I have had a pasty before - in Michigan where I'm from, they make them in the upper peninsula. "I know that's where the surfing is and I know that's where the pasties are. But it's tough to give up playing festivals and visiting other countries."
We're trying to get back out there but we'll scale back a bit more. I never thought it would get to this point."ĭick is now married with two daughters and realises he might need to now slow down. "I never saw what happened being a possibility. If people want to hear Danger and Gay Bar and they bought a ticket, then they've bought a ticket."ĭick said all he wanted to do when the band formed was to play in Detroit a lot. They're fun songs to play - you can still have those songs and have people believe that you're a two-hit wonder but then we've put out 14 albums since then and people love them. I get publishing royalties for them, so I can sit here and still make money. If that's a problem then it's a good problem to have.
So what about those towering singles from almost 20 years ago? Are they a bit of an albatross now or is Dick thankful for them?
I've certainly lived a full life since then so it didn't really affect me."Įlectric Six's Dick Valentine will also play a solo set at The Great Estate (Image: CORTNEY ARMITAGE)
I don't know how much of that was media manufactured and how incensed he was. I told Dick that the Queen drummer was actually from Truro and not too far from where he'll be playing at The Great Estate. That's the dream right there!"įunnily enough, Electric Six once had a bit of a run-in with Queen's Roger Taylor over a video they made for their cover of Radio Ga Ga which featured Dick dressed as Freddie Mercury's ghost with a backing band of poodles. I'd like a nice resting place where, say, 10 to 12 people come visit. "I wouldn't want to be revered like that. I likened Dick to a post-grunge Freddie Mercury. It's great being over there, we love it." "Yeah, money can buy its way into your heart and you guys are always throwing money at me. We just turn up, roll the dice and see what happens".īritain must have a special place in your heart as we were one of the first places to take to Electric Six? He describes Electric Six simply as a rock'n'roll band who "aren't cool guys and don't look like cool guys. Speaking via Zoom from his home in Brooklyn, flamboyant Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine who is readying the release of the band's next album told me: "I'm feeling like a millionaire bucks. Read more: 14 music festivals to look forward to in Cornwall in summer 2022 Others playing between June 2 and 5 include Manic Street Preachers, Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Melle Mel’s Furious 5 & Scorpio, DJ Yoda, Elektra Fence (Ru Paul’s Drag Race), Krafty Kuts, The Future Shape Of Sound, Loup Garoux (Ed Harcourt), Will & The People, Oh My God! It’s The Church and Craig Charles. The band whose massive hits Danger! High Voltage and Gay Bar introduced a run of 14 albums - yes, 14 studio albums since 2003 - are just one of the acts at the festival in the grounds of Scorrier Estate, where Dick will also be playing a solo acoustic set. Dick Valentine, of Michigan rockers Electric Six, famously sang that he wanted to take you to a gay bar but he may have mellowed with age as what he really wants is a Cornish pasty at The Great Estate festival this summer.