When Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine strapped on a light-up codpiece for his band’s debut video, “Danger! High Voltage!”, he set the expectations for his wardrobe department impossibly high. Remarkably, the act’s videos have only managed to up the ante, featuring a parade of S&M-loving Abraham Lincolns, Roman centurions sporting Vanilla Ice haircuts, and clubbing douchebags in videos that celebrate the act’s over-the-top dance-rock tunes. In preparation for his band’s show Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Johnny Brenda's, Valentine spoke with The A.V. Club about his favorite wardrobe moments from his band’s many videos.
Latin American Dictator from “Dance Commander”
Dick Valentine: I’ve always been a fan of Latin American dictators. I like the megalomania that goes with it. It’s a regional, localized type of power, I guess is the best way to put it. They act like they’re in charge of the universe, but they usually have a shelf life of five to seven years before they get assassinated by their own people. There’s that window there where, if you’re a Latin American dictator, you think that you’re the center of the universe. You’re not.
A.V. Club: That seems to have some direct parallels with the world of rock ’n’ roll.
DV: Look who you’re talking to.
Freddy Mercury from “Radio Gaga”
DV: I think what I like about that was that the first thing [that I did when I got off the plane for the video shoot] was to go in to get a mold of my teeth done, so I could have the big overbite like Freddy Mercury. You fly into Toronto, and they whisk you away to a prosthetics lab and pour hot gelatin down your throat. You’re there for 45 minutes while they get an actual mold of your teeth. I felt as if I was working with professionals at that point. That’s what they do in movies. A lot of times, they coat you with a hot liquid that forms around your teeth or skull, and they make replicas based on that that are used on television.