By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
In 1982, the new wave music genre experienced a hit like no other with the release of ‘The Safety Dance’ by Men Without Hats. Over 40 years after its release, the band is back on tour and preparing to release its newest album in October.
Men Without Hats frontman Ivan Doroschuk joined the KOAL newsroom to reflect on the group’s career and look ahead to the future.
Initially formed in 1977, the group has performed consistently except for a brief hiatus in the 2000s. Doroschuk shared what keeps him and the band motivated to play almost 50 years later. “I think it’s the smile on people’s faces when we break into ‘The Safety Dance’. People still need to hear that they can dance if they want to, and we’re ready to play for them.”
Throughout their career, the band has experimented with various genres. Throughout the 1980s, the band maintained a synth-pop-oriented sound. However, as the 1990s arrived, Men Without Hats pivoted toward a more classic rock ‘n’ roll sound. “We liked to explore back then. We just took a bit of a sideways track, as I can say,” explained Doroschuk. “But now we’re back to doing 80s music. We decided we didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, and so we’re doing what we’re good at, and people enjoy it. There’s a lot of 80s influences in modern pop music today, so the new generation likes to hear it, and we’re ready to give it to them.”
This return to the 80s can be heard in the group’s latest single ‘I love the 80s‘, a synth-filled song bound to become stuck in your head. Doroschuk spoke on the meaning behind the song,” t’s a tribute to the 80s. It’s a decade that had some really, really great songs, really great music, a lot of sing-alongs, and brings back a lot of good memories for a lot of people. It was a decade focused on the youth, with movies and new technology emerging. It was a great period for many people. So we just want to pay tribute to it and bring it forward.”
Pivoting to the song that launched the band into fame – 1982’s ‘The Safety Dance’ – Doroschuk shared what inspired the unique visuals of the song’s accompanying music video. “It was Tim Pope, the video director. He decided to bring a Pied Piper-like theme to it, a medieval one. And it’s good because nowadays, when you look at the 80s videos, you can kind of chuckle a bit. The hairstyles, the zipper clothes, pointy shoes, and neon colors. But that was a medieval video. It’s kind of like watching a Western. You can’t really tell when it was filmed. So people can watch it today and totally groove on it. So it paid off for us.”
In 2021, the group revisited ‘The Safety Dance’ with a reimagined and remixed rendition of the song ‘No Friends of Mine‘. Doroschuk explained what inspired this return to the 80s hit. “it’s kind of feels like the song doesn’t even belong to us anymore. The song is bigger than the band; it belongs to everybody out there. Sometimes I feel like a museum curator going around the country, presenting this musical artifact, which brings people immense joy.”
He continued,” And so we just wanted to revisit it and sort of see what if the little dwarf Jester became the mayor of the village and married the crazy blonde woman and had a whole bunch of kids that formed a band. And we just wanted to go back in time a bit and have some fun with it.”
Reflecting on the band’s tenure, Doroschuk spoke on the standout memory of receiving their first gold record. “We received our first gold record in New York City at the Palladium. And we received it from Mark Gastineau, who used to play for the New York Jets. And every time he sacked a quarterback, he would play ‘The Safety Dance’ and he would dance. However, Pete Rosell, the commissioner at the time of the NFL, told him that he didn’t want him to do these little dances because they cut into TV time, made the game run overtime, and cost him money. But Mark Gastineau said he could dance if he wants to. And they kept doing it, kept playing ‘The Safety Dance’ every time he sacked a quarterback. So he came and presented us with the gold record during our show. And he presented me with one of his jerseys.”
Moving from the past and into the future, Doroschuk shared what comes next for the Men Without Hats: “We have a new album coming out in October that’s going to feature ‘I Love the 80s’ and a bunch of other songs that are also 80s influenced. And we’ve got a big tour coming up and we’re going to Europe. We’re up in Mexico on the beaches of Cancun, 80s in the sand festival with a bunch of other 80s bands. And so we’re just recording and playing. We’re trending upward. So we’re happy.”
For more of Men Without Hats, you can go to safetydance.com, a one-stop shop for everything to do with the band.