Dick Dale Quotes

I don't want to be 70 years old jumping around onstage.

I don't ever want to think my time is up as a performer. I have been afforded the opportunity to sell 150 million albums, to travel to places I never thought I would go. I'm going to keep on performing. I hope it never ends.

So I'm in my 51st year of playin' mostly nightclubs. I do some concerts.

Most of my career has been about standing on a stage performing music to an audience, and once the show is over, they go home and I go on to the next show.

If you really want to annoy me, ask me when I'm going to retire from rock n' roll.

I'm a performer. We don't retire.

I'm an entertainer, period. But I'd probably have to say my passion is in singing. I'm willing to go broke singing.

I love my regular job playing with Alice Cooper, I love doing my solo stuff, I love doing guest spots and guest tours. So I just love to play, and I'll play with anybody that'll have me, just about.

My dream is to tour for 50 years.

In a way, the songs are written to be performed. I put them on records, but I'm always thinking about how an audience would react to it. I realized at age 7 that I wanted to be a performer, and I used to do that, and occasionally I'll get an acting job. I don't really make much of a living as an actor, but it's fun to do it when I get a job.

My dream was always to hop up on stage in front of my fans every night and perform.

I am going to keep on singing. I have no intention of retiring. Actually, I always wonder whether people know my songs in the different countries I visit. I feel nervous over whether they will sing along with me or not.

Do you know how many concerts I've done in my whole life, in more than 35 years of performing? Sixty-four.

For 42 years, I worked nonstop from 7 A.M. to 5 P.M., day in and day out.

And as long as people want to hear me sing, I don't know why I'd retire.

I don't think there was ever a moment when I was like, 'Yeah, I want to be a singer!' I guess it just happened. I performed a lot when I was younger and stuff, but I remember getting to the point where I thought I might have to get a normal job.

I want to be safe in the knowledge that I can tour and play festivals for a long time. The main thing is that I want a good reputation as a live performer. If I have that, I'd be so happy.

I play in a band, I write songs, I sing, you know, perform on stage.

Sometimes it feels like I've been in the business forever, but then other times, it feels like kind of a flash. Growing up, all I wanted to do was sing. All I wanted to do was get on a bus and ride around the country and sing for people and be a household name.

I always tend to think of all of my shows as possibly my last show. I'm like a junior Springsteen, without the underbite.

Believe it or not, most people think of me as a recording artist, but actually the way I think of myself and the way I earn my living is as a performing artist.

I actually started singing those songs six or seven years ago, when I was an opening act for Frank Sinatra.

I left rock and roll professionally at about 49. That's too long as far as I'm concerned. Some people can do it; it depends on what you were.

I enjoy touring. I enjoy recording the music, I enjoy dreaming it and I enjoy performing it. I also definitely enjoy selling it, because I like to eat.

The 'Daryl's House' thing has made me into a live musician even more than I ever was, and even in the way I record.