Deee-Lite
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Deee-Lite was an American
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
and
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
music group formed in
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. The group's best-known
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
is "
Groove Is in the Heart "Groove Is in the Heart" is a song by American dance band Deee-Lite, released in August 1990 as their debut and lead single from their first album, ''World Clique'' (1990). Written and produced by the band, it was a hit in many countries, reach ...
", which was released in 1990 from their debut studio
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''
World Clique ''World Clique'' is the debut album by American dance music band Deee-Lite, which was released in 1990. The album's first single, "Groove Is in the Heart", was a top-five success on both the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart as well ...
'' (1990), and was a top-ten hit in multiple countries. In December 2016, ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' ranked them as the 55th most successful dance artists of all time. In 2018, the Netflix series ''Big Mouth'' released a
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
- and Deee-Lite-themed episode—it is noteworthy Kier has been a longtime abortion rights advocate.


History


1986-1989: Background and early history

The band began in 1986 as a duo in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
with
Lady Miss Kier Kierin Magenta Kirby (aka Lady Miss Kier) is an American singer, songwriter, DJ, designer, fashion icon, and activist. During her career, Lady Miss Kier has been the vocalist for the band Deee-Lite, a disc jockey, and solo songwriter. She support ...
(born Kierin Magenta Kirby) primarily on vocals and Supa DJ Dmitry (born in
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as Dmitry Brill) as the DJ, and then became a trio when Korean-Japanese Jungle DJ
Towa Tei is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990 and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his s ...
joined the group in 1988. Initially, Kier and Dmitry performed their songs monthly in numerous downtown NYC nightclubs from 1986 onwards. In 1987, Kier bought the
Akai Akai ( ja, 赤井, ) is a Hong Kong manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was founded as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946. Grande Holdings in Hong Kong purchased the Akai brand, and now distributes various electronic produ ...
sampler, which influenced their sound tremendously, and the
Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...
br>FZ-series
sampler was used almost exclusively on their first album. Indeed, sampling played such an important role that they named their production company "Sampladelic". From the band's inception, Kier designed the posters and club invites and was also the graphic designer for all three albums and 12" singles. The band played in both hip-hop and house clubs, and both gay and straight clubs, including Wigstock and opening for Native Tongue Movement's
De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...
and
Jungle Brothers Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall ( Afrika Baby Bam), and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Known as the pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hi ...
. As described in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', "they were drawing vivid, multiracial, pan-sexual crowds...". Part of the band's appeal was its inclusiveness, as noted by ''Mademoiselle'' magazine "as a group, they're a festival of individuality; as a band, they're a party anyone can attend". In these early years, their live shows garnered a steady following and attracted Towa Tei as a fan. Thereafter, Towa sent Kier and Dmitry a bedroom DJ tape he had made and they realised he, like them, also enjoyed a fusion of funk and techno. Towa and Dmitry began jointly programming the band's computer. Although Towa did not play any instruments, he was a record collector and added samples. They invited him to join the group in 1988 and together the three produced their first album. Kier wrote all the lyrics and melodies, and also asked
Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...
to join in sessions. Dmitry played guitar, keyboard, and bass, and Towa gathered samples for fill-ins and grooves. Bootsy Collins introduced them to
The Horny Horns The Horny Horns were a horn section associated with Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy's Rubber Band led by trombonist Fred Wesley. The group also featured saxophonist Maceo Parker and Rick Gardner and Richard "Kush" Griffith on trumpets. While th ...
,
Fred Wesley Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943) is an American trombonist who worked with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s and Parliament-Funkadelic in the second half of the 1970s. Biography Wesley was born the son of a high school teacher and big band lead ...
,
Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many o ...
, Mudbone Cooper, and
Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll ...
. Collins also helped assemble their touring band. Together the trio produced the first and second Deee-Lite albums under their production company Sampladelic.


