Men Without Hats - Collection (1996)

Men Without Hat's bouncy classic "The Safety Dance" remains one of the defining moments of the early 1980s with its irresistibly catchy bass-line and Ivan Doroschuk's bold "We can go when we want to, the night is young and so am I." Beyond their biggest hit, these Canadian synth-popsters also put out a couple of exceedingly chipper albums. Songs like "Pop Goes the World" and "I Got the Message" overflow with giddy innocence and cascades of cheesy Casio riffs. They even manage to perk up a Roxy Music cover ("Editions of You"). While the aspirations to meaning, and the faux-urgency, don't hold up, this disk is guaranteed to bring smiles at any 1980s-style dance party. --Heidi MacDonald