They were neither masquerading comedians nor manufactured by a record company, but a band that had been recording for almost a decade as the Wildbunch.
On another level, however, the Electric Six appeared to have more depth than their comic novelty forebears. These people, you felt, knew that the moment their single dropped from the charts, a life of obscurity would beckon, punctuated only by appearances at freshers' bops, alongside the Mike Flowers Pops and Doctor and the Medics. They seemed like a band making the most of their 15 minutes of fame. It was made by men with extravagant pseudonyms (including Surge Joebot and the Rock and Roll Indian), camp stage costumes and a tendency to spin ridiculous yarns in interviews. It came with a celebrity connection: the White Stripes' Jack White provided a histrionic backing vocal. It cocked an eyebrow at current musical trends, including garage and punk funk.
On one level, their debut British hit Danger! High Voltage! was the archetypal comic novelty single. So the continuing interest in the Electric Six seems a fairly odd phenomenon.
