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The Wildbunch
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group_or_band
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Detroit , Michigan , USA
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Indie Rock ,1 Various Subgenres
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1996&ndashpresent
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Metropolis Records
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electric6com
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Dick Valentine - vocals<br/>The Colonel - guitar<br/>Johnny Na<small>$</small>hinal - guitar<br>Smorgasbord! - bass guitar <br>Tait Nucleus - keyboards<br />Percussion World - drums
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Rock and Roll Indian<br />Surge Joebot<br />Disco<br />M<br />Frank Lloyd Bonaventure<br />Dr Blacklips Hoffman<br />Mojo Frezzato<br />Johnny Vegas<br />Jeff Simmons<br />Macro Duplicato<br />Dr Diet Mountain Dew<br />
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is a six-piece '', ''
Señor Smoke '', and the recently released ''
Switzerland ''. Their fourth album ''
I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master '' is due later this year.
The band formed in 1996 and was initially known as The Wildbunch, eventually dropping that name due to pressure from the
Bristol Trip Hop collection of the same name.
4 Throughout the latter half of the '90s, they played regularly at the Old Miami and the Gold Dollar in Detroit,
5 the center of a scene that produced breakout acts like the
White Stripes .
6
The band's first formation was comprised of Dick Valentine (Tyler Spencer, vocals), Rock and Roll Indian (Anthony Selph, guitar), Surge Joebot (Joe Frezza, guitar), Disco (Steve Nawara, bass, former member of
The Detroit Cobras ), and M (Cory Martin, drums). Dick Valentine is and has always been the primary songwriter (both music and lyrics) of Electric Six.
7 During the band's temporary split at the end of the 1990s, Tyler Spencer formed his own band called
The Dirty Shame 8 and released one CD entitled ''Smog Cutter Love Story'' which featured, among other tracks, a first version of ''
Fire '' track "Vengeance and Fashion." The band reformed by 2001 to record and release the first release of "Danger! High Voltage" and record the track "Dealin' in Death and Stealin' in the Name of the Lord" with
Troy Gregory for his ''Sybil'' album.
9
The 2001 release of "Danger! High Voltage" was an underground hit, particularly in the United Kingdom. The single also garnered the band public attention after a rumor got out that a pre-fame
Jack White from
The White Stripes sang backup vocals on single track "Danger! (High Voltage)" when it was recorded.
10 Although this was presented as fact in multiple sources,
1112 then-guitarist Surge said in an interview:
In another interview, Dick Valentine said: "My attorney has advised us to neither confirm nor deny the presence of Jack White."
14
The band's 2003 breakout album ''
Fire '' earned the group significant critical success, landing the "Danger! High Voltage" single at number 2 on the
UK Singles Chart . Their second single, "Gay Bar", released in 2003, became a hit as well in the UK, reaching #5 in the charts.
The album made it into several best-of-2003 lists,
151617 as well as reaching the top 10 in the UK album chart, and another single "Dance Commander," which gave Electric Six its third Top 40 single in the UK.
After finishing the recording of ''Fire'', three members left in June, leaving Dick Valentine, M, and Tait Nucleus? (Christopher Tait). The Colonel (Zach Shipps, guitar, ex member of
Brendan Benson ,
The Atomic Numbers and
Mood Elevator ), John R. Dequindre (Chris Peters, bass/guitar) and Frank Lloyd Bonaventure (Mark Dundon, bass) (both-ex members of Ann Arbor's
Getaway Cruiser and
Six Clips ) subsequently joined the group, though they had been associated with the group for some time.
18 In time, Johnny Na (John Nash) joined the group on guitar, Dequindre switched to bass, and Bonaventure left the group.
In the spring of 2004, Electric Six played at the
Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival .
19
The band's second album, ''
Señor Smoke '', was released in the United Kingdom on
February 14 ,
2005 . Since the band had been dropped from their previous American record label,
20 a North American release of the album was delayed until
February 7 ,
2006 , when it came out on
Metropolis Records .
The first single from the album put the band at the center of controversy, especially with
Queen fans following a cover of the Queen hit song "
Radio Ga Ga ."
21 The controversial music video shows lead singer Dick Valentine as the ghost of Queen's flamboyant lead singer
Freddie Mercury and a backing band of poodles. Queen drummer
Roger Taylor , who wrote the song, said that he was "unimpressed" with the video;
22 however, Queen guitarist
Brian May reportedly liked it.
23
According to Dick Valentine
24 -
In November of 2004, drummer M. called it quits, leaving Dick Valentine as the sole original member of the former Wildbunch. Their new drummer, Percussion World (Mike Alonso), has been affiliated with the band and its members for some time, and has been named as a permanent member of the band.
Electric Six finished recording their third major album, entitled ''
Switzerland '', in November, 2005 and released it in North America on
September 12 ,
2006 . The band intends to record a video for every song on the album, "a lot of them...low budget." At present, eight videos have been released.
2526272829303132
Electric Six's fourth studio album ''
I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master '' is due to be released
October 9 ,
2007 . It has sixteen tracks.
In May 2007, Swedish bassist Smorgasbord! (Keith Thompson) (member of
Johnny Headband ) joined the band, replacing John R. Dequindre on the bass, who reportedly wished to spend more time on his other musical projects.
Electric Six incorporates a variety of styles, resulting in being termed a "genre-blurring" band.
33 The group's sound has been described as a synthesis of "disco, synth pop, glam, and arena rock," including the
Falsetto vocals of disco, laden with "rampant solos, be they guitar riffs, synth wails, or strutting drums" that enforce the band's "energetic sound." However, the band members themselves have rejected such genre classifications as "disco-metal" and "
Disco-punk ."
Critics have termed their lyrics as "disaffected, angry, ironic and lustful,"
34 expressing "macho flippancy" and "tongue-in-cheek pomposity."
35 Dick Valentine has estimated that "80 percent of our songs, maybe even higher than 80 percent" are "about absolutely nothing." Songs by Electric Six are often concerned with subjects like
War ,
Nuclear War ,
Human Sexual Behavior ,
Masculinity ,
Dancing ,
Hypersexuality , and
Fire (The band's official biography states that their debut album ''
Fire '' was so named because they "noticed an abundance of the word fire on this record and...decided to go with it."). Lead singer Dick Valentine had commented on these lyrical tendencies in song content with regards to the band's third album:
Valentine cites
Freddie Mercury ,
Talking Heads ,
Devo ,
37 and
Captain Beefheart 38 as his musical influences, as well as
Black Sabbath ,
Queen and
KISS for the rest of the group.
See Also: Electric Six discography
