Lady Miss Kier
Encyclopedia
Kierin Magenta Kirby better known by her professional name Lady Miss Kier, is an American
singer and DJ.
. She spent time in Virginia Beach, Virginia
where she attended Kempsville High School
, and Washington, D.C.
, before finally settling in New York City
in 1982, at the age of nineteen to pursue a career in fashion design. In New York she attended FIT
to study textile design, but dropped out after a short time. She supported herself as a waitress, a bartender, a coat checker, a bathroom attendant, a go-go dancer, and an art gallery receptionist; continuing to study and work at designing on her own. In this early period as a club kid she prepared a performance art window piece for the nightclub "Area" and received First Prize.
, a Japanese man of Korean descent, shortly thereafter. Combining Kirby's vocal and lyric talents with Brill's sampling skills and Tei's techno mixing, the three together formed the band Deee-Lite. They had performances every month, with Kier designing new costumes for each one. She continued go-go dancing for Bentleys and The Copa until the band signed the seven-album deal with Elektra.
The band's sound was a unique mix of house
, techno
and dance
elements. Deee-Lite shot to stardom in 1990 with the release of the first album World Clique
, and in particular with the smash hit "Groove is in the Heart
". Kirby was very involved in the band's output: writing, producing, and performing the bulk of the band's songs. Kirby's sultry, feminine, and soulful voice backed up by the funky, catchy beats was truly unique for its time, and came to personify the club culture of New York City
.
Known as much for their outrageous personae and costumes as for their music, the three took on larger-than-life alter-egos: Super DJ Dmitri, Jungle DJ Towa Tei
, and Lady Miss Kier. Kirby is credited with designing and creating the look of the band, as well as much of the artwork accompanying the band's albums and marketing material. Her initial look relied on revamped and exaggerated retro '60s fashions, which was revolutionary at the time. Her signature look was a zip-up catsuit
, platform shoes and flipped hair-do. At the height of the band's success, her style had a major influence on fashion trends, showing up in a variety of retail venues.
Deee-Lite followed their successful first album with a politically-charged second album, Infinity Within, in 1992. Their third album, Dewdrops in the Garden, was released in 1994 and saw a return to house roots with a new, more naturalistic tone. Neither of the two follow-up albums matched the commercial success of their debut. The second and third albums were hampered by difficulties with the label, which refused to promote, support touring, or fund contractual videos. The band functionally broke up during the writing of their third album in 1993, but Kirby and Brill decided to finish the project and tour together to promote the album before going their separate ways, and officially disbanding in 1994. In 1996, a remix album was released, and a greatest hits album was released in 2001.
, D.J.ing and performing in clubs. In 1995, a solo song named "Touch Me With Your Sunshine" appeared on the Wigstock: The Movie
soundtrack. In 1996, she debuted new songs at the Enit Festival. Her new direction was more DnB
than dance, but none of the songs were ever released. In the late nineties, she collaborated on the albums of such diverse artists as Bootsy Collins
, I Kamanchi and A Guy Called Gerald
. In 2002, she contributed an exclusive solo track called "I'm not staying at home" to the compilation "Straight Up & Dirty". In 2005, she began performing new material, then appearing in club performances internationally in Australia
, New York City
, Chicago
, New Orleans, Brussels
, Zurich
, San Francisco and Amsterdam
. She also made television appearances on the OUTtv
/Pink TV television series the House of Venus Show
and has been featured in the New York City festival Wigstock
. In 2005 Kier was the featured artist on the podcast Ron-Kat-Delic Show, where she premiered her solo work for the first time, namely a song entitled "Hot Wax." In 2006, she toured Australia with the Good Vibrations Festival
.
She has since moved back to New York City, and is rumored to be putting together a solo album for release. Unreleased songs include "Me and My Records", "Bulletproof", "Dance Police", "The Outer Planets", "Black Out Love Affair", "Wear U Out", "Go Down" and "Strip". Kirby occasionally releases snippets from her body of work on Myspace and her personal website. There are also several clips of her group and solo performances on YouTube. Most recently, Kirby has released a sound bite of "I Surrender" on Myspace.com, hinting that a solo album effort is still ongoing. On April 28, 2007 she performed at Coachella
. She appears on the release from NYC noise band, Apollo Heights
on a song titled "Winter in the Summertime", released in October 2007.
