Songoftheday 2/13/13 - And we can dress real neat from out hats to our feet and surprise them with a victory cry...

Men Without Hats - "The Safety Dance"
from the album Rhythm Of Youth (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (four weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 16

Today's Song of the Day is by the Canadian synthpop act Men Without Hats, who shuffled around their lineup under the helm of Montreal native Ivan Doroschuk, until they settled on a lineup with Ivan, his brother Stefan, and musician Allan McCarthy to record their debut full-length album, Rhythm Of Youth. After releasing a single in their homeland, "I Like", that didn't do so well, they put out "The Safety Dance", a fun romp protesting the treatment of new-wave kids bouncing around against each other (called "slam dancing") by club bouncers. But the song was so silly and infectious it really didn't matter what it was about (think, the "Gangnam Style" for that year)...

At first the song was a hit in Canada, just peaking under the Top-10 at #11. But after it caught on in America, it became huge, reaching the top-3 on the pop chart, topping the dance club list in Billboard, and even reaching the top-20 on the rock radio chart when the format still embraced new wave music. The single also was a big hit all over the world, reaching the top-10 in Britain as well.

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..and here's the MWH live with the "Safety Dance"..

In 1983 parody master Weird Al Yankovic co-opted the song for "The Brady Bunch"...

The Donnas rocked out to the "Safety Dance" in 2007...

The cast of Glee took "The Safety Dance" back to the chart in 2010 (ahhh, those innocent early days) and reached #81 in America and #88 in the UK...

To finish this...here's some flight attendants having some fun with the song...

Up tomorrow: For V-Day, some communication.