not one of my favorite songs but i do have it in my library and its one i listen to more than i skip, and it is amusing to listen to driving around to
One Hit Wonderland - The Safety Dance
Written by Todd In The Shadows Friday, 28 September 2012 18:57
Image art by Krin
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Comments (109)
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09.28.2012 - 19:52 | zetabird
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09.29.2012 - 21:21 | LikaLaruku
When I was a teen, I thought this song was about condoms. Safety = condom, dance = sex, if your friends don't dance they're no friends of mine = I don't associate with virgins.
It came to me after someone told me FGTH's "Relax" was about premature ejaculation or slow BJs.
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10.29.2012 - 17:24 | Sisi
I heard a similar theory once - that the song was about practicing safe sex and that the line "if they don't dance they're no friends of mine" meant "I don't associate with idiots who don't use condoms" rather than "I don't associate with virgins"...
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09.28.2012 - 20:44 | PlayMp1
That was some of the most safe, least threatening-looking moshing I've ever seen. I see way more circle pits than that... then again, this is in the context of a metal show, not synth-pop.
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09.29.2012 - 04:36 | bassbaitYes, we all get it, Metal shows have crazy pits...
but the 80's was retarded, what else do you expect? I doubt that 1983 Metal pits were that crazy. Rewind to the days of Black Sabbath and people just sat down and watched. Fast-forward to 1986 and Slayer is making people tear up the venue (not joking, people tore things apart). Bad Brains was having people jumping off of balconies and crap, and that's still tame compared to some shows. But in 1983, it's excusable that a bunch of new wave fans have a "pit" that sucks. Personally, in 1983 I would have killed to see Mercyful Fate live.
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10.01.2012 - 23:12 | PlayMp11983 still had Iron Maiden, Venom, Mercyful Fate and Judas Priest. Hell, Metallica and Slayer had released albums by 1983. They sure as hell had some nasty pits.
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I'm terribly disappointed in this band's decision to use such a blasphemous name. Why can't we return to the good old days of Teufort and the hat wearing Gentlemen.
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09.28.2012 - 21:11 | someone0
But I wear a hat...
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09.28.2012 - 21:12 | someone0and I've still got Whistle stuck in my head...
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09.28.2012 - 21:24 | lonewolf23k
Wow... Never knew that Men Without Hats was from Montreal. They're compatriots of mine!
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09.28.2012 - 21:26 | Fanofyou
Ha they look like the Lannisters!
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09.29.2012 - 10:24 | Carteeg_Struve
Somewhere Tywin is slitting his wrists.
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09.29.2012 - 13:59 | navvyshanekar
HALFMAN!! HALFMAN!! HALFMAN!!!
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09.28.2012 - 21:29 | SlyDante
Honestly, I think I vastly prefer "Pop Goes The World" to "The Safety Dance". Partially because to be honest, I really don't like that video. It may be memorable, but "memorable" doesn't always equal "good." =P
Anyhow, great jod, Todd! Nice of you to give us up here in the North a little love!
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Oh, yeah! Recently some chick did a cover of Pop Goes the World. It was on some commercial. So in a way Men Without Hats haven't died, especially since someone played this at their wedding...
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09.28.2012 - 22:08 | ultimategiygas
todd, i love this video. it is great to see another OHW. i remember the aqua teen hunger force parody 'the saftey fart' weird reference, i know. also todd, i think you are starting to slip in your editing skills. i don't expect perfection or anything, but these mistakes are bugging me. with some vids have mike issues and now 7:30 you don't fill in your screen entirely and i can see the music vid behind it. just wanted to point that out
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09.28.2012 - 22:25 | sdesrosI like the OHW series as I usually find most one hit wonders are falsely labelled as such. I'm generally amazed at how many songs I recognized when I pick up a greatest hits collection or another album.
With that said, I personally prefer "Where Do the Boys Go?" to most of their other songs. (Although I guess I tend to prefer the less-played releases to the over played hits.)
I did find one of Yvan's solo albums (called "Yvan") and it wasn't too bad. I gave it to my then roommate at the time.
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09.28.2012 - 22:27 | Raddcast
I used to really like this song, but I'm older than most people on this site. I still love my New/Dark wave bands.
