Monday, August 1, 2016

Men Without Hats - Rhythm Of Youth - 1982

Probably the 4th or 5th 45-rpm record I purchased.  I can't remember exactly, now, as I had Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me and Toni Basil's Mickey in there, somewhere, too.  The Safety Dance has long been one of my all-time favorites of the era.  I remember exactly the first time I heard it.  It wasn't on the radio or MTV, but two of the popular girls - Tricia Young and Lauri Olmstead - were singing it out on the playground while we were at recess in 5th or 6th grade elementary.  I was fascinated.  It wasn't long after that and I saw the video on MTV, and heard it then on the radio, and I knew I had to get it.

I didn't really get into the album until after I had graduated from High School and began exploring music in general.  I used to go to used record stores constantly, looking for new stuff to buy.  That's when I got this album.  Obviously, it's a great album with a lot of great singles. 

I know that a lot of 80s compilation albums use the extended mix of the song, as well as radio stations playing their 80s hour shows.  I personally prefer the single version, that starts right into the song full-bore.  Just like on the video.  I also think the best song on the album, and a key track for any 80s mixes I might make, is I Got the Message.  Best song.

Had fun with the cover.  Half tempted to get a tattoo of their circle strike logo.  Wouldn't that be cool?

3 comments:

  1. I used to watch Top Of The Pops religiously...the day they played the video of Safety Dance, I missed it (must have been doing something for charity that day / getting drunk on Thunderbirds / delete as appropriate). Didn't see it for years and years...

    Ain't the interweb great?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely a band that suffered from 'single overkill' in it's day. Safety Dance was such a massive hit that radio programmers completely left out other great songs like "Living in China", "I Got the Message" and the quirky "Ideas for Walls". Safety Dance wouldn't die and never gave way to the rest. "Where Do The Boys Go" (from the follow up "Folk of the 80s") is one of the greatest songs of the decade. What a completely forsaken synth-o-whirlwind of a dance song... But it was never truly given it's due. The damage from Safety Dance was done. MWH's are really not a "one-hit-wonder" band, it's the due to the media's PSDD - "Post Safety Dance Disorder".

    ReplyDelete