Men Without Hats
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".
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 with an EP called Folk of the 80s (1980).
The band erupted onto the international scene a couple of years later with their hit single "The Safety Dance" (from Rhythm of Youth). They also charted with the title track from their 1987 album, Pop Goes the World.
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 in 1997. Stefan and Mack MacKenzie (of 3 O'Clock Train) released "Ride of Glory," a post-modern Western-themed CD.
Stefan and Ivan regrouped to release "No Hats Beyond This Point" in 2003.
Discography
Studio albums
- File:Folk of 80s.jpg Folk of the 80s (1980) (EP)
Rhythm of Youth (1982)- File:Folk of 80s 3.jpg Folk of the 80s (Part III) (1984)
- File:Freeways.jpg Freeways (1985) (EP)
- File:Pop goes world.jpg Pop Goes the World (1987)
- File:Adventures men and women without hate.jpg The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century (1989)
- File:Sideways.jpg Sideways (1991)
- File:No hat beyond point.jpgNo Hats Beyond This Point (2003)
Compilations
Ivan solo albums
Videos
- Safety Dance
- I Like
- Where Do the Boys Go?
- Pop Goes the World
- Moonbeam
- Hey Men
- ..In the 21st Century
- Sideways
- Open Your Eyes (Ivan)
- SuperBadGirls (Ivan)
DVDs
- Live Hats DVD (Le Spectrum show, from Freeways tour), expected June 6, 2006
Trivia
Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson played flute on the song "On Tuesday" on Pop Goes the World.
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..."
Sugar Ray's song "Under the Sun" makes a reference to Men Without Hats in the second verse.
Weird Al Yankovic parodied the song "The Safety Dance" as "The Brady Bunch", a song about the claasic TV sitcom, and somewhat about TV watching in general. The song can be found on Yankovic's "Weird Al" Yankovic In 3-D album.
Covers
- The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century featured a cover of Abba's "S.O.S."
- Sideways featured a cover of The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" (subtitled "'No You're Not', Said Little Nicola").
- Greatest Hats compilation featured a cover of Roxy Music's "Editions of You"
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