Men Without Hats‘ “The Safety Dance” certainly isn’t the first dance-centric record I recall digging, but the 1982 #3 hit was one of the first that had me seeking out the extended mix.

I bought the 45 single soon after hearing “The Safety Dance” on the radio, only to discover that the 7″ edit disappointingly subtracted my favorite part of the whole tune: the recitation of “S-S-S-A-A-A-F-F-F-E-E-E-T-T-T-Y-Y-Y Safety! Dance!” I even started the song over, my denial of reality becoming a brief, futile hope that the missing section would magically surface from the grooves on a subsequent play.

The record stores I frequented most (including department stores) didn’t carry 12″ singles, so my quest for the extended version lasted longer than I would have liked. I’m still puzzled as to why “The Safety Dance” was edited down to 2:44 for the 7″ single, since radio embraced the longer version, which runs just 4:33.

Also sans spelling lesson is Men Without Hats’ music video for “The Safety Dance.” The skipping-through-the-countryside clip is just as oddball as you remember:

Memories of “The Safety Dance” came back today after Frankmusik offered up a cover yesterday as a free download, continuing a recent pattern of posting MP3s for fans. The electropop singer/producer also omits the spelling bit from his new version, but the filename is subtitled “Remix 2B,” so maybe he recorded an extended take that we might prevail upon him to share next.

Purchase Men Without Hats – “The Safety Dance” (Extended Version) via iTunes.

Free download of Frankmusik – “The Safety Dance” (Men Without Hats cover) via FreeFrankmusik.

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