DEEE-LITE
Deee-Lite was an American house and club/dance music group, formed in New York City. The group’s best-known single is “Groove Is in the Heart”, which was released from their 1990 debut album, World Clique, and was a Top 10 hit in multiple countries. In December 2016, Billboard ranked them as the 55th most successful dance artists of all-time. (More from Wikipedia)
One of the great things about the heyday of MTV is that you never knew what great sounds would hit you next. I think I was on a business trip somewhere when I first saw the masterful rock video for the Deee-Lite song “Groove is in the Heart”, and I was simply flabbergasted at what I was seeing. Swirling colors, wild costumes, Yellow-Brick-Road–style marching, shots of legendary guest musician Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic, tiny corner photos of the bandmembers – they really didn’t miss a trick in what they were doing. I didn’t even really know what kind of music this was, but at least in retrospect, it reminded me of the golden age of psychedelic soul in the late 1960’s. Their debut album, World Clique was equally infectious throughout.
“Groove is in the Heart” was a truly mountainous hit; as Wikipedia tells it: “Slant magazine ranked the song second in its 100 Greatest Dance Songs list, adding: ‘No song delivered the group’s world-conscious Word as colorfully and open-heartedly as “Groove is in the Heart”, which flew up the Billboard charts while goosing stuffed shirts.’ NME and The Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop annual critics’ poll named ‘Groove is in the Heart’ the best single released in the year 1990.
“An immediate smash in nightclubs, the song went to number one on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart and also hit number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at number 1 for one week in Australia in November 1990.”
* * *
Their follow-up single, “Power of Love” was a modest hit in the Billboard singles chart; but this song also hit #1 on the dance club charts. Deee-Lite had three other #1 dance club hits through 1995 and two others that made the Top Ten. The band released a total of three albums and a dozen singles.
Surprisingly, the impact of Deee-Lite on the music world was mainly limited to “Groove is in the Heart”. Everyone expected the band’s lead vocalist Lady Miss Kier to become a music and fashion icon (she certainly has the name for it); but as I remember it, even on MTV, she kept a fairly low profile.
(March 2016)
* * *
