Now a band from the other side of the globe - Canada. Men Without Hats shone briefly but brightly, releasing one of the catchiest songs of the decade ("The safety dance") and one of the finest synthpop albums ever ("Rhythm of youth"). As with too many of the early MTV favourites they weren't able to capitalize on this sudden surge in popularity, yet unusually they didn't simply disappear, but gained considerable traction with their second biggest hit ("Pop goes the world") and album of the same name. And while worldwide they only had two hits, in their homeland they were more consistent throughout the 1980s. After a break two two decades they returned in 2012 with a new album "Love in the age of war", which easily rivaled their finest work. More of a live proposition nowadays, they are fondly remembered and consistently referenced in the media (like A Flock of Seagulls and some other distinctive 1980s bands). Not much of a world charts-busting machine, still it's interesting to check how they fared commercially.
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Nb. Discography
Hey Vlad:
ReplyDeleteThat Men and Women without Hate in the 21st century deserved to do much better.
And Safety Dance is everywhere - particularly when it is part of the Literal Lyrics trend which was around in 2011-15.
{Why did we not know of LOVE IN THE AGE OF WAR?}
Adelaide
Yes, "The safety dance" certainly endured, it really is a modern pop classic. Some songs just have that lasting impact, it's up there with "Take on me", "You spin me round", "Sweet dreams", it transcends generations despite sounding very 1980s.
Delete"Men and Women without Hate in the 21st century" I personally find weaker than the predecessor, especially in the choice of singles. But that was the pattern for NWH - "Folk of the 80s Pt III" as much weaker than "Rhythm of youth", for example.
"Love in the age of war" certainly deserved commercial success (I would've loved it to!) but their time in the charts was in the past by then. Being on "indie" label left no other choice, sadly.