With the massive popularity of their hit single "Groove Is in the Heart,"
Deee-Lite brought the colorful sights and sounds of New York's club culture into the mainstream. Formed in 1986, the trio was led by vocalist
Lady Miss Kier (born Kieren Kirby in Youngstown, Ohio) and fleshed out by a pair of DJs, Super DJ Dmitry (a classically-trained guitarist and Russian emigre born Dmitry Brill) and
Jungle DJ Towa Towa (born Doug Wa-Chung in Tokyo, Japan).
Fusing house, techno, rap, ambient and funk music with an outrageous visual flair largely influenced by the drag-queen community (
Kier's fondness for Fluevog platform shoes helped the 1970s fashion revival gather steam),
Deee-Lite became hugely popular among New York club denizens, and the trio's own unique cultural make-up earned them a following which ignored racial and sexual boundaries.
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With the massive popularity of their hit single "Groove Is in the Heart,"
Deee-Lite brought the colorful sights and sounds of New York's club culture into the mainstream. Formed in 1986, the trio was led by vocalist
Lady Miss Kier (born Kieren Kirby in Youngstown, Ohio) and fleshed out by a pair of DJs, Super DJ Dmitry (a classically-trained guitarist and Russian emigre born Dmitry Brill) and
Jungle DJ Towa Towa (born Doug Wa-Chung in Tokyo, Japan).
Fusing house, techno, rap, ambient and funk music with an outrageous visual flair largely influenced by the drag-queen community (
Kier's fondness for Fluevog platform shoes helped the 1970s fashion revival gather steam),
Deee-Lite became hugely popular among New York club denizens, and the trio's own unique cultural make-up earned them a following which ignored racial and sexual boundaries.
In 1990, they debuted with the album World Clique, a crossover smash thanks to hits like the loping classic "Groove Is in the Heart" (featuring the fluid bass of
Bootsy Collins and the saxophone of
Maceo Parker) and "Power of Love."
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