Men Without Hats
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Men Without Hats are 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".
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[edit] 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, Lenny Pinkas, and Allan McCarthy. They emerged with an EP called Folk of the 80s (1980). Tracy Howe was only with the band briefly, but long enough to be credited on a reprint of Folk of the 80s, despite not appearing on it.
A popular but unconfirmed tale is that the name originated from a misread announcement to one of their early gigs as "Men Without Hate" by a francophone MC in Montréal.
The band erupted onto the international scene a couple of years later with their hit single "The Safety Dance" from their debut album Rhythm of Youth. They charted once again with the title track from their 1987 album, Pop Goes the World. The song was also featured in the movie Date with an Angel (1987), starring Phoebe Cates, Emmanuelle Béart and Michael E. Knights. The next album The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century, released in 1989 featured a cover of ABBA's song "S.O.S.".
Their 1991 album Sideways, dominated by processed electric guitars instead of keyboards, revealed a dramatically different sound for the band. The album failed to attract an American label, 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.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
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Folk of the 80s (1980) (EP)
- Image:Mwh-roy.jpg Rhythm of Youth (1982)
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Folk of the 80s (Part III) (1984)
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Freeways (1985) (EP)
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Pop Goes the World (1987)
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The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century (1989)
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Sideways (1991)
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No Hats Beyond This Point (2003)
[edit] Compilations
- Men Without Hats: Collection (1996)
- Men Without Hats: Greatest Hats (1996)
- Men Without Hats: My Hats (2006)
[edit] Ivan solo albums
[edit] Videos
- The 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)
[edit] DVDs
- Live Hats DVD (Le Spectrum show, from Freeways tour) released in June 2006
[edit] Trivia
- Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson played flute on the song "On Tuesday" on Pop Goes the World.
- The little person in the music video "The Safety Dance" is actor Mike Edmonds ("Return of the Jedi", "Time Bandits", "Flash Gordon (film)").
[edit] 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").
- The Greatest Hats compilation featured a cover of Roxy Music's "Editions of You"
[edit] 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
