![Dennis Locorriere Dennis Locorriere](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/45c03c94-d4ab-4b7f-ac8f-c96b2543d136.jpg/r0_0_667_1024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
by Natalie Williams
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Dennis Locorriere, former lead vocalist and guitarist of 1970s rock group Dr Hook & The Medicine Show, is proud of his “wild” links with Australia.
Back in 1981, along with Ray Sawyer (the one with the eyepatch) and other group members, Dennis recorded a popular version of the traditional Irish-Australian ballad The Wild Colonial Boy.
“I have always had a good, personal relationship with Australians,” Dennis said. Dennis has been to Australia four or five times and returns in October to present his Dr Hook Timeless Australian Tour.
In the lead-up to the tour Dennis spoke to The Senior from his home in Sussex in the UK. The fact it was the middle of the night did not phase Dennis, who said that as a musician he has cultivated odd hours.
“I have always liked the middle of the night,” he said. “I watch films and read and I have a best friend in San Francisco so that’s when we talk. “And your phone doesn’t ring (as it would during the day), so that’s when a lot of things get resolved.”
Dennis – who was married twice and has an actor son, Jessejames, living in Nashville, USA, and a three-year-old grandson – is 66.
He admits he is “not much of a social media guy” so his preferred form of contact (over a distance) is the telephone.
“Back when we were performing there was only the pay phone when we were on the road,” he said. “So after a show you’d have to go searching for the nearest pay phone to get in touch with family.
“And you’d have to have the right amount of change in your pocket – no matter whether it was Danish coins or whatever. Sometimes you could go hundreds of miles before finding one.”
Although the group formed in the late 1960s, it was not until the ’70s and ’80s that they enjoyed their greatest success, with hits such as Sylvia’s Mother, The Cover of the Rolling Stone, The Ballad of Lucy Jordan, Only Sixteen, A Little Bit More, and Sexy Eyes.
They first visited Australia about 1977. Dennis fondly remembers those early tours.
“We always had a good time in Aust-ralia,” he said. “We wanted to give something back so we got involved with a couple of kids’ charities and a telethon.
“Then we recorded The Wild Colonial Boy in Sydney. Out of that, I got this great song that is a personal connection to Australia for me.”
Dennis describes himself today as “being in the prime of life”. He exercises several times a week, mostly on the treadmill, and doing stomach crunches. His attitude to exercise goes back to when he was stepping on stage every other night.
“I have to have an ego to walk out on the stage, but I have an obligation to the audience to present myself as something worth looking at.
“I didn’t want to be an Adonis... I am proud to say I think the way I look today is like an older version of the same guy.
“We are doing something like 15 shows in three weeks in Australia so it is a heavy schedule. “I like to be disciplined and follow a routine. I don’t want the show to just be a glitch in my day.
“I don’t eat after about 3pm if there is a show that night.”
Asked what he thinks of today’s manufactured stars resulting from television singing competitions, Dennis doesn’t hold back.
“It is like a gladiator arena. They don’t get a chance, like I did, to get an education about the industry by performing in the little bars and clubs around the place.
“But it’s a changed, fast-paced world – we stand in front of the microwave and scream hurry up.” So when he started out, did he think he’d still be touring at the age of 66?
“To tell you the truth, us baby boomers as we are getting older, are doing more and more. The age 66 is Bruce Springsteen. The age 72 is Mick Jagger.”
As well as a successful career as a songwriter, Dennis has gone back into the recording studio and earlier this year released his album, Timeless, on which he revisits old favourites such as Sylvia’s Mother, Only Sixteen and Walk Right In. And, just for us, The Wild Colonial Boy.
Dr Hook–Timeless Australian Tour 2015 starts in Hobart on October 14.
Tour dates/venues visit dennislocorriere.com