The Satellite Radio at my work has been playing the Men Without Hats classic New Wave hit "The Safety Dance" quite a bit recently. Then one day while listening to CBS FM the same song was played three times in just a few hours. I checked and no one in the band has passed away recently. The song doesn't seem to be featured in any movies lately. I am not sure why it is receiving so much air time as of late. Plus not only is it "The Safety Dance" but a special version of the song, a version I have not heard in quite some time.
Like many people my age, I spent much of my youth sitting by
the radio with two fingers ready to press down on the “play” and “record”
buttons when a certain song came over the radio. One such song I remember was “The
Safety Dance” by the Canadian group Men Without Hats. In1983 the song was widely
played so finding it on the radio was not too had of a task. This exact song
was not the one I was after. I’m not sure if anyone else remembers but besides
the basic “The Safety Dance” single which was played an awful lot on the radio,
there was another version rarely heard. The extended version of “The Safety
Dance”, the one which spells out “S-ss-A-aa-F-ff-E-ee-T-tt-Y-yy” and has the chorus spoken before the regular
song kicks in, was very hard to catch. I think I had numerous TDK cassette
tapes with the very beginning of the regular version on them before hitting "stop" when I realized it was not the version I was after. Not to mention the dozens of times I would turn on
the radio only to find the tail end of the song coming over the radio.
Then one Sunday afternoon I was taking a shower while listening
to Casey Kasem’s weekly "Top 20 Countdown" on my waterproof shower radio when
Casey announced there was a new song cracking the countdown this week. The song
was “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats. After Casey gave a quick fact about how the
band got its name because the members thought hats were not stylish thus did
not wear them despite the harsh Canadian winters, the song came on. Thinking
such a popular radio show would just play the standard version of the song I was not
at the stereo with the tape ready when “S-ss-A-aa-F-ff” came over the airwaves.
There was no way to get to the stereo and have the tape ready to capture a
majority of the song so I just enjoyed the song and hoped it's sales were strong enough to stay in the top twenty
for another week.
The next Sunday my lttle league baseball game ran into extra innings so I would have to listen to the countdown on the way home with no way to record the song. When
we climbed into the car for the ride home we turned on the radio to see if the
song had remained in the top 20. Lucky enough the “Safety Dance” was not only
still in the countdown but it has climbed up the charts into the Top Ten! Since songs rarely fell too far the song would definitely be on the countdown the next week.
This time I would be ready.
The next Sunday arrived and I had a brand new Maxell Metal
90 minute cassette in the tape player ready. When the Weekly Top 20 came on it
turned out to be one of the rare weeks when Casey was on vacation. Filling
in the host spot was radio personality Rick Dees. When Rick announced “The Safety Dance” I sat
with a smile on my face and pressed down the “play” and “record” buttons on the
stereo’s cassette player. The smile quickly faded when the first few notes of the song were played. Rick was
playing the regular version. I angrily stood up, cursing Rick Dees. Cursing his whole family! Casey would have not let this happen! Not only that but the song had fallen two spots, just out of the top ten at #12. Next week would have to be it.
The
next week I once again waited by the stereo’s tape recorder ready for the Top
20 Countdown. I held my breath hoping for Casey's return.When Casey's voice came over the airwaves I let out a sigh of relief. As the Top 20 wore on the Men Without Hats song was nowhere to be found. Toni Basil's "Mickey" had knocked it out of the Countdown. With "The Safety Dance" falling further and further down the charts, I eventually gave up on recording the "Extended Version" off the radio and moved on to other songs and artists.
A little later while skimming through records at the local record store I was surprised to find a 12" record, which is something the store normally would not carry. It was by Men Without Hats. On the record were two different versions of the extended "The Safety Dance". When I brought the record to the counter the salesperson told me it had been a special order by another customer who had decided to return it when they realized it was not the regular radio edit. I bought the record and played both sides until over and over again.
Now with the sudden revival of the song I again want my very own copy. This time all it will take is a simple trip over to iTunes. There will be no need to spend all that time by the radio waiting for it as well as many other song to be played so I can tape them. Just a few clicks of the mouse and it is all mine. I'm not exactly sure which one is better.
That constant anticipation for that "one" song made listening to music on the radio so fun. It's drastically different from today where you can get almost whatever want right away. Yes you score the song but without any anticipation. Apply that notion say...to hunting. Instead getting out your gun and going out into the woods you just order a freshly shot buck to be delivered to your door. I think anticipation is the best part of aquiring anything. "Radio hunting" is a bygone sport of the mighty audiophile but its so fun to remember. When you finally capture that sought after song it was stellar! Good post, it was a fun read.
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