When New Wave started to gain popularity it was notable for the types of dances that were created around it and the most known move was "The Pogo". Since most of the new wave songs were a fast tempo that simply jumping up and down in place like a pogo stick. While most clubs encouraged the dance, when one club kicked out a man named Ivan Doruschuk, a Canadian for dancing it. He took his experience and turned it into a song called "The Safety Dance" recorded with his group, Men Without Hats.

Formed in Montréal in 1977 as a punk band that kinda faded away until 1980 when leader Doroschuk renamed the band and embraced the new synthesizer sounds. This new direction did not produce any hits until the band recorded "The Rhythm Of Youth" in 1982 and released their second single, "The Safety Dance".

Released in Canada in February of 1983, it peaked at #11 on the Cdn pop charts but was an even bigger hit in the US where it peaked at #3 on the Hot100 for four weeks! It also peaked at #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart for good measure. It was worldwide hit and went top 10 and #1 in South Africa where it was a massive success.

Ivan explained that the inspiration from the song came from protesting his ejection from the club and "the way the bouncers prohibited dancers from pogo-ing to stop slamdancing, a more violent form of pogoing where dancers slammed their bodies into other dancers. All in all, the song is a protest and a call for freedom of expression. I remember back in da day that some radical slamdancers were attaching razor blades to their bodies that would cut them and the dancers they bumped into.

The band experienced a renaissance in 1987 with "Pop Goes The World" peaked at #20 on the Hot100 and #2 on the Canadian charts, but after that the band dissolved in 1993.

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