Dicky Barrett

For the New Zealand whaler and trader, see Dicky Barrett (trader).

Dicky Barrett
Barrett in July 2008
Background information
Birth name	Richard Michael Barrett
Born	(1964-06-22) June 22, 1964 Providence, Rhode Island, US
Genres	Ska punk Punk rock
Occupation(s)	television announcer musician radio personality actor voice actor
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Taang! Mercury Records Big Rig Records SideOneDummy Records
Website	http://bosstonesmusic.com

Richard Michael Barrett (born June 22, 1964), better known as Dicky Barrett, is an American singer who is the frontman of Ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and the announcer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Barrett is known for his distinctive loud, gravelly voice.

Personal life

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Barrett attended Norwood Junior High School and Xaverian Brothers High School in Massachusetts. He left Xaverian Brothers High School and went on to Norwood Senior High Norwood, MA and later Bunker Hill Community College where he met Bosstones drummer Joe Sirois. He now lives in Los Angeles. He has mentioned that he is an Irish Catholic. He married Rosemary in 2002.

Music

Prior to his association with the Bosstones, Barrett played in the local Boston area bands Cheapskates, Toxic Toast (as mentioned in Michael Patrick MacDonald's book Easter Rising: An Irish American Coming Up from Under), and Impact Unit.

Barrett has spent the majority of his musical career playing with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He appeared on eight full-length albums, three EPs and a live album with the Bosstones, as well as touring continuously throughout the world, until the band's announcement of a hiatus in December 2003. The band's 1997 release, Let's Face It, would prove to be the band's biggest break, mostly due to the first single "The Impression That I Get," which charted at number one on the Billboard charts.

In 2003, Barrett began working on an untitled solo album. The album was said to be a radical departure from the ska-core sound made popular by the Bosstones. Barrett was quoted as saying that the album will be "more sombre, darker". Fellow Bosstone, Lawerence Katz, was said to be assisting Barrett with the recording of the album. However, there has been no further mention of the album, and it's uncertain whether the album will be released.

Barrett appeared on two Brain Failure tracks, which are featured on their split entitled "Beijing to Boston" with Big D and the Kids Table.

Barrett had guest vocals on the Street Dogs song "Justifiable Fisticuffs" from their first album Savin Hill, on The Gaslight Anthem song "The Patient Ferris Wheel" from their album The '59 Sound, on "Charge into The Sun" from The Briggs' album Come All You Madmen, on The Unseen's cover of Paint It Black from the album State of Discontent, and also on H2O songs "Force Field" and "Faster Than The World" from their 1999 album F.T.T.W., as well as Rancid's songs "Cash, Culture and Violence" and "Black Lung" on their album Life Won't Wait. He also made guest appearances on tracks from No Use For A Name, Clowns For Progress, the Stubborn All-Stars, and local Boston band Darkbuster.

Barrett announced that the 10th official Hometown Throwdown would occur between December 26–30, 2007 at Cambridge, Massachusetts' famed Middle East. Barrett also confirmed that the Bosstones would be joining him. He seemed unwilling to confirm any long-term plans for the band. Aside from the 10th Throwdown, he performed with the rest of the Bosstones on New Year's Eve 2007 in Providence, RI.

The Bosstones returned to the recording studio to record three new songs, which were included with unreleased material and vinyl B-sides on a collection titled Medium Rare released on December 18, 2007.

Radio

Barrett became the host of his own radio show, the "Mighty Morning Show" on Los Angeles radio's Indie 103.1 FM from 2005 until his firing on March 22, 2006, under mysterious circumstances.

He has been a regular on three of Boston's rock stations: WAAF, WBCN, and WFNX.

In 2005, it was rumored that Barrett would be Howard Stern's replacement at heritage rock station WBCN.

On the April 13, 2009 episode of The Adam Carolla Podcast, Dicky Barrett was Adam's guest. Over the years, he has also been a regular guest on Adam's former show, Loveline.

He was a guest on Bill Simmons' The B.S. Report Podcast on December 8, 2009, with Cousin Sal and Super Dave Osborne.

On screen

Barrett first reached a national TV audience appearing in an ad for Converse shoes in 1991. In the mid-1990s, Barrett appeared as a bus driver on the Nickelodeon show Bus No 9. In 1995, he appeared with the rest of the Bosstones in the film Clueless, playing in a fraternity party.

While Barrett was with the Bosstones he performed on several television shows, including Saturday Night Live, The Jon Stewart Show, as well as Sesame Street's Elmopalooza.

Barrett's caricature of bassist Jimmy Earl,
drawn on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Barrett portrays a prison inmate in the unreleased 1999 film Big Helium Dog.

In 2004, after the Bosstones went on hiatus, Barrett became the announcer for ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!. That year he also had a cameo role in the film Home of Phobia which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

Barrett has also done voice-over work for Minoriteam and appears in the documentary film American Hardcore. He has appeared on an episode of Criss Angel's Mind Freak. As well he portrayed rock pioneer Bill Haley in the miniseries Shake, Rattle, and Roll: An American Love Story.

Barrett in popular culture

In the April 2007 edition of Mad magazine, in the comic strip Monroe, the main character meets a school kid named Dicky Barrett. He looks strikingly similar to the real Dicky Barrett. This is owing to Barrett's association with fellow Kimmel staffer Anthony Barbieri, who writes the Monroe feature.

External links

• Dicky Barrett at IMDb
• An old Interview with Barrett