Deee-Lite " Groove is in the Heart (1990)

Absolutely. Loved it then and still love it. Its impossible to listen to without getting up and dancing.

My favorite Deee-Lite song is Good Beat

I remember the lo-fi sound which stood out from some other music at the time which was over produced.

I used to see Lady Miss Kier at the grocery store on the Lower East Side

I was in 7th grade and this was my jam, along with Madonna's Vogue.

They were SO underrated. Their first album was great, this one's my favorite.

I LOVED Deee-Lite. Groove Is In the Heart came out when I was a senior in high school and I bought that first album, and then the others when I was in college, plus maxi-singles. Deee-Lite and (don't laugh) Technotronic were my gateway into the Chicago house scene (I went to college in the Chicago area). That may not make immediate sense, but it got me into club music and things just sort of happened organically after I got to Chicago and started going out.

The song and the video were huge at the time, at least among the gays in New York. But the Lady Miss Kier wasn't much of a singer and it was a mystery what the other two guys added to the act. They faded pretty qickly.

It was the 90s and people were waiting for something groovy like this to come along. Then C n C stole their thunder and it was dance, dance, dance til Nirvana took over...

This is my second-favorite Dee-Lite song. What has Lady Miss Kier done with herself all these years? Reading her Wiki I'm not sure exactly how she's supported herself for the last few decades other than being a "style icon" and "activist" and occasionally making music. Hopefully, she was smart with her money.

What a coincidence, I just watched the video this morning! I was ten when it came out and it's still in my earworm rotation.

R8, those guys are hip hop and funk legends: Q-Tip from A Tribe called Quest and Bootsy Collins of Parliament Funkadelic and James Brown's band.

Ahh, I remember in my sophomore year in art school, they played a local club called Velvet Elvis. Waited forever for them to go on, and it was hot as fuck, I was dripping sweat. It was all worth it, because I was front and center dancing my ass off. Definitely top 3 shows ever. For some reason, they were staying with an acquaintance of mine who was a PA on the movie Gaslight Addition, which I remember changed it's name. It was that coming of age story with Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell and maybe Melanie Griffith? Anyway, we all got stoned as fuck and played hide and seek in a big old house near Forsyth Park. Oh college.

Still love that song. Makes me feel happy.

A Janet mashup:

I saw them performing it at wigstock. That DJ was cute. Was he Japanese?

I was obsessed with raiding my mothers closet of her clothes from the 70s, setting up the camcorder & making endless "videos" to this song. So pathetic. Thank god there was no YouTube back then.

I would see lady miss kier all the time crossing third Ave by Cooper Union/St.Marks in the East Village heading to the 6 subway Astor place, probably 1989 or so. Yes she dressed like that even when not performing.

One of the (few non-Madonna) theme songs for the most annoying set of people I ever knew. Thankfully, I only had to see them at one Christmas party each year. I saw them for a couple of birthdays, and sometimes Thanksgiving, but the Christmas party was "must attend." They would have been FOMD in our current decade (if they lived in LA).

Whet them?

I've seen her at my neighborhood bar in Brooklyn a few times. Not sure how she supports herself but she looked good and was having fun.

Totally, they were like nothing I’d ever seen before. Then you started hearing at the clubs all the time. I believe that might have been one of the first CDs I ever bought.

I know Kier Kirby was DJ'ing and living in France for awhile. I don't understand why they broke up, they paved the way for so many other artists. Lady Miss Kier and Deee-Lite had a big impact on my youth and coming out.

They were ahead of their time, for sure. If they came around a decade later or so later, they probably would've had even more successes.

Groove is in the Heart is great. Power of Love is even better. Pretty much loved most of their entire first album. Their subsequent stuff didn't click with me much though.

Yes I remember it. For me it was the first real sign that the horrible 80s weee really over after all.

weee = were

Not me exclaiming “weeee!”

I also wonder how singers like Lady Miss Kier manage to support themselves for decades after their one hit song. God knows living in NYC costs money. How do they do it?

“Groove” is one of those songs that jumps out of the radio like “”Love Shack” or “Gonna Make You Sweat.” Back then, radio was still vital and fun. I assume those days are over considering mumble rap and generic, forgettable crap is what the kids want to listen to these days. Sad.

R27 The music industry has really went to shit in the last 20 years or so. Before that, you had a variety of different styles of music and most of the artists actually had talent.