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09.28.2012 - 22:32 | sinesofinsanityIt might be worth pointing out that in the early 80s nearly everyone in Quebec was Catholic and men wore hats to church. FYI
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09.28.2012 - 22:45 | M. Perfidious
I thought the end of wearing hats as a general fashion was in the 50's?
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like alot of people WoW brought this song to are attention with the original 40 man NAXX videos
then later in wotlk the achivement "safty dance" to not get hit by goo vs heigan
yes we are nerds
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09.28.2012 - 22:43 | M. PerfidiousTodd is right about one thing, there was a *lot* worse music in the 80's in comparison.
In fact, I argue that horrid crap like "Our House" and for every Eurythmics caliber band you had two songs by Barry Manilow, Thompson Twins, or 99 Luft Balloons would just play several more times with "Pink Houses" to break up the monotony.
Let's not forget the debut hits of Julian Lennon and Jermaine Jackson - that's right, the only Jackson even Latoya stayed away from.
So yes, in comparison to Tears for Fears on seeming loop, Safety Dance at least had a slightly faster tempo and was trying to be fun.
Man I hated the 80's.
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09.29.2012 - 05:53 | ratcatcher
The 80s were bad for pop, but good for a lot of other genres.
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09.29.2012 - 14:28 | ToruKun1
I honestly can't comprehend people who think the '80s were a horrible time for pop music. IMO, it's like, the best time ever.
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10.01.2012 - 23:19 | PlayMp1The 80s were the golden age of metal and hip-hop and laid the foundation for much of electronic music. If you ever want something to headbang to, just pick a random album from 1986 and it should work amazingly well.
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09.28.2012 - 22:49 | Sandie Sandwicheadman
I can't wait till the inevitable Devo video. They're a fantastic band, and don't deserve to be basically remembered for one of their more mediocre songs.
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09.29.2012 - 00:33 | Wario_man
I actually really enjoyed Something For Everybody (the album) a lot more than a lot of their old stuff.
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Now that's three in a row you've made with only one hint of a reference to the fact "Weird Al" made a parody of the song (Taco Grande). At the rate your going you'll have his whole back catalogue of songs he parodied in the 80's and 90's. That said nice video! This series is very fun and informative, keep up the good work!
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09.28.2012 - 23:27 | Jeff Jacobson"You can dance! You can dance! Everybody look at your pants!" -Homer Simpson
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09.28.2012 - 23:40 | ColeYote
So... Men Without Hats ended up becoming the world's lamest grunge band, eh?
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09.29.2012 - 04:43 | bassbaitNope. Look up "Creed" or "Nickelback" - technically Post-Grunge, but those are the lamest bands to ever walk the earth.
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09.28.2012 - 23:58 | TheAngryAnimeAddict
I always do the safety dance when I run out of excuses not to do my homework.
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09.29.2012 - 00:04 | joleckwell i'm not a fan of this band in general but i absolutly love the new wave movement...I also would recomend to you the song forever young By Alphaville or perhaps Majortom by shining toy guns if you want a really good new wave song
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09.29.2012 - 00:57 | ezeki3lIn the future do 'Waiting for a star to fall' by 'Boy Meets Girl' or 'Down Under' by 'Men at Work'
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09.29.2012 - 01:50 | FishEyenoMiko
Met at Work had more than on hit in the U.S.
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He eventually became a living punching bag for a Quebec comedy troupe back in the late 80s/early 90s. Bonhomme Carnaval now is nowadays closely related to "frying pan to the face" up here because of that. Funny stuff.
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09.29.2012 - 01:48 | FishEyenoMikoMan, I love this song.
Oh, and "Pop goes the World"! OMG, they did that, too? Cool!
[goes to YouTube]
Yay! Thanks for the nostalgia bomb, Todd!
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09.29.2012 - 01:50 | Battery712
I love this song. Great 80's nostalgia.
Also, the 'literal version' is hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/ watch? v=KNS6M7au2rg&feature=pla yer_embedded
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09.29.2012 - 02:21 | AutoAxpert
I love this song. And the video is just complete madness, which isn't a bad thing. The singer looks confused, we have a midget jester and a maypole dance with people wearing chicken masks. I just love it.
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09.29.2012 - 04:13 | travisbickle
Hey todd can you talk about punk sometime
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09.29.2012 - 04:42 | bassbaitTodd - you have to tackle the world's greatest one hit wonder -
Epic - Faith no More.
You HAVE TO DO IT!!!
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