Men Without Hats

In Montreal in the early 1980s, Men Without Hats took shape around singer and songwriter Ivan Doroschuk, rooted in the Canadian new wave and synth-pop scene. The band developed a keyboard-driven sound with simple, repetitive rhythms and instantly memorable choruses, placing it within the era’s English-language electronic pop movement. After an initial EP, the album Rhythm of Youth (1982) established Men Without Hats on North American and European stages, followed by Folk of the 80’s (Part III) (1984) and then Pop Goes the World (1987), where the synth-pop formula leaned more on guitars and radio-friendly formats. The albums The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century (1989) and Sideways (1991) marked a more rock-oriented stretch, before a period of retreat and then a gradual return in the 2000s with No Hats Beyond This Point (2003) and Love in the Age of War (2012). Men Without Hats then resumed regular touring and studio work up to the release of Again (Part 2) in 2022, with Ivan Doroschuk remaining the steady nucleus of an ever-changing lineup.