Here's the band performing Power of Love live. Lady Miss Kier sounded great live, was charismatic and unique. She should have the career Lady Gaga had.

Like the above poster said, once Nirvana and Grunge happened in '92, dance music was out. Almost all of the late 80s/early 90s artists who primarily did dance music like Jody Watley, Dee-Lite, Cathy Dennis etc. were done. It was a shame, because they made some great music.

Junior Senior had that fun spark as well in 2002:

I loved Deee-Lite, and I loved their second album, Infinity Within, even more than the first.

The band blew apart after the third album, and Lady Miss Kier was almost destroyed when she lost a lawsuit against a video game company that had used her likeness and singing in one of their games.

This was my JAM.

Lady Miss Kier is now 55 years old.

[quote]The music industry has really went to shit in the last 20 years or so.

Oh, dear.

I had one of the best fucks of my whole life to this song.

A hot European dude who really knew how to fuck......damn, I'm moist just hearing the song.......

The Russian guy produced stuff at the beginning of the millennium under the name, “dmitri from Paris”

Like this

Towa Teis debut album “Future Listening” is a great underrated record.

No, Dmitry from Deee Lite is a different person than Dimitri from Paris.

Dmitry from DeeeLite is Ukranian, real name Dmitry Brill.

Dimitri from Paris is Turkish, real name Dimitrios Yerasimos.

When I first started as a colorist I did Kirby’s haircolor once, she showed up late night to the salon in padded foot pajamas and I asked her if the red had to match the wig. She’s a great bubbly personality and one of the reasons I moved to NYC. Definitely agree that their music was of a particular place and time, more underground club than mainstream and opened a lot of doors for other bands. They were part of a movement that also segmented gay life a bit and was attractive to those in the know and wanted more of a clubby, inclusive vibe rather than gays that wanted the “straight” look and act . They had a massive lawsuit with SEGA because they made a video game in her likeness. She lost because everyone was dressing like that for awhile but she was definitely headlining that look.

Not aging well. 55 going on 75.

I’m almost certain I recall Lady Miss Kier DJ’ing at a place called Poisson Rouge, a party for Penny Arcade’s book Bad Reputation.

She’s looking better than ever

"Like the above poster said, once Nirvana and Grunge happened in '92, dance music was out. Almost all of the late 80s/early 90s artists who primarily did dance music like Jody Watley, Dee-Lite, Cathy Dennis etc. were done. It was a shame, because they made some great music."

Dance music was still there, right along side of grunge. The early-mid 90s dance/club music scene was great, even if it was overshadowed by Grunge.

I like early dance / house music from the 90s. People (even back then) may laugh at Crystal Water's Gypsy Woman but it was a great track to dance to at a Club's dancefloor.

And yeah, I assumed that Lady Miss Kier makes her money through Club appearances and DJ-ing.

This came out just as I started going on the gay scene in London and it was played everywhere - guaranteed floor filler. I've got all their albums but World Clique is easily the best one. They threw away their second best song What Is Love? on the b-side, that would have made a great follow up.

Grunge is musically uninteresting.

Grunge was the counter culture to Shiny Happy People.

I miss defined personalities; catchy songs with coherent lyrics you can hear; entertaining videos to go along with it...

Now it's just shit.

‘World Clique’ is still ahead of its time.

I lived for Dee-Lite in high school. I remember hearing them for the first time smoking weed in my friends car. Their song and a song by the Soho Chicks that I can’t even remember the melody too. One of the only concerts I’ve ever been to was theirs in Tampa where I got her to sign my CD cover. And to this day I remember when I moved to NYC and had been here a while, having seen many major celebrities, seeing Lady Miss Kier standing at Lady Bunny’s DJ booth, chatting her up, was the biggest celebrity sighting in the world to me.

I’m sure their look and names sprang out of Club Kid culture, so it’s hard to really claim it in a lawsuit. And you can live reasonably well (65-100k) a year off of one major hit song. Especially that one which is still played somewhere around the world all the time.

[R52] You mean "Hippychick" by Soho?

Yes, r53

Q-tip's rap in Groove is in the Heart is so so fucking tight. One of the best things about that tune.

I knew Kier back in the early 90s. I used to hang at this party called Sugar Babies in the East Village that Dmitry DJ'd at and she was there a lot. She was the living embodiment of that video. Funky as all hell and a killer dancer.

I recall sugar babies, wow, lots of memories.

