Men Without Hats "The Safety Dance"
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8227
Printed Date: 11 May 2025 at 9:04am
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Topic: Men Without Hats "The Safety Dance"
Posted By: chendagam
Subject: Men Without Hats "The Safety Dance"
Date Posted: 27 October 2014 at 1:03pm
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I'm not sure if this has been discussed but is the 45 version just an edit
of the LP version? To me the album version sounds slower and slightly different. |
Replies:
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 27 October 2014 at 1:43pm
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The 45 has additional mix elements that aren't in the LP version, so it can't be edited from the LP version.
In my library, I use the 45 version from Lost 45s Of The '70s And '80s, and the LP version from Rock The First Vol. 3. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: chendagam
Date Posted: 28 October 2014 at 7:55pm
| Thank you for the clarification. Any specifics? Also this is another one of those songs where I heard the long album version on the radio back in '83 most of the time. I think the first time I heard the short version is when I bought the actual 45 and man was I disappointed as a kid. This is a similar situation like Kenny Loggins "Footloose" and a few others that I can't think of at the moment. Maybe someone else wants to chime in. Any idea why this was? |
Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 28 October 2014 at 8:34pm
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The LP version spells out "safety" at the start while the 45 doesn't. That
hook may explain why the LP version got played on radio and clubs back in the summer of '83. ------------- Santi Paradoa Miami, Florida |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 28 October 2014 at 9:26pm
"Footloose" had the same 3:46-listed length across the board: the DJ 45, the commercial 45, the 12-inch promo single and the soundtrack LP. The "Safety Dance" DJ 45 had both the short and long versions, so stations could choose whichever side they wanted to play. If you're asking why the "Safety Dance" commercial 45 contained the short version instead of the long one, that call was likely up tho the label, Backstreet. Keep in mind that the jukebox industry was the biggest customer for commercial 45s by that time. Longer records on the jukeboxes meant less revenue for both the jukebox operators and the site providers. |
chendagam wrote:Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 29 October 2014 at 12:58am
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To "chendagam" & "Yah Shure":
The promo 12" of 'Footloose' [AS 1810] had the album version (with the drum intro) on one side (listed time 3:46); the other side had the single version (with the faded in flanged cymbals) with a listed time of 3:42). This was serviced to both AOR and CHR. Many CHR stations played the album version because it made for tighter segueing in various programming choices. Andy |
Posted By: 80smusicfreak
Date Posted: 29 October 2014 at 2:51am
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I believe what chendagam is essentially asking is, "Why did radio stations sometimes play the LP version of hit songs circa 1983-84, thus faking out consumers when they ran out and bought the vinyl 45?" - "The Safety Dance" and "Footloose" being two examples. Yeah, the *length* of the LP & 45 versions of "Footloose" was pretty close, but as AndrewChouffi noted, the intros were quite different - and I think that was chendagam's point. He actually delved into this subject regarding both songs one other time, in a http://www.top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1516&KW=men+without+safety - "Footloose" thread that he started back in 2006. (The reason I already knew that??? While recently going through all of the top 40 hits from 1983 - inc. "The Safety Dance" - it required revisiting a lot of the old threads on this chat board in order to obtain the answers I was looking for, lol...)
Speaking for myself, that was also the same time that I started buying music, but I decided to skip singles altogether, since I wasn't a fan of vinyl. Cassette singles and maxi-singles were few & far between back then - "Vacation", "The Reflex", and "Hyperactive" all immediately come to mind - so I went w/ album-length cassettes. And in many cases, the cassette editions contained bonus tracks and/or additional versions of hit songs not found on the vinyl LP, and Men Without Hats' Rhythm of Youth was a perfect example. The U.S. cassette included BOTH the LP & 45 versions of "The Safety Dance", as well as the bonus track, "Living in China" (non-LP B-side of "The Safety Dance"). Photos on Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=3814954 - MEN WITHOUT HATS - "Rhythm of Youth" (U.S. cassette) So in many cases, I felt I was getting the best of both - and believe it or not, to this day, Rhythm of Youth has NEVER been issued on CD here in the U.S.! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 29 October 2014 at 8:15am
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Here's something interesting. I just discovered that there were two different US pressings of the vinyl LP, and both appear to have been released in 1983. http://www.discogs.com/Men-Without-Hats-Rhythm-Of-Youth/release/510967 - This pressing has "The Safety Dance" as the first track on Side B and a printed run time of 2:44. Meanwhile, http://www.discogs.com/Men-Without-Hats-Rhythm-Of-Youth/release/1772923 - this pressing has "The Safety Dance" as track 2 of Side A and a printed run time of 4:32.
