Mens Hats

Men Without Hats broke big with their 1982 debut, Rhythm of Youth. Though they never maintained that level of success, their third album Pop Goes the World was a smart, well-crafted, woefully underrated offering. The album chronicles the quest for and backlash of fame on songs like the title track, on which Ivan sings "Johnny and Jenny had a crazy dream/See their pictures in a magazine." Perhaps it was a way of dealing with the band's sudden success/failure, particularly on "Lose My Way" and "The Real World.." Thankfully, a wild sense of humor and a heartbreaking poignancy keeps the album from becoming too serious. Additionally, each song is vastly different: there are some lullabies ("Moonbeam"), some anthems ("Jenny Wore Black"), and some dirges ("Bright Side of the Sun" - which is criminally short, adding to its power)…

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 second single, "The Safety Dance". It was released under the Statik Records label in Canada, distributed by Warner Music Canada (then called WEA Canada) where it achieved Platinum status for sales of 100,000 units.

Just when you thought you'd heard everything. Here we have an album of guitar-driven alt-rock from Montreal electro-pop ensemble Men Without Hats. Apparently, the Hats' lead singer/songwriter Ivan Doroschuk had taken to hanging out with Montreal scenesters like the Doughboys, who encouraged him to pursue his predilection for loud guitars. He had made a brief foray in this direction in 1985, but record company disinterest in the idea had pushed him back to electro-pop. Now that grungy guitars and alternative rock were all the rage, the idea seemed more viable to all concerned.