Australian musicologist , Ian McFarlane , described how the Happening Thang , " combined Hank Williams-style country roots with pop melodies to produce an uplifting , Australian urban and western sound . Other influences included Gram Parsons , Jimmie Rodgers and early Elvis Presley . " They issued their debut single , " I Do n't Wan na Work " in February 1989 . At the Australasian Country Music Awards , in January of the following year , they won New Talent of the Year for the song . Kathryn Whitfield of '' The Canberra Times '' , in March 1989 , had felt that " I Do n't Wan na Go to Work " was " repetitive garble . Twanging , monotonous tripe , which even the most ardent of country and western ( or both ) fans would find hard to bear . It 's very Australia , very country , but very boring ! " Their second single , " Drive Away " , appeared in July 1989 and was followed in December by an eponymous album on Trafalgar/WEA . Most of its tracks were written by Travers . For that album the line-up of the group was Mercer , Patterson , Travers and Wearne , which was augmented by additional musicians : Pearse on vocals and bass guitar , Kathy Bluff on fiddle , Murray Cook on piano , Jim Niven on piano accordion , Dave Faulkner on piano , Peter O'Doherty on backing vocals , Ian Simpson on pedal steel guitar , Robert Souter on drums , and Bruce Thorburn on fiddle . At the ARIA Music Awards of 1990 it was nominated for Best Country Album . They appeared on the 1990 compilation album '' Breaking Ground - New Directions in Country Music '' which was nominated for the same award in 1991
ARIA Music Awards of 1990
ARIA Music Awards of 1990
The Happening Thang