Men Without Hats
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Men Without Hats was a Canadian pop group from Montreal, Quebec who were popular in the early 1980s. They were characterized by the deep, expressive vocals of their lead singer Ivan and their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing. Their most-remembered single was entitled "The Safety Dance".
Many have suspected that the band was originally supposed to be named "Men Without Hate", but that the name got mangled somewhere along the way (the title of their 1989 album further supports this notion). It may all have been a lighthearted gag, though, which would be in keeping with the spirit of the band's music.
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History
Men Without Hats were always, at the core, Ivan Doroschuk and his brother Stefan, with various other members, including a third brother, Colin Doroschuk, as well as Jeremy Arrobas, Tracy Howe, Roman Martyn and Allan McCarthy. They emerged in the early 1980s with an EP called Folk of the 80s (1982), whose tunes were perhaps folky in their lyrics but were unabashed synth pop in their music.
The band erupted onto the international scene a couple of years later with their hit single "The Safety Dance" (from Rhythm of Youth), one of the seminal pop songs of the decade. They also charted with the title track from their third full-length album, Pop Goes the World, a concept album with some heavier themes than much pop music of the era.
Their 1991 album Sideways revealed a dramatically different sound for the band, dominated by processed electric guitars instead of keyboards. The album wasn't even released in the U.S. at the time, and the band broke up.
Following the break-up, Ivan released a solo album, The Spell. The band reformed in 2003 and released their first new album in over a decade.
Discography
Studio albums
- Image:Folk of 80s.jpg Folk of the 80s (1980) (EP)
- Rhythm of Youth (1982)
- Image:Folk of 80s 3.jpg Folk of the 80s (Part III) (1984)
- Image:Freeways.jpg Freeways (1985) (EP)
- Image:Pop goes world.jpg Pop Goes the World (1987)
- Image:Adventures men and women without hate.jpg The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century (1989)
- Image:Sideways.jpg Sideways (1991)
- Image:No hat beyond point.jpgNo Hats Beyond This Point (2003)
Compilations
Ivan solo albums
Trivia
Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson played flute on the song "On Tuesday" on Pop Goes the World.
The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century featured a cover of Abba's "S.O.S.", while Sideways featured a cover of The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" (subtitled "'No You're Not', Said Little Nicola").
The song "The Safety Dance" was the band's reaction to the ban that many clubs placed on pogoing in mosh pits -- very popular in the punk culture of the day. Hence the lyrics "You can dance if you want to" -- i.e., they were not allowed to dance how they wanted to.
In The Simpsons episode "Make Room For Lisa (AABF12)", The Safety Dance is played on the radio. The radio announcer suggests that they change their name to "Men Without Jobs".
The Futurama episode Future Stock has a scene in which Fry reminsces about the '80s with a recently revived Stockbroker, in which he emulates the first bar of the chorus and then adds "You know, that dance wasn't as safe as they said it was..."
See also
- List of Quebec musicians
- Music of Quebec
- Culture of Quebec
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart