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Men Without Hats are a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
new wave and
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
band, originally from Montreal, Quebec. Their music is characterized by the
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
voice of their lead singer
Ivan Doroschuk Ivan Eugene Doroschuk (, ) (born 9 October 1957) is an American-born Canadian musician. He is the lead vocalist and founding member of Men Without Hats, best known for the songs "The Safety Dance" (1982) and " Pop Goes the World" (1987). Ear ...
, as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing. The band achieved their greatest popularity in the 1980s with "
The Safety Dance "The Safety Dance" is a song by Canadian new wave/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 ...
", a worldwide top ten hit (No. 3 in the United States), and "
Pop Goes the World ''Pop Goes the World'' is the third studio album by Canadian New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released on June 29, 1987, by Mercury Records. It features the single "Pop Goes the World (song), Pop Goes the World", whic ...
". After a hiatus for most of the 1990s and 2000s, Doroschuk reformed the band in 2010, and released '' Love in the Age of War'' (2012). The group, based in Vancouver, has continued to perform, including tour dates in support of the release of two studio albums, ''Men Without Hats Again (Parts 1 & 2)'', in 2021 and 2022, respectively.


History


Early days

Men Without Hats was founded in Montreal in 1977, 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 Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...
, OMD and
Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which wa ...
. 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 reuse the Wave 21 name for a country-pop band founded in the late 2010s with his daughters Mary-Lynn and Emmy-Lou. The Doroschuk brothers, all three of whom are classically trained musicians, were born in Champaign, Illinois while their father, a Canadian, was earning a doctoral degree. They moved to Montreal as young children when their parents returned to Canada. The group's name came about because the brothers, following a self-described principle of "style before comfort", refused to wear hats during Montreal's cold winters, calling themselves "the men without hats". In addition to the Doroschuks, the group has also included numerous additional members and guest or touring performers, many of whom quickly came and left during the first five years. Frontman and songwriter Ivan Doroschuk was the only constant member, while Stefan and Colin Doroschuk as well as Arrobas remained as relatively steady members through the early 1980s. Their first recording to be released was the 1980 EP ''
Folk of the 80's ''Folk of the 80's'' is an extended play (EP) released by Canadian synth-pop group Men Without Hats. Recorded in the summer of 1980 at Studio A in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and released later that year, it was their first release. The song "Antar ...
''. At this point, the band had changed styles from punk to new wave and officially consisted of Ivan (vocals, bass) and Arrobas (keyboards); also appearing on the EP were auxiliary members Stefan Doroschuk (bass), Roman Martyn (guitars), and Lysanne Thibodeau (backing vocals). Shortly after the release of the debut EP, Martyn left and was replaced by Jean-Marc Pisapia, who stayed only a short time before leaving, and later founded The Box. Pisapia was replaced briefly by
Tracy Howe Tracy Howe (born 16 February 1952) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter with the band Rational Youth, and previously The Normals and Heaven Seventeen. Howe was a member of Rational Youth from 1981 to 1986 and 1997 to 2002 and 2009–202 ...
, who also left in short order, co-founding
Rational Youth Rational Youth was a Canadian new wave synth-pop band that was originally active between 1981 and 1986, and at various points up until the end of 2021. History Rational Youth was formed in 1981 in Montreal, Quebec, by synthesizer players Tracy ...
shortly after his departure. Howe was replaced by keyboardist Mike Gabriel. Arrobas and Gabriel left the group just before the recording of the next album.