, claiming that the character of "Ulala" in their game Space Channel 5
was an unauthorized use of her likeness. Kirby claimed that Sega offered to pay her $16,000 to license her name, image and songs for the game, though she rejected their offer. Kirby alleged that the video game maker later went ahead and used her resemblance anyway, and at which point she decided to initiate the lawsuit. She ultimately lost the suit and a later appeal, based on the appeals court's finding that the character was developed by designers who were unaware of Kirby or her persona. In court it was mooted that the animated character looked more like another 90's pop star, Michaela Dornonville de la Cour
from the Swedish band Army of Lovers
. Kirby was also mandated to pay Sega's legal fees of $
608,000 (reduced from $763,000 requested) for their legal costs; a situation acknowledged by the justices as unfortunate but mandated under California statute. It was also ruled that Kirby would have to pay the cost associated with any further appeals, none of which have been filed as yet. In 2008, her single "Groove Is in the Heart" was licensed for use in the Sega video game Samba de Amigo
for the Wii
console, ironically appearing in a stage featuring Ulala.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and DJ.
Personal life
Kirby was born in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. She spent time in Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
where she attended Kempsville High School
Kempsville High School
Kempsville High School is one of eleven public high schools in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools system. It is a comprehensive high school teaching grades 9-12. Located in the western section of the city, the Kempsville HS school district covers approximately 12 sq. miles, and draws students...
, and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, before finally settling in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1982, at the age of nineteen to pursue a career in fashion design. In New York she attended FIT
Fashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
to study textile design, but dropped out after a short time. She supported herself as a waitress, a bartender, a coat checker, a bathroom attendant, a go-go dancer, and an art gallery receptionist; continuing to study and work at designing on her own. In this early period as a club kid she prepared a performance art window piece for the nightclub "Area" and received First Prize.
Deee-Lite
Soon after meeting DJ Dmitri Brill, Kirby made him silver platform boots and a glitter blue spacesuit for his band, Shazork, as well as a line of platform shoes in 1986. That same year, she began experimenting with singing and writing music with Brill, and the two wrote several songs together. Their first song was called "Love and Bubbles", the second was "I Won't Give Up." The first show they gave was in 1986, and Brill was introduced to local D.J. Towa TeiTowa Tei
is a DJ, artist and record producer in Yokahoma, Japan.Tōwa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the U.S. label Elektra Records in 1990, and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart"...
, a Japanese man of Korean descent, shortly thereafter. Combining Kirby's vocal and lyric talents with Brill's sampling skills and Tei's techno mixing, the three together formed the band Deee-Lite. They had performances every month, with Kier designing new costumes for each one. She continued go-go dancing for Bentleys and The Copa until the band signed the seven-album deal with Elektra.
The band's sound was a unique mix of house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
elements. Deee-Lite shot to stardom in 1990 with the release of the first album World Clique
World Clique
World Clique is the first and best-known album by the 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 as a number-one hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club...
, and in particular with the smash hit "Groove is in the Heart
Groove Is in the Heart
"Groove Is in the Heart" is a song by dance music band Deee-Lite from their debut album, World Clique. Released as a single in late 1990, it was a hit in many countries, including in Australia where it was a number-one hit.-Background:...
". Kirby was very involved in the band's output: writing, producing, and performing the bulk of the band's songs. Kirby's sultry, feminine, and soulful voice backed up by the funky, catchy beats was truly unique for its time, and came to personify the club culture of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Known as much for their outrageous personae and costumes as for their music, the three took on larger-than-life alter-egos: Super DJ Dmitri, Jungle DJ Towa Tei
Towa Tei
is a DJ, artist and record producer in Yokahoma, Japan.Tōwa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the U.S. label Elektra Records in 1990, and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart"...
, and Lady Miss Kier. Kirby is credited with designing and creating the look of the band, as well as much of the artwork accompanying the band's albums and marketing material. Her initial look relied on revamped and exaggerated retro '60s fashions, which was revolutionary at the time. Her signature look was a zip-up catsuit
Catsuit
A catsuit is a close-fitting one-piece garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as lycra, chiffon, spandex , leather, latex, PVC, or velour, and frequently close using a zipper at the front or back.Catsuits, which...
, platform shoes and flipped hair-do. At the height of the band's success, her style had a major influence on fashion trends, showing up in a variety of retail venues.
Deee-Lite followed their successful first album with a politically-charged second album, Infinity Within, in 1992. Their third album, Dewdrops in the Garden, was released in 1994 and saw a return to house roots with a new, more naturalistic tone. Neither of the two follow-up albums matched the commercial success of their debut. The second and third albums were hampered by difficulties with the label, which refused to promote, support touring, or fund contractual videos. The band functionally broke up during the writing of their third album in 1993, but Kirby and Brill decided to finish the project and tour together to promote the album before going their separate ways, and officially disbanding in 1994. In 1996, a remix album was released, and a greatest hits album was released in 2001.
Solo career
After the disbanding of the group, Kirby moved to