Men Without Hats consists of Allan Mccarthy (percussion, piano), Colin Doroschuk (guitar, electronic sounds), Ivan Doroschuk (guitar, percussion, piano, vocals), Stefan Doroschuk (guitar, violin).
Men Without Hats was 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".
Many have suspected that the band was originally supposed to be named "Men Without Hate", but that the name got mangled somewhere along the way (the title of their 1989 album further supports this notion). It may all have been a lighthearted gag, though, which would be in keeping with the spirit of the band's music.
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 and Allan McCarthy. They emerged in the early 1980s with an EP called Folk of the 80s, whose tunes were perhaps folky in their lyrics but were unabashed synth pop in their music.
The band erupted onto the international scene a couple of years later with their hit single " The Safety Dance" (from Rhythm of Youth), one of the seminal pop songs of the decade. They also charted with the title track from their third full-length album, Pop Goes the World, a concept album with some heavier themes than much pop music of the era.
Their 1991 album Sideways revealed a dramatically different sound for the band, dominated by processed electric guitars instead of keyboards. The album wasn't even released in the U.S. at the time, and the band broke up.
Following the break-up, Ivan released a solo album, The Spell. The band reformed in 2003 and released their first new album in over a decade.
