Men Without hats

[No_Socks]

Who was the woman in the 'Safety Dance' music video

[shybearuk]

I'm not exactly sure WHO she is, but at the time, I remember hearing something about her being the wife/partner of a prominent politician who had 'run away' to join a band. I'm not sure how true it is, but it's just one of those things that's stuck with me. Great song tho' :o)

[LeMarchand]

I heard it was Margaret Trudeau, (ex-) wife of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. However, I did some research today and was unable to confirm this, so it's seems unlikely - especially as I did find some reference to the girl being "a friend of Bananarama's". Though I suppose there's nothing to preclude Margaret Trudeau from knowing Banarama - she was rather "friendly" with Keith Richards - I would think that (as Men w/o Hats were Canadian) they would have known who she was.

[rarll]

You are correct LeMarchand, it was Margaret Trudeau. It very nearly cost Pierre his job. It didn't go down to well with the establishment. Apparently the relationship was always a little on the strange side!

[alewisa]

Interesting. Way back in 19eighty-early, when Safety Dance charted in the UK, I read that it was the /daughter/ of the Canadian Prime Minister, Trudeau. AFAIR, it was a snippet in NME. Its the only reason I remember , let alone know, who Trudeau is/was (only foreign PM I really remember) - for the reason that as 16yr old I fancied the dancer! Of course, now its easy enough to find out that Trudeau didn't have a daughter until 1991, and that his wife - back in the 70s/80s was 30yrs his junior, her attraction was based on media falsely portraying him as a millionaire playboy (he was a workaholic), so the (ex-)wife story would neatly fit. Hmm, it may have been "wife of" not "daughter of" - it was nigh on thirty years ago, but I've always remembered it as "daughter".

[alewisa]

That said (where's the edit function!) - Margaret Trudeau was born in 1948, so that would make her 34 when the single was released, the dancer in the video looks a LOT younger than 34! Is it mentioned in her biography, or is this another legend that has crossed over into Internet legend? The all-reliable Wikipedia doesn't mention it, which is odd if it were true.