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Men Without Hats
Canadian synthpop and new wave band
Men Without Hats are a Canadian new wave and synth-pop band, originally from Montreal, Quebec. Their music is characterized by the baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk, as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing.
The band achieved their greatest popularity in the 1980s with "The Safety Dance", a worldwide top ten hit, and "Pop Goes the World".
members: John Kastner, Michel Langevin, Terry Murray, Colin Doroschuk, Lenny Pinkas, James Love, Alan McCarthy, Stefan Doroschuk
formed in: Montreal
labels: MCA Records
genres: rock music
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
new wavepopcanadian80s90salternative
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Early days
Men Without Hats was founded in Montreal in 1978, initially as a punk rock band featuring Ivan Doroschuk (vocals), Pete Seabrooke (guitar), Dave Hill (bass), and John Gurrin (drums). In 1980, Doroschuk restarted Men Without Hats, giving the name to a new synthesizer-based group that he formed with Jérémie Arrobas (vocals, keyboards) and his brothers Stefan Doroschuk (bass) and Colin Doroschuk (guitar). Influences on this electronic outfit included Gary Numan, OMD, and Ultravox. Years earlier, while in high school, Arrobas and the Doroschuk brothers had played together in a short-lived band called Wave 21, along with drummer Igor Krichevsky. Many years later, Stefan would re-use the Wave 21 name for a country-pop band founded in the late...
Ivan Doroschuk reformed Men Without Hats in 2010 as the frontman and lead vocalist, and was joined by musicians Derek Mansfield (synths), James Love (guitar), and Lou Dawson (synths). The band returned on September 24, 2010, at the Rifflandia Music Festival in Victoria, British Columbia, performing ten songs and hits from the Men Without Hats back catalogue. The revived band was described by the Austin American-Statesman as "simply singer Ivan Doroschuk and hired guns" and by Stefan as a "tribute band". Despite these initial reactions, the band's Dance If You Want Tour opened in March 2011 with a well-attended and positively received performance at Austin's South by Southwest event.
Canadian new wave group from Montréal, Québec, formed in 1980 and initially active until 1993. The group briefly reformed in 2002, disbanded in 2003 after the release of the album No Hats Beyond This Point, then reformed again in 2010.
Current lineup:
Ivan Doroschuk (Lead vocals)
Sho Murray (guitar 2016-present)
Adrian White (drums 2018-present)
Sahara Sloane (keys 2023-present)
Colin Doroschuk (Electronics, Voices; 1981-1984, Keys 1989-1993, 2018-present)
Past members:
Stefan Doroschuk (Guitar 1980-1989, Bass 1989-1993)
Roman Martyn (Guitars; 1980)
Tracy Howe (Guitars; on "Freeways" 1980 only)
Alan McCarthy (Electronics, Percussion; 1981-1984)
Jeremie Arrobas (Drums 1980-1981)
Lysanne Thibodeau (Backing Vocals, Electronics; 1980)
Lenny Pinkas (Keys 1984-1989)
Marika Tjelios (Bass 1986-1989)
Heidi Garcia (Keys 1986-1989)
Richard Samson (Bonhomme) (Drums 1986-1989)
Michel Langevin (Away) (Drums 1989-1993)
Felix Matte (Guitar 1989-1992)
John Kastner (Guitar 1989-1992)
Denis D'Amour (Piggy) (Guitar 1992-1993)
James Love (Guitar 2010-2016)
Mark Olexson (Keys 2010-2012)
Louise Dawson (keys 2010-2020)
Rachel Ashmore (keys 2012-2020)
Also known as: Hombres Sin Sombrero, M.W.H., MWH, Man With Out Hat, Man Without A Hai
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
Men Without Hats, the records, oldest first
Folk of the 80s
1980 ep
Rhythm of Youth
1982 album
wanted
Folk of the 80's (Part III)
1984 album
Freeways
1985 ep
Pop Goes the World
1987 album
The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century
1989 album
Sideways
1991 album
No Hats Beyond This Point
2003 album
The Safety Dance
2010 ep
Love in the Age of War
2012 album
Again (Part 1)
2021 ep
Again (Part 2)
2022 album
On the Moon
2025 album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"The Safety Dance" is a song by Canadian new wave and synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released in Canada in 1982 as the second single from Rhythm of Youth. The song was written by lead singer Ivan Doroschuk after he had been ejected from a club for pogo dancing.
Meaning of the song
The writer and lead singer Ivan Doroschuk has explained that "The Safety Dance" is a protest against bouncers prohibiting dancers from pogoing to 1980s new wave music in clubs when disco was declining and new wave was beginning its popularity. Unlike disco dancing, which is done with partners, new wave dancing is done individually and involves holding the torso rigid while thrashing about; pogoing involves jumping up and down (the more deliberately violent evolution of pogoing is slamdancing). Clubgoers doing the newer pogo dance were perceived as posing a danger to disco dancers on the dance floor, and so club bouncers would tell pogoers to stop or be kicked out of the club. Thus, the song is a protest and a call for freedom of expression.
Music video
The music video for the song (which uses the shorter single version), directed by Tim Pope, is notable for its British folk revival imagery, featuring Morris dancers, Mummers, Punch and Judy and a maypole. It was filmed in the village of West Kington in Wiltshire, England. Ivan Doroschuk is the only member of the band actually to perform in the video. Doroschuk, and others in the video, can be seen repeatedly forming an "S" sign by jerking both arms into a stiff pose, one arm in an upward curve and the other in a downward curve, apparently referring to the first letter in "safety". The Morris dancers seen in the video were the Chippenham Town Morris Men. The little person actor is Mike Edmonds, whose T-shirt in the video shows the Rhythm...
In popular culture
In 1984, "Weird Al" Yankovic released a parody of "The Safety Dance" titled "The Brady Bunch" on his album In 3-D, about The Brady Bunch TV series.
