- Danger! High Voltage
-
"Danger! High Voltage" 
Single by Electric Six from the album Fire Released 6 January 2003 Format 2 CDs, 7", 12" Recorded 2001 Genre Funk Rock, Hard Rock, Disco Length 3:37 Label XL Producer Al Sutton Electric Six singles chronology "Danger! High Voltage"
(2003)"Gay Bar"
(2003)"Danger! High Voltage" is a song by Electric Six, released as a single on 6 January 2003 through XL Recordings. It was the band's debut single, and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and was named Single of the Week by the NME. It was also released on the band's debut album Fire (2003).
Jack White of The White Stripes performed the secondary lead vocals on the track.[1] Members of the band have claimed in interviews that the singer was an auto-mechanic named John S. O'Leary and not White,[2][3] although some professional music critics correctly suspected this name was a pseudonym for White.[4]
The song was originally recorded in early 2001, when the band went under the name 'The Wildbunch'. They were forced to drop this name following legal pressure from the Bristol trip-hop collective of the same name (aka Massive Attack). The later album and single version was produced by British Music Producers, Damien Mendis and Stuart Bradbury - who also created 'club mixes' under the name of Soulchild. The song is also featured on the Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle album.
The song is listed at #234 on the best songs of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media. It was also featured in the Pitchfork 500.[5]
Contents
Track listings
CD1
- "Danger! High Voltage (Soulchild Radio Mix)"
- "I Lost Control (Of My Rock & Roll)"
- "Remote Control (Me)"
CD2
- "Danger! High Voltage (Soulchild 12" Blitz Mix)"
- "Danger! High Voltage (Thin White Duke Mix)"
- "Danger! High Voltage (Kilogram Mix)"
7"
- "Danger! High Voltage (original 7" mix)"
- "I Lost Control (Of My Rock & Roll)"
12"
- "Danger! High Voltage (Soulchild 12" Blitz Mix)"
Reception
The New York Times called the song "catchier than anything on the radio by the White Stripes."[6] The Guardian called it "insanely catchy", though "the archetypal comic novelty single."[7] Josh Tyrangiel with Time magazine also praised the track.[8] NME's Piers Martin wrote "[Electric Six] rustle up the sort of pop-party thrash which sounds like the idiot half-brother to The Rapture’s 'House Of Jealous Lovers'. That good."[9]
In May 2010, the song inadvertently made the news when someone hacked into an electronic roadsign in Wisconsin and replaced the message with lyrics from the song "Danger! Danger! High Voltage! When we touch! When we kiss!"[10]
Music video
The video for this song was produced by Tom Kuntz & Mike Maguire and stars lead singer Dick Valentine and actress Tina Kanarek outfitted with a brightly flashing codpiece and brassiere, respectively.
It was parodied as the 'video' for "I Told You I Was Freaky" in Flight of the Conchords episode "Wingmen".
Use in Other Media
The song is used as the background theme for White Collar's Season Two promotional commercial.
The song was featured in the 2010 film Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
The song's chorus is used as the theme tune of The Pain Men segments in British comedy show Balls of Steel.
In 2003, the song was used in the 'electric fence' segment of the British television series Brainiac: Science Abuse.
A montage is set to the song in The Simpsons episode "The Squirt and the Whale".
Another montage is set to the song in Malcolm in the Middle episode "Baby (Part 2)".
The song was also used in episode 6 of the television drama "Nearly Famous".
Charts
Chart (2003) Peak
positionIrish Singles Chart 15 UK Singles Chart 2 External links
Footnotes
- ^ http://inweekly.net/wordpress/?p=1896
- ^ http://www.antimusic.com/ug/2003/es.shtml
- ^ http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/august_2003/electric.html
- ^ http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/e/electricsix-fire.shtml
- ^ http://fromclosertonear.blogspot.com/2008/11/pitchfork-500-our-guide-to-greatest.html
- ^ Strauss, Neil (February 16, 2003). "MUSIC: SPINS; Burning Down the Garage". The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-04
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (June 27, 2003), "Electric Six: Fire" The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-01-04
- ^ Tyrangiel, Josh (June 02, 2003), "Brilliant Idiots". Time Retrieved on 2008-01-04
- ^ "Electric Six: Danger! High Voltage". New Music Express. 7 January 2003. http://www.nme.com/reviews/electric-six/6910. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
- ^ "Road Sign Hacked For Maximum Rock And Roll". Popfi. 28 May 2010. http://www.popfi.com/2010/05/28/road-sign-hacked-for-maximum-rock-and-roll/. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
Categories:- 2001 songs
- 2003 singles
- Electric Six songs
- XL Recordings singles
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