Pop Goes the World

Pop Goes the World
Studio album by Men Without Hats
Released June 29, 1987
Recorded 1986–1987
Genre New wave
Length 41:34
Label Mercury
Producer Zeus B. Held, Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats chronology
Freeways
(1985)Freeways1985		 Pop Goes the World
(1987)		 The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century
(1989)The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century1989
Singles from Pop Goes the World
  1. "Pop Goes the World"
    Released: October 1987
  2. "Moonbeam"
    Released: 1987
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Pop Goes the World is the third studio album by Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats, released in 1987. It contained the single "Pop Goes the World", which reached the top twenty in Canada (achieving Gold status)[2] and the United States. The album went Platinum in Canada.[3]

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull makes a guest appearance and plays the flute on the track "On Tuesday."

History

According to the press release for the album, bandleader Ivan Doroschuk was influenced by the work of black lesbian feminist poet Audrey Lorde, having attended a lecture of hers in New York in 1985. According to an interview with MuchMusic in 1987, Doroschuk had been a staunch Quebec nationalist prior to attending Lorde's lecture.

Track listing

All songs written by Ivan Doroschuk and Stefan Doroschuk.

  1. "Intro" (1:49)
  2. "Pop Goes the World" (3:43)
  3. "On Tuesday" (4:08)
  4. "Bright Side of the Sun" (0:42)
  5. "O Sole Mio" (3:57)
  6. "Lose My Way" (3:10)
  7. "The Real World" (4:24)
  8. "Moonbeam" (3:37)
  9. "In the Name of Angels" (3:49)
  10. "La Valse d'Eugénie" (1:28)
  11. "Jenny Wore Black" (2:57)
  12. "Intro/Walk on Water" (5:43)
  13. "The End (Of the World)" (3:23)

Personnel

Special Guest

The album artwork, however, lists the following:

Johnny, Jenny, J. Bonhomme and the baby were actually characters from the opening song "Pop Goes The World"—the album graphics were designed to reference their roles in the song, which opens with the line "Johnny played gee-tar, Jenny played bass." The album follows a loose conceptual thread, and Johnny and Jenny go on to appear as characters in numerous other songs on the disc, being mentioned by name in "Jenny Wore Black" and "The End (Of The World)". The role of "Johnny" on the album cover (and in videos) was played by Stefan Doroschuk, the band's actual guitarist. The actress who played Jenny is unknown. Bonhomme is also referenced in the song "Pop Goes The World" (as "a big bonhomme"). A Bonhomme de neige is a snowman; a character known as "Bonhomme" (a man in a stylized snowman costume with a top hat) is a common mascot at Quebec winter carnivals. The album cover shows the character Bonhomme as the band's drummer. The initial J. would seem to be a multi-lingual pun, referencing both the French phrase "Joyeux bonhomme", as well as the English rock drummer John Bonham.

The only credited musician aside from the Doroschuks and Pinkas is Ian Anderson of the rock group Jethro Tull. Anderson plays flute on track 3, "On Tuesday".

The Pop Goes the World touring band between 1987 and 1988 consisted of:

Other songs

Early in the recording sessions, a song called "The Same Halo" was recorded by the band for the album but was ultimately replaced by "Lose My Way" on the album.

"Jenny Wore Black" was first performed live in 1985 during the "Freeways" tour.

In 1990, Doroschuk wrote the song "A Funny Place (The World Is)", which reused part of the lyrics from "The Real World" - instead of being used as a Men Without Hats song, it was recorded with Mitsou on her 1990 album Terre des hommes - Doroschuk sang backing vocals, played various instruments and produced.

A French-language demo called "Pyjamarama" was recorded the following year.

A song called "Everybody Wants to Know" was written in 1985 and considered for the album, but was replaced by "Jenny Wore Black" and would surface four years later on Sideways.

Singles

Along with the title track, two other singles from this album were released, but neither got much notice. These singles were "Moonbeam", which featured a complementing music video, and "O Solo Mio" that was backed by "Lose My Way" as a promo single.

Uses

The title track was used by Tide in TV advertisements for their "Pods" in 2012.

References

  1. ↑ Pop Goes the World at AllMusic
  2. ↑ http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=pop%20goes%20the%20world&ica=False&sa=men%20without%20hats&sl=&smt=5&sat=-1&ssb=Artist
  3. ↑ http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=pop%20goes%20the%20world&ica=False&sa=men%20without%20hats&sl=&smt=2&sat=-1&ssb=Artist
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