From their coolly synthesized dance beat to singer Ivan Doroschuk’s tastefully muted Bowie fixation, Montreal’s Men Without Hats managed to incorporate nearly all that was hip and marketable into their sound.
This ploy netted them a solitary global hit with The Safety Dance in 1982.
Most of the songs on their debut album, Rhythm Of Youth (1982), were about either clothes or dancing (sometimes both) and hearing Doroschuk apply his dark, melodramatic baritone to such eternal puzzlers as “Imagine if everyone had the same haircuts” was not likely to change the life of any listener.
Yet the Hatless ones insisted on presenting such philosophical gems as if they actually meant something.
The most damning aspect of Men Without Hats, though, was their utter lack of imagination. There was nothing in their music that even a casual listener hadn’t already heard from Depeche Mode, Devo, Yazoo, Duran Duran or a dozen others.
Ivan Doroschuk
Vocals, keyboards
Stefan Doroschuk
Guitar, bass, violin
Allan McCarthy
Keyboards, percussion, electronics
Colin Doroschuk
Keyboards, electronics
Jeremie Arrobas
Keyboards, electronics
