Written by Ron Strykert, "People Just Love to Play with Words" appears on Men at Work's 1981 debut album Business as Usual, released on Columbia Records. Strykert was one of the founding members of Men at Work, having met Colin Hay in 1977 in a backyard in West Melbourne, where the two began their songwriting partnership. While Hay wrote the majority of the band's material, Strykert contributed several compositions to the group's catalog, and this track represents one of his solo writing credits on the debut record. The original recording features Hay on lead vocals and guitar, Strykert on lead guitar and background vocals, Greg Ham on keyboards, saxophone, and other instruments, and Jerry Speiser on drums. On AllSolos, Ham's tenor saxophone solo on this track is featured. The song is a deep cut from an album that became a worldwide phenomenon, reaching number one in multiple countries and spending fifteen weeks atop the Billboard 200 in the United States. Business as Usual remains one of the best-selling debut albums of the 1980s. While the album's singles like "Down Under" and "Who Can It Be Now?" achieved massive chart success, tracks like "People Just Love to Play with Words" contributed to the album's depth and showcased the range of the band's songwriting beyond its hit singles. A live version from 1982 has also been released.
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