International success

Ivan and Stefan (the latter now promoted to full membership status) subsequently recruited Allan McCarthy (percussion, electronics) to join the group, and recorded their 1982 full-length debut album ''
Rhythm of Youth ''Rhythm of Youth'' is the debut studio album by Canadian new wave and synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released in April 1982 by Statik Records in Europe and Canada and in 1983 by Backstreet Records in the US. It propelled them to fame with its ...
''. The trio subsequently enjoyed a hit in Canada with "
The Safety Dance "The Safety Dance" is a song by Canadian new wave/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 ...
", which peaked at No. 11 in May 1983. The song soon charted in the United States, spending four weeks at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and was a major hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 6. The song also reached the top ten in various other European countries, and peaked at No. 2 in New Zealand and No. 1 in South Africa, where it was the 11th highest-selling single of 1983. Adding Pierre (who had guested on ''Rhythm of Youth'') as an official fourth member, Men Without Hats released the album ''
Folk of the 80's (Part III) ''Folk of the 80's (Part III)'' is the second studio album by Canadian synth-pop group Men Without Hats, released in early 1984. The album reached #127 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It was the band's final album with the lineup con ...
'' in 1984. While lead single "Where Do The Boys Go?" was a top 40 hit in Canada, the album failed to match the international success of ''Rhythm of Youth''. In 1985, the band released the EP ''
Freeways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
'', consisting of multiple (and multi-lingual) remixes of one of their earliest efforts, Ivan and Arrobas's 1980 song "Freeways" (which had previously been released as a B-side in 1982). To support the EP, the group undertook a related tour, footage from which would later (in 2006) be released on DVD as '' Live Hats''. Reshuffling the line-up again, the band released the album ''
Pop Goes the World ''Pop Goes the World'' is the third studio album by Canadian New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released on June 29, 1987, by Mercury Records. It features the single "Pop Goes the World (song), Pop Goes the World", whic ...
'' in 1987 with Ivan, Stefan, and Lenny Pinkas. The song "
Pop Goes the World ''Pop Goes the World'' is the third studio album by Canadian New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released on June 29, 1987, by Mercury Records. It features the single "Pop Goes the World (song), Pop Goes the World", whic ...
" reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 on the Canadian Singles Chart, and was No. 1 in Austria. The song was featured in the 1987 film ''
Date with an Angel Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...
'', and became the fifteenth biggest selling single in South Africa for 1988. The group's next album, '' The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century'', released in 1989, featured a cover of
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
's song "
SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...
". The musicians on the album were essentially the touring band from ''Pop Goes the World'', which included Bruce Murphy on keyboards and guitar, Marika Tjelios on bass, Richard Sampson on drums, and Heidi Garcia on vocals and keyboards. The 1991 album ''
Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond ( Paul Giamatti), a de ...
'', dominated by electric guitars instead of keyboards, revealed a dramatically different sound for the band, based in part on Ivan's exposure to
Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
. Ivan said "We had a contractual obligation for one more album with PolyGram so I said to them, we'll take half of the allotted budget if they would allow us to do the record I wanted...so we did this guitar-oriented record but PolyGram were horrified. 'Men Without Hats without keyboards aren't going to work,' they claimed and that was the end of the story with PolyGram." The line-up on the album was Ivan on vocals, Félix Matte on lead guitar, John Kastner on rhythm guitar, Stefan on bass,
Michel Langevin Michel "Away" Langevin (born May 30, 1963) is a Canadian musician, best known as a founding member and drummer of heavy metal band Voivod. He has been a constant member of the band since its formation in 1982. Langevin is credited with the cr ...
on drums and Colin on keyboards. The group officially disbanded in 1993, after the career setback of failing to attract another American label as a result of the negative reception to ''Sideways''. The band's final concert was a benefit to support a women's shelter in Montreal, with guitarist
Denis D'Amour Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (September 24, 1959 – August 26, 2005) was a Canadian guitarist. He was a member of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Voivod (band), Voivod from its inception in 1982 until his death in 2005. D'Amour's approach to ...
replacing Matte and Kastner, who both had left the band in 1992.


Projects during the 1990s and 2000s

After disbanding, lead singer Ivan and keyboardist Bruce Murphy went on to record several demos in 1993 for a concept album tentatively titled ''UFO's Are Real'', which was never released. Ivan recorded and released the solo album '' The Spell'' in 1997. Former band member Allan McCarthy died due to AIDS complications in 1995. Under the name MacKenzie-Parker Gang, Stefan and Mack MacKenzie (of the Canadian
alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...
band Three O'Clock Train) released ''Ride for Glory'' (1999), a post-modern Western-themed album. After a 10-year hiatus, '' No Hats Beyond This Point'' was released in November 2003, returning the band to their early new wave style. In interviews around the time of the release, the band had mentioned a tour to support the release and a box set dedicated to the band's early years, which included the ''Folk of the 80's'' and ''Freeways'' EPs, the band's first two albums, a concert that was televised in 1985, unreleased demos and remixes of "The Safety Dance". None of this came to fruition, though, and the band split up once again in early 2004. This was the end of Stefan's involvement with Men Without Hats. Colin released two albums with his side solo project "Centrifugal Force" Matter", "Excerpts from Matter" then focued on opera and classical music, first serving as Artistic Director of Montreal's Northern Opera Theatre (85-91) and later as composer-in-residence at British Columbia's Ballet Victoria. His works include the ballets "Peter Pan", "Alice in Wonderland", operas "Medea Metamorphoses", an opera-dance project with the Victoria Symphony & the Coast-Saalish First Nation dancers "Heaven"; A full production of his opera ''
Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel during the e ...
'', based on a
Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to complet ...
poem, was produced by L'Opera de Rimouski in 2014, and was conducted by Doroschuk. In 2006, the Trilogie Musique label released a DVD titled '' Live Hats'', featuring a 1985 live concert at Le Spectrum theater in Montreal on August 8, 1985 that had been televised. The release was unauthorized by the band, and it was pulled out of print.


Reformation in 2010

Ivan reformed Men Without Hats in 2010 as the frontman and lead vocalist, and was joined by musicians Derek Mansfield (synths) James Love (guitar) & 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 South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
event. In June 2011, Ivan told a festival audience that the group would record a new studio album, announcing the news at
North by Northeast North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival's main focus is live music, particularly emerging talent. Acts that have had break out appearances at NXNE at small venues ...
in Toronto. The album was originally to be titled ''Folk of the 80's (Part IV)'', but in March 2012, the band posted on Facebook that it would be called '' Love in the Age of War'' and would be released that summer. ''Love in the Age of War'', produced by
Dave Ogilvie Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer, mixer, songwriter and musician based in Vancouver. Ogilvie started his recording career as a mixing engineer at Mushroom Studios. He frequently collaborated with industrial band Skinny Puppy ...
of
Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...
, was released in June 2012 and received mostly favorable reviews. Ogilvie and Doroschuk set out to faithfully reproduce and update the group's classic synthesizer sound of the 1980s, intentionally making a follow-up album to 1982's ''Rhythm of Youth''. According to Doroschuk, they pretended to be "working on a 24-track machine, for example, and not the virtual, infinity-plus-one number of tracks that you can get today. We went out and got the old synths that we used back then... the identical instruments, so it wasn't soft synths, it was really real synthesizers." By 2011, Doroschuk had taken on three of his touring musicians as full band members: James Love on guitar and backing vocals, Louise (Lou) Dawson on keyboards and backing vocals, and Mark Olexson on keyboards and backing vocals, all of whom performed on ''Love in the Age of War''. Colin Doroschuk also appeared on the album as a vocalist. After the album was recorded, Doroschuk doubled down on the band's synthesizer-heavy sound by replacing Olexson with Vancouver musician Rachel Ashmore, on keyboards and backing vocals, as the group's second synthesist. Men Without Hats again toured the United States in 2013, as part of the 1980s-themed ''Regeneration Tour'', with contemporaries such as Howard Jones, Andy Bell of
Erasure Erasure may refer to: Arts and media * Erasure (duo), an English pop group * ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure * Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text * ''Erasure'' (novel), ...
, and
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. The band's continuing activity has included tours in Europe in 2015 and 2016. As part of a "Totally '80s" show that toured Australia in July 2016, Doroschuk performed as Men Without Hats without other band members, "singing with the house band... oset the stage for a proper visit with the full band". In October 2016, prior to a European tour, Sho Murray replaced Love as guitarist. On January 28, 2020, Ivan announced that he was working on a follow-up to ''Love in the Age of War'', to be titled ''Again (Parts 1 and 2)''. A new lineup of the band recorded the two studio albums in Vancouver between July 2020 and January 2021, to be released separately in 2021 and 2022 on the band's new label, Sonic Envy. Twelve new original songs were recorded for ''Again (Part 2)'', which included "Heaven", a song written in 1985 and performed on the ''Freeways'' tour but never recorded in the studio. The five-song ''Again (Part 1)'' EP includes a collection of cover songs and a "re-invention" of "Safety Dance" titled “No Friends of Mine". The band announced tour dates beginning in June 2021, with a lineup consisting of Ivan on lead vocals and electronics, Colin Doroschuk on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, and Sho Murray on guitar. Colin’s daughter, soprano Sahara Sloan, provided additional vocals on the recording. In 2024, Men Without Hats toured as part of the ''Abducted by the 80's'' tour across the US and Canada with fellow 80s acts Wang Chung,
The Motels The Motels are an American new wave band from Berkeley, California, that is best known for the singles " Only the Lonely" and " Suddenly Last Summer", each of which peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, in 1982 and 1983, respectively. ...
, and
Naked Eyes Naked Eyes are an English new wave duo"All Eyes on Pete Byrne", ''Newsday'', 15 October 2013 that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. The band had four US Top 40 singles. The group's first hit, " Always Something There to Remind Me", was ...
, as well as the ''Totally Tubular Festival'' with Tom Bailey,
Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
, and others.


