Men Without Hats

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Led by original founding members Ivan and Colin Doroschuk, Men Without Hats have been rounded out since 2016 by industry veteran Sho Murray, and augmented on this record by Colin’s daughter, soprano Sahara Sloan.

The album was recorded on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on top of the Malahat Mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean, from July 2020 to January 2021.

The choice of cover songs on “Again (Part 1)” – Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love,” Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes”, The Tragically Hip’s “Blow at High Dough,” and The Rolling Stones’ “2000 Light Years From Home” – provide a rare glimpse into Men Without Hats’ tastes and influences, as they even re-invent their most iconic hit (“No Friends of Mine”).

The themes explored on “Again (Part 2)” reflect the band’s unique take on current affairs (“If the World Should End Today,” “The Human Race”), love (“All Into Stars,” “The Love Inside your Heart,” “When Does The Love Begin”), the meaning of life (“Just Another Day,” “Nancy’s Room,” “Where The Wild Go”), and the state of the art (“My Love,” “Heaven,” “My Own Advice”).

With a mixture of the latest digital technology and the best of the analog world (including an actual prophet 5 synthesizer that was used during The Safety Dance recording session), Men Without Hats continue their voyage into the world of synth-pop, with a sound forged in the past and hardened by their life experience and commitment to the future.

For the past 10 years, Men Without Hats have toured the world with the cream of 80’s royalty, playing for crowds in North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, Jamaica, Australia, Mexico & South Africa, in fact reaching even more people and places than the first time around. Their crossover sound and message is resonating with a new generation of fans eager to understand and appreciate the 80’s influences in their own current brand of pop.

In conjunction with their 40th anniversary, Men Without Hats have had two of their songs – The Safety Dance and Pop Goes The World – inducted into the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

Some other recent highlights include Jimmy Fallon and The Roots performing The Safety Dance on the one world concert live stream, and Alaska airlines using it as the soundtrack to their new 80’s-themed advertising campaign video.

Originally from Montreal but relocated to Canada’s west coast for the past 20 years, Men Without hats have even seen their adoptive province’s BC-transit use The Safety Dance for their new travel safety video as well.

Since their formation in 1978, Men Without Hats have been at the forefront of popular electronic music, creating worldwide anthems of joy and positivity that have weathered all musical styles and trends, mirroring and recounting the mysteries and challenges of the space and time we live in.

Ork and Lloyd went to Reno Sweeney's one night during the summer of 1973, where Richard saw Tom Miller play three songs. Lloyd leaned over to Ork during the second song and told him that this fellow had something, but was missing something, and what he was missing, Lloyd had. He advised Ork that if Terry could convince Tom, the combination of Lloyd and Miller would have the makings of the band Terry Ork was looking for. This was the beginning of the formation of the band Television. Miller would eventually change his last name to Verlaine and Richard Meyers became Richard Hell and promised to learn the bass as they went along. With the addition of Billy Ficca on drums, the quartet was complete. Television rehearsed seven days a week for five or six hours a day during the fall and winter of 1973, and made their first public performance on March 2, 1974, at the Town House Theatre on W. 44th St.

Television were looking for a club where they could develop an audience and play more often as the house band, when Verlaine spotted a guy putting up the awning on a bar on the Bowery which stood under a flophouse for homeless alcoholics. Verlaine and Lloyd went back up and discussed the possibility of playing in this new club, which was to be called CBGB. After Television's manager Ork promised CBGB a large take at the bar, Television was given a gig at the end of March 1974. CBGB was run by Hilly Kristal, who had planned to feature country, bluegrass and blues (CBGB) at the club, but when several original rock bands like Blondie, the Ramones and Talking Heads started to show up after finding out that there was a place to play, Ork became the official booking agent for the club. CBGB started to get noticed after bands like Television and Talking Heads started to fill the place up, and when a young poet named Patti Smith began playing double bills with Television, the club started becoming famous. CBGB closed its doors in New York in 2007.

After recording demos for various record companies, Richard Hell left the band and was replaced by Blondie's bass player at the time, Fred Smith. Fred Smith's solid bass playing allowed for a more transcendent and profound music from the two guitarists and drummer[citation needed], resulting in their being signed to Elektra Records in 1977.

Television recorded two albums for Elektra: Marquee Moon and Adventure. As a debut release in 1977, Marquee Moon remains on lists of greatest albums in rock and roll history, and never has been out of print.

After recording Adventure in 1978, and finding success elusive in the United States, Television disbanded after a successful series of dates at New York's The Bottom Line. The various members went their separate ways, although all of them continued in the music industry, occasionally to reunite.

Solo career

After Television first disbanded in 1978, Lloyd released a solo album for Elektra Records, titled Alchemy.[3] His solo career has included work as a guitarist and session musician for various artists including Matthew Sweet, John Doe (of the band X), and Swiss singer-songwriter Stephan Eicher. In 1990, Lloyd recorded a version of the Roky Erikson/13th Floor Elevators song "Fire Engine", which was included on the tribute album compilation Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye.

He is known to teach other aspiring guitarists in his studio in New York City, where he frequently produces other acts. He acted as producer, recording engineer and band member on the Rocket from the Tombs album Rocket Redux, released on Smog Veil Records. He has also produced a number of records for other New York bands, including The Blondes, Inc., Chris Purdy, Miss Mother USA and Kevin Otto; as well as Skinny Girls Are Trouble (2010), the third album by country-punk songwriter Jim Neversink.[4][5][6] His other current projects include a reformation of Rocket from the Tombs. He still owns the famous pinstriped Stratocaster he played with Television.

In 1994, he was cast by Cynthia Plaster Caster.[7]

As of 2016, Lloyd has released seven solo albums, beginning with Alchemy in 1979, Field of Fire in 1986 (reissued in 2007 with an additional disc of music), the live disc Real Time in 1987 (recorded at CBGB) and The Cover Doesn't Matter in 2001. The Radiant Monkey was released on Parasol Records in late 2007. The CD features Lloyd on everything but drums (played by session drummer Chris Purdy, with Television's Billy Ficca on one track). The Jamie Neverts Story, released on Parasol in 2009, was Lloyd's tribute to his hero, Jimi Hendrix; and was dedicated to the memory of his friend Velvert Turner. ("Jamie Neverts" was the secret name that Velvert and Lloyd came up with to prevent all the kids in the neighborhood from trying to come along when they went to see Hendrix. In 2010, he released Lodestones, sometimes referred to as Nuggets From the Vault. It was issued on vinyl in 2018 for Record Store Day. Of the album, Lloyd said: "I found a large box of unmarked cassettes going back quite a few years. When I began listening to them, I found a number of finished products – songs that for some reason I [had] failed to put on records. [I] got a machine to transfer the cassettes to CDs and I transferred [the] CDs to my machine at my studio and mastered them. When finished I had a 10 song record.".[8] According to Lloyd's website, other players on the record are John Klages and David Leonard on rhythm guitar, and most likely Steve Cohen on bass and Ed Shockley on drums.[9] In 2016, he released Rosedale. While Lloyd plays all the instruments on most of the album, Billy Ficca and Chris Frantz also play on a few tracks, and local musicians from his new hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, are also featured. In 2018, Lloyd published his memoir, Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB's and Five Decades of Rock and Roll.[10