Perhaps there are actually two different LP versions, and the 45 is really the same as one of the LP versions. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 02 November 2014 at 7:05pm
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Yes, the LP was released before the song really took off
on U.S. radio. Once the 12" version became the hit, they re-issued the LP with that instead. I even recall a school dance in Jan. of '83 - months before the song broke here. At that time this was in heavy rotation on the new wave station. One of the DJ's at the dance had the import 45, and that had the same cover and version as the 12" single. The only times I ever heard the short version were in the video, and on Casey's weekly countdown. MM |
Posted By: chendagam
Date Posted: 03 November 2014 at 3:33pm
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Another song that comes to mind is the red hot chili peppers "give it
away." I have never heard the single version on the radio. |
Posted By: chendagam
Date Posted: 10 November 2014 at 3:18pm
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Just heard another song that radio uses the LP version over the 45:
Phil Collins in the air tonight. |
Posted By: Jody Thornton
Date Posted: 10 November 2014 at 9:19pm
Not in the day they didn't though (at least in Southern Ontario and Western New York). Only AOR and rock FM stations played the "Face Value" version. Most CHR stations played the 45-rpm edit with the drums mixed through. ------------- Cheers, Jody Thornton (Richmond Hill, Ontario) |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 05 March 2021 at 11:28pm
I was taken aback when I popped in an 80's compilation in the early 90's and heard the 2:42 version for the first time. I clearly remember New York radio always playing the LP version. That hook is what made it a top 10 hit and let's be honest the 2:44 isn't all that memorable I can see why most radio stations passed on it. Thank god I picked up Rock The First when it came out and saw that it had the correct version I had grown up hearing. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 06 March 2021 at 5:03am
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I never really cared for the longer "Safety Dance" version (although I did hear it on the radio at the time). IMO, this is
a case of the short version getting right to the point and nailing it (same goes for "Tainted Love"). |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 06 March 2021 at 7:39am
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I disagree on "Tainted Love", to me the medley is the
definitive version of that song. Another song from that general time period where most stations played the LP version was "The Reflex". |
Posted By: RichM921
Date Posted: 08 March 2021 at 9:28am
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I agree with Paul on Safety Dance. For some reason, Men Without
Hats just clicked for me and I became a huge fan and they are still in my top 5 for favorite all-time bands. Having said that I think the single mix is far superior. It has a much fuller sound leaving the LP version rather dry in comparison. I don't really care if they spell out "safety" or not. |
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 08 March 2021 at 10:25am
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I might be in the minority, but I never liked the LP intro
where they spell "safety". I much prefer the mix/edit that cuts to the chase right away. ------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 08 March 2021 at 8:50pm
I can see your point on Safety Dance. I agree with Hykker that without the "Where Did Our Love Go" part of Tainted Love, the song wouldn't have lasted so long on the charts as it did. I never heard Tainted Love without Where Did Your Love go at any time. The two are tied together for me in that one song. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 09 March 2021 at 4:13am
I mostly heard the non-medley version at the time, so that's the one that I grew to love. I don't dislike the medley version, in fact it's the ONLY version I hear nowadays on the radio. To each his own! |
Posted By: thecdguy
Date Posted: 09 March 2021 at 6:33am
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I remember in the summer of '83 it was anyone's guess what version of "The Safety Dance" and Culture Club's "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" would be played on the
radio in my area. I'm pretty sure I heard the longer "Safety Dance" on the radio more often, and when I finally heard the shorter version I was surprised because it seemed too short and it didn't seem right without the spelling of "Safety" in it. Even to this day, I rarely listen to the shorter version. Same exact thing with "I'll Tumble 4 Ya". At least one station here played the longer 12" Version, and I assumed that was the regular LP/45 Version until I heard the shorter 2 1/2 minute version. I didn't know until years later that the longer version I'd heard was actually a 12" version. Hearing the shorter version never sounded quite right to me, which is why I rarely ever listen to it now, like the shorter "Safety Dance". "Tainted Love" happened a little different in my area. As I remember it, the shorter version was the only one that was played for awhile, and then suddenly they started playing the version with "Where Did Our Love Go" attached to it. From that point on, I don't think the shorter version was ever played again and I grew to love the medley version much more. When I started collecting CD's in the late 80's, the medley seemed to be impossible to find on CD. I think the first comp I ever had with the medley contained the 12" Version running almost 9 minutes. That was OK, but I preferred the shorter medley I'd always heard up to that point. I think it was mid-90's when it finally showed up on the Rhino Hard Rock Cafe CD. I didn't know until later that the short medley was only on a Promo 45 up to that point, which probably explained why it was so hard to find on CD at the time. I agree with Rich that the inclusion of "Where Did Our Love Go" helped its longevity on the charts, although it was only ever listed as "Tainted Love" during its entire chart run. I assume that had something to do with the medley only being available on a Promo 45, and the requirement being that a song had to be commercially available as a single in order to chart. ------------- Dan In Philly |
Posted By: davidlg1971
Date Posted: 09 March 2021 at 4:44pm
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In terms of designation, my understanding is that the 2:44 version of Safety Dance appeared on the initial release of their debut LP https://www.discogs.com/Men-Without-Hats-Rhythm-Of-Youth/release/1216117 - Rhythm of Youth . So that's the LP/45 version.
The 4:34 version was first released as the 'Extended Club Mix" on the Canadian https://www.discogs.com/Men-Without-Hats-The-Safety-Dance-Ex tended-Club-Mix/release/1622270 - Safety Dance 12" . Which makes sense; it's quite a bit more spacious, as 12" mixes tended to be, whereas the LP mix is so dense and propulsive. Anyway - growing up in the Bay Area, I'd never heard the Club Mix - every radio station I ever listened to until the 1990s played the LP/45 version. The first time I ever heard the longer mix was on an 80s compilation CD of 12" remixes. I was a tad disappointed upon hearing it, as I wanted the version I remembered. |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 09 March 2021 at 5:29pm
New York radio during the 80's tended to trend towards the long 12 inch mixes when they could. Hungry Like The Wolf the Night version is a perfect example. Never heard the 45 version back then. The Safety Dance and Tainted Love's 45 versions also were ignored in favor of Extended and promo mix respectfully. I guess it was more regional back then concerning what mix got played by the station. I know Z-100 and WPLJ prided themselves on a lot of these extended mixes and different edits. WPLJ even had their own 99 Luftballoons edit back then too. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |