
3 "Do I Love You?" 3:48
4 "Paradigm Shift" 2:49
5 "Shiva Shambu" 5:02
6 "Show Us The Way Home" 4:52
7 "Love Train" 5:07
8 "Sunrise" 5:42
9 "Eternal Waves" 5:26

References

  1. ↑ Dafydd Rees, Luke Crampton (15 September 1999). VH1 Rock Stars Encyclopedia. DK ADULT. p. 661. ISBN 0789446138.
  2. ↑ The Age Australia accessed 14-Dec-2013
  3. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan. "Men at Work". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Men at Work" entry. Australian Music Encyclopedia Archive accessed 14-Dec-2013
  5. ↑ AMG Biography accessed 12-Dec-2013
  6. ↑ Australian Charts accessed 14-Dec-2013
  7. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Men-At-Work-Dr-Heckyll-Mr-Jive/release/1190874
  8. ↑ Australian Music Encyclopedia Archive accessed 14-Dec-2013
  9. ↑ Discogs Release Information accessed 14-Dec-2013
  10. ↑ Band to Band accessed 14-Dec-2013

External links

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