Members


Current members

*
Ivan Doroschuk Ivan Eugene Doroschuk (, ) (born 9 October 1957) is an American-born Canadian musician. He is the lead vocalist and founding member of Men Without Hats, best known for the songs "The Safety Dance" (1982) and " Pop Goes the World" (1987). Ear ...
– vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synths, drum programming (1977–1993, 2002–2003, 2010–present) * Colin Doroschuk – vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass (1979–1986, 1990–1993, 2020–present) * Sho Murray – guitar (2016–present) * Adrian White – drums (2018–present) * Sahara Sloan – vocals, keyboards (2023–present)


Former members

This listing may include a number of session musicians for whom actual membership in the band cannot be confirmed.


Timeline


Discography


Studio albums

* ''
Rhythm of Youth ''Rhythm of Youth'' is the debut studio album by Canadian new wave and synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released in April 1982 by Statik Records in Europe and Canada and in 1983 by Backstreet Records in the US. It propelled them to fame with its ...
'' (1982) * ''
Folk of the 80's (Part III) ''Folk of the 80's (Part III)'' is the second studio album by Canadian synth-pop group Men Without Hats, released in early 1984. The album reached #127 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It was the band's final album with the lineup con ...
'' (1984) * ''
Pop Goes the World ''Pop Goes the World'' is the third studio album by Canadian New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released on June 29, 1987, by Mercury Records. It features the single "Pop Goes the World (song), Pop Goes the World", whic ...
'' (1987) * '' The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century'' (1989) * ''
Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond ( Paul Giamatti), a de ...
'' (1991) * '' No Hats Beyond This Point'' (2003) * '' Love in the Age of War'' (2012) * ''Again, Part 2'' (2022)


References


External links

* (2012–present)
Original official website (2001–2004)
* * *
Lazlo's Discography Machine: Men Without Hats

Jérémie Arrobas official site



Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

Article at canadianbands.com
{{Authority control Canadian new wave musical groups Canadian synth-pop groups English-language musical groups from Quebec Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Musical groups reestablished in 2002 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Musical groups reestablished in 2010 Musical groups from Montreal Synth-pop new wave musical groups Anglophone Quebec people 1977 establishments in Quebec