1990-1997: Album releases and fame

In 1990, their first album, ''
World Clique ''World Clique'' is the debut album by American dance music band Deee-Lite, which was released in 1990. The album's first single, "Groove Is in the Heart", was a top-five success on both the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart as well ...
'', shot to the top of the dance charts, and the song "
Groove Is in the Heart "Groove Is in the Heart" is a song by American dance band Deee-Lite, released in August 1990 as their debut and lead single from their first album, ''World Clique'' (1990). Written and produced by the band, it was a hit in many countries, reach ...
" became their first number-one hit. The song features vocals from Q-Tip of
A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip
as well as the famous
bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
loop, sampled from the
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...
song "Bring Down The Birds" and additional vocals by
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
musician
Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...
, a fan of the group. A politically-charged second album was released following their success, entitled ''
Infinity Within ''Infinity Within'' is the second studio album by American house and club/dance group Deee-Lite. Released in 1992 on Elektra, the second album, through its lyrical content, instrumentation, and overall tone, showcases the band's political activi ...
'' in 1992. The album failed to chart as high as their debut, but they still scored two Top 40 dance hits with "Runaway" and "Pussycat Meow". Towa ultimately did not join the other two on their world tours, for which they had a nine-piece band, as he preferred to start working on the second Deee-Lite album (''Infinity Within''), from the comfort of his own home where his records and samples were located. As told to MTV News, "...a reason I left Deee-Lite was that I hated the touring—playing the same songs over and over again every night," Towa said. "I'm not that type of person. I don't like being in front of the people". After extensive touring, Kier and Dmitry were not given tour funding for the second album, ''Infinity Within'', as promised by the Warner contract. After the release of their second album, Kier and Dmitry wondered if their sound was losing touch with the dancefloor and began writing the dancefloor classic album '' Dewdrops in the Garden''. At the time, the creative differences were strong between Towa and the other two members of Deee-Lite. As told to MTV News by Towa, "When I made a big decision to take a break," Towa said, "I started to listen to different types of music again—bossa nova, soundtracks. I started getting materials that went beyond the Deee-Lite concept. For me it fit, but for them it didn't really fit". Prior to the release of the group's third album, ''Dewdrops in the Garden'', Towa abruptly left the band (appearing only on the track "Call Me") and was replaced by DJ Ani. Kier was determined to keep the band together and offered Towa to remix a song of his choice so he'd have a presence on the third Deee-Lite album. Even with a roster change and minimal
record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
support, Deee-Lite still managed to tour for one year after the release of the album, even selling more copies than their second release. In 1994, Kier and Dmitry's turbulent relationship came to an end and so did the group. In total, the group scored six number-one hits on the U.S. ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
over the five years they were together. In the years after the band's break-up, financial problems due to bad management impacted both Kier and Dmitry—however, they survived and are still in business as writers, producers and DJs. Kier is still primarily a singer, songwriter, and DJ, having traveled all over the world and performed on numerous albums with internationally acclaimed artists. She is often regarded as a style "icon" by publications such as ''
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'' for her distinctive style of dress and continual influence on the international fashion scene. Dmitry continued working as a DJ, from
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to
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, and from
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's
Love Parade The Love Parade (german: Loveparade) was a popular electronic dance music festival and technoparade that originated in 1989 in West Berlin, Germany. It was held annually in Berlin from 1989 to 2003 and in 2006, then from 2007 to 2010 in the Ruh ...
to
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's
Rock In Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...
. He was given a DJ of the year award in
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, and has remixed for many artists including Arthur Russell,
Jungle Brothers Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall ( Afrika Baby Bam), and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Known as the pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hi ...
, Sinead O'Connor,
Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 20 ...
,
Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the Punk subculture, punk and New wave music, new wave movements in the late 1970s a ...
,
Ultra Naté Ultra Naté Wyche (born March 20, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ and promoter who has achieved success on the pop charts with songs such as "Free", " If You Could Read My Mind" (as part of Stars on 54), and "Autom ...
, and others. He collaborated with
Julee Cruise Julee Ann Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress, known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She released fo ...
(of ''
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''/
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fame) to release the album '' My Secret Life''. Dmitry is currently based in Berlin where he continues to DJ, compose, produce, and re-mix. Towa Tei has recorded several albums as a solo artist, and is currently featured in Japanese supergroup METAFIVE. In a 2011 interview, Towa Tei dismissed the chances of Deee-Lite reforming, citing the creative and personal differences that prompted him to depart.


Band members

*Supa DJ Dmitry aka DJ Dmitry (Dmitry Brill, born June 4, 1964,
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,
Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
,
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), composer, producer, keyboards, guitar *
Lady Miss Kier Kierin Magenta Kirby (aka Lady Miss Kier) is an American singer, songwriter, DJ, designer, fashion icon, and activist. During her career, Lady Miss Kier has been the vocalist for the band Deee-Lite, a disc jockey, and solo songwriter. She support ...
(Kierin M. Kirby, born August 15, 1963,
Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...
, United States), vocalist, producer, arranger, lyricist, choreographer, art director, manager *
Towa Tei is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990 and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his s ...
(born September 7, 1965, originally from
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, Japan), composer, producer, keyboards, turntables, programming *DJ Ani (Ani Q. Schempf, born December 14, 1973,
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, United States), mixing, bass


Discography


Albums


Studio albums


Compilation albums


Singles


See also

*
List of Billboard number-one dance club songs This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by '' Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is ...
*
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in th ...


References


External links


Lady Miss Kier Official WebsiteDeee-Liteful Experience
Deee-Lite fan site
Deee-Lite Discography
at Discogs.com
MusicBlob: Archivio documenti
This Italian website has archived some legal documents including the "Kirby v.Sega" case involving Lady Miss Kier of Deee-Lite
Archival copy of Kirby v. Sega appeal documents
-- (musicblob.it stopped hosting this content) {{Authority control Electronic music groups from New York (state) American house music groups American pop music groups American dance music groups Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Elektra Records artists American funk musical groups 1987 establishments in New York City