World Clique plays like a greatest hits album -

Good Beat, Power of Love, What Is Love?, World Clique, Grove Is in the Heart. (And I agree with R55 re Q-tip's rap in Groove.)

Even their underrated 2nd disc (Infinity Within) has a number of songs I really like -

Runaway, Two Clouds Above Nine, I Had a Dream I Was Falling Through a Hole in the Ozone Layer, Pussycat Meow

I saw this video on 'Beavis and Butthead'. I loved that show for many reasons, one of them being that it gave me a great exposure to music that I otherwise would never hear.

Love them and her. I did notice she went from being a style innovator on the first record but by the third record her style lost prestige because sh seemed to be trying to copy the raver looks of kids that time around instead of being original. Her look went from sexy bombshell to juvenile candy raver with pigtails.

I remember in 92 when Dee Lite and B 52s released their follow ups to their huge previous albums and they were underwhelming and disappointing. Was it because the musical landscape had changed so much or were they just not as good?

[R60] "Good Stuff" was not so good.

r60 the music landscape had a huge change in just those two years.

When Lady Kier was a mannequin at Area in 1986

[quote]Deee-Lite's Lady Miss Kier, singer of the early 1990s club hit "Groove Is in the Heart," lost a 3-year-old court battle over the use of her likeness yesterday. The decision was a costly one for Kier--real name Kierin Kirby--as the singer/DJ has to pay more than $600,000 in legal fees to Sega of America, the game maker she sued.

Wow. Seems like a lot. I wonder how much of a financial hit this was.

Music can be great and still not sound commercial. I love Deee-lite and Kier and Towa and Dmitry, but there is nothing on Infinity Within or Dewdrops in the Garden that sounds as commercial as Groove is in the Heart or World Clique or Power of Love or What Is Love or Try Me On.

[quote] I remember in 92 when Dee Lite and B 52s released their follow ups to their huge previous albums and they were underwhelming and disappointing.

The B-52's Good Stuff album may have suffered from the absence of Cindy Wilson who took a break to be with her family. On the tour promoting the album Julee Cruise (famous for the song Falling from the TV show Twin Peaks) performed in her place. Personally I love the album. Tell It Like It Is, Hot Pants Explosion, Good Stuff, Revolution Earth, Dreamland, Is That You Mo-Dean? and The World's Green Laughter are favorite tracks of mine (though for some reason Revolution Earth feels a bit overproduced at times).

I would be curious though how they'd sound like with Cindy.

So what happened to her career? I know she is a dj but what really happened? as I in, she looks bad - I’m guessing alcohol?

Though nothing tops World Clique, I really liked the other two studio albums (Infinity Within, Dew Drops). The maxi-singles with the remixes were great. Last year I bought a deluxe anniversary edition of World Clique that had some good bonus material.

Wow, I’d be into that

Crushed on Dimitri in the video as a kid

R70 so did I, WHET him?

His bio says he DJs and produces. Loved his moves and his high waist pants. He had sex appeal.

"We're going to dance. We're going to dance, and have some fun."

I was under the impression that they all eventually went their separate ways. But, what prevents any sort of reunion is that Towa Tei (sp?) and Miss Lady don't get along AT ALL (plus, he's back in Japan). I know people hate to admit when groups have a dominant performer, but Deee-Lite can exist, to some degree, as long as Miss Lady Kier is involved. No, it's not as good as having ALL the original members, but it could still work to a degree. On the other hand, you simply can't have Dimiti and/or Towa without Miss Lady.

The DJ wasn’t who people were coming to see. Dimitri and Kier should reunite as Dee Lite

R75, I was a Deee-lite fan who adored what Towa brought to the group. I don't think a reunion is possible a) because there is *no* love lost between and Kierin b) the band is seen (incorrectly, but them's the shakes) as a one-hit wonder, and c) we have all moved on. The club kid scene passed down through several generations but is well and truly done now, and music with a positive message doesn't resonate now. "I just wanna hear a good beat" doesn't cut it when our culture is a daily horror show.

I was a fat 8 year old gayling living in a small redneck town and I loved it. I had never heard music like that before or seen anybody dressed to fabulously.

Î think they broke up because of, well, money, what else? It was Lady Miss Kier who insisted she got bigger song writing credits and more money because she's the singer or something like that.

R8 Thank you for your dismal dismissal.

Good Best still sounds great

R80 Good Beat