AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Men Without Hats

Artist:Men Without Hats

Song:The Safety Dance

Album:Rhythm of Youth

I'm sure most music fans remember the 1983 top five hit The Safety Dance but don't know anything about Men Without Hats. They are not a one hit wonder as some of their other singles charted. They were also successful in their native Canada. They are from Montreal. Lead singer Ivan Doroschuk formed Men Without Hats in 1977 as a punk band. When that didn't work out, he formed a new band with Jeremie Arrobas on keyboards and Ivan's brothers Stefan (bass) and Colin (drums). The name Men Without Hats was because the Doroschuks refused to wear hats during Montreal's cold winters. The decision was made to switch from punk to synth pop. Ivan was the leader of the group. Even his brothers were disposable. The 1980 EP Folk of the 80s was released on the British new wave label Stiff. Keyboard player Allan McCarthy joined Men Without Hats for the 1982 album Rhythm of Youth. The band signed with Statik Records for Europe, Sire in Canada and MCA's Blackstreet label in the US. The Safety Dance was the second single. After the song was a hit in Canada, MTV played the video enough that it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified Gold. Doroschuk wrote The Safety Dance after he was thrown out of a club for pogoing too much. Men Without Hats recorded five albums from 1982-91. They had two problems. One was a lot of personnel changes. The second was MCA bounced them around different labels like Mercury and PolyGram. Men Without Hats disbanded in 1993. Doroschuk released a solo album in 1997. He released a Men Without Hats album in 2003 but they didn't even tour after that. Doroschuk again reformed Men Without Hats in 2010. He hired musicians through auditions. An album was released in 2012. They have toured and Doroschuk is working on a new album. Here's the video for The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. This video was filmed in England with local dancers and dwarf actor Mike Edmonds from the children's TV show Maid Marian and Her Merry Men. He also played Logray in Return of the Jedi and Og in Time Bandits.