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[["Weird Al" Yankovic]] parodied the song as "The Brady Bunch" for his 1984 album ''[["Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D]]''. [[Artie Abrams]] ([[Kevin McHale (actor)|Kevin McHale]]) performed this song in a dream sequence in the 2010 ''[[Glee (TV series)|Glee]]'' episode "[[Dream On (Glee)|Dream On]]".
[["Weird Al" Yankovic]] parodied the song as "The Brady Bunch" for his 1984 album ''[["Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D]]''. [[Artie Abrams]] ([[Kevin McHale (actor)|Kevin McHale]]) performed this song in a dream sequence in the 2010 ''[[Glee (TV series)|Glee]]'' episode "[[Dream On (Glee)|Dream On]]".


===Chart performance===
==Chart performance==
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Revision as of 00:14, 30 July 2013

"The Safety Dance"
Song
B-side"Security"

"The Safety Dance" is a song written and recorded by Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats, and to date, it remains their biggest hit. It was initially released in Canada in January 1983 as the 2nd single from the band's first full-length album, Rhythm of Youth. The song was written by Ivan Doroschuk after he had been kicked out of a club for pogoing.[3] The song entered the Canadian top 50 in February 1983, peaking at #11 on 14 May. In the meantime, "The Safety Dance" was released in the US on 16 March, but did not enter the US charts for a few months. When it finally did, the record became a bigger hit than it had been in Canada, peaking at #3 in September 1983.[4] It also reached number 1 on Cash Box, as well as number 1 on the Billboard Dance Chart. "The Safety Dance" similarly found success in other parts of the world, entering the UK charts in August and peaking at #6 in early November, and entering the New Zealand charts in November, eventually peaking at #2 in early 1984.

Meaning of the song

The writer/performer, Ivan Doroschuk, has explained that "The Safety Dance" is a protest against bouncers stopping dancers pogoing to 1980s new wave music in clubs when disco was dying and new wave was up and coming. New wave dancing, especially pogoing, was different from disco dancing, because it was done individually instead of with partners and involved holding the torso rigid and thrashing about. To uninformed bystanders this could look dangerous, especially if pogoers accidentally bounced into one another (the more deliberately violent evolution of pogoing is slam dancing). The bouncers did not like pogoing so they would tell pogoers to stop or be kicked out of the club. Thus, the song is a protest and a call for freedom of expression. Other lyrics in the song include references to the way pogoing looked to bouncers, especially "And you can act real rude and totally removed/And I can act like an imbecile".[5]

Doroschuk responded to two common interpretations of the song. Firstly, he notes it is not a call for safe sex. Doroschuk says that is reading too much into the lyrics. Secondly, he explained that it is not an anti-nuclear protest song per se despite the nuclear imagery at the end of the video. Doroschuk stated that "it wasn't a question of just being anti-nuclear, it was a question of being anti-establishment.[6]

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by Tim Pope,[7] is notable for its English folk revival imagery, notably Morris men, Mummers, Punch and Judy and a Maypole. It was filmed in the village of West Kington, near Chippenham, in South West England.[8] Ivan Doroschuk is the only member of the band to actually perform in the video. Doroschuk, and others in the video, can be seen repeatedly forming an "S" sign by jerking both arms into a stiff pose, one arm in an upward curve and the other in a downward curve, apparently referring to the first letter in 'safety'. The Morris Dance side in the video was Chippenham Town Morris from Wiltshire, performing Monkton Park.[9] The dwarf actor is Mike Edmonds. His T-shirt in the video shows the "Rhythm of Youth" album cover.

After many years of speculation about the identity of the female dancer in the video, on 25 February 2013 the band's official Facebook page revealed her to be Louise Court, who went on to become a journalist and is now the UK editor of Cosmopolitan.[10]

"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song as "The Brady Bunch" for his 1984 album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D. Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) performed this song in a dream sequence in the 2010 Glee episode "Dream On".

Chart performance

References

  1. ^ Scarecrow Press, ed. (1983). Voice of Youth Advocates: VOYA., Vol. 6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help) "The single by Men Without Hats, "The Safety Dance," may be the best new wave dance song since The B-52's "Rock Lobster.""
  2. ^ EMAP Performance Limited, ed. (2006). Mojo, N° 154 to 157. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help) "But the Adam Ant-meets-The Wicker Man promo clip for Men Without Hats' hit The Safety Dance indeed featured these symbols of rustic England. Nor was it a standard-issue synth pop hit."
  3. ^ Sperounes, Sandra (12 May 2011). "Good dance tunes don't die". Edmontonjournal.com. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  5. ^ "Safety Dance". Lyrics on Demand. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  6. ^ Karec. "True Meaning of the Safety Dance". FC2. Veoh.com.
  7. ^ Jim Hynes. "Past Interviews". Menwithouthats.com. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  8. ^ "You Can Dance If You Want To". Guanolad.blogspot.fr. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Chippenham Town Morris Men". Randomdestination.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Facebook posting from band revealing identity of female dancer". 25 February 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  11. ^ bulion. "Forum - ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts - CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989". ARIA. Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  14. ^ "The Safety Dance - MEN WITHOUT HATS". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Retrieved 25 July 2013. Hoogste notering in de top 30 : 12
  15. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 38, No. 11, May 14 1983". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  16. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Titres par Artiste". Dominic DURAND / InfoDisc (in French). InfoDisc.fr. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013. You have to use the index at the top of the page and search "Men Without Hats"
  17. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". IRMA. Retrieved 22 July 2013. Only one result when searching "The safety dance"
  18. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  19. ^ "Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  21. ^ "Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance". VG-lista. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  22. ^ John Samson. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Acts (M)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  24. ^ "Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  25. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  26. ^ a b c "Rhythm of Youth awards on Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  27. ^ "Canadian Content (Cancon) - Volume 63, No. 19, June 24 1996". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
Preceded by Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
2 July 1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Cash Box Top 100 singles
1 October 1983 		Succeeded by
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