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Men Without Hats
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artist · chart history

Men Without Hats

Band Montréal Canada Formed 1977 Canadian new wave/synthpop group

Men Without Hats formed in 1977 in Montréal, Canada. Men Without Hats has 39 chart appearances on 38 radio countdowns from 15 stations on RockLists, spanning 1983–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “The Safety Dance”, which appears on 35 lists with a best position of #2. The station that charted Men Without Hats most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 7 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1987.

39appearances
38countdowns
2songs charted
15stations
0#1 finishes
1983–2025years

Men Without Hats came out of Montreal armed with synthesizers and electronic trickery, and in 1982 they put them to work on Rhythm of Youth. The sound is all cool electronic pulse and processed sheen, and out front is Ivan Doroschuk's deep baritone, a voice that sounds like it's making a public announcement from the future.

"The Safety Dance" was the song that took them round the world: a jaunty, chanting synth-pop anthem that went top 10 across the globe and reached number 3 in the United States. The band picked up a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1984, and returned with Pop Goes the World in 1987, whose bouncy title track proved the first hit wasn't a fluke.

The Doroschuk name runs through the lineup, with Colin and Stefan Doroschuk among the members over the years. After sitting out most of the '90s and 2000s, Ivan brought the band back in 2010. Love in the Age of War followed in 2012, and the group, now based in Vancouver, has kept touring, with the Again (Part 1) EP in 2021 and the Again (Part 2) album in 2022.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by Men Without Hats on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 The Safety Dance
1,754		 35 #2 – 1983
2 Pop Goes the World
152		 4 #32 – 1987

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

83 87

Every countdown appearance

Year#SongCountdown
2025 757 The Safety Dance The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs
2023 406 The Safety Dance The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2021 461 The Safety Dance 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2005 1026 The Safety Dance CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2004 1024 The Safety Dance CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003 1024 The Safety Dance CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 488 The Safety Dance Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 1526 Pop Goes the World Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002 1039 The Safety Dance CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 449 The Safety Dance Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2001 1039 The Safety Dance CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 288 The Safety Dance WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001)
2000 1050 The Safety Dance CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999 488 The Safety Dance 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999 709 The Safety Dance Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 138 The Safety Dance WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 464 The Safety Dance WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)
1999 545 The Safety Dance The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1050 The Safety Dance CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 28 The Safety Dance Channel 104.9 Top 101 Songs of the '80s (February 1999)
1998 125 The Safety Dance KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1996 47 The Safety Dance KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1996 177 The Safety Dance Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)
1996 109 The Safety Dance WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1995 220 The Safety Dance KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1994 292 The Safety Dance KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1994 472 The Safety Dance Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994)
1994 74 The Safety Dance WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1992 71 The Safety Dance KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1991 235 The Safety Dance Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991 322 The Safety Dance CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1989 225 The Safety Dance KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1988 224 The Safety Dance Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1988 195 The Safety Dance WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988)
1987 32 Pop Goes the World 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987
1987 84 Pop Goes the World Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1987
1987 62 Pop Goes the World WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987
1983 2 The Safety Dance KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1983
1983 86 The Safety Dance 91X Top 91 Songs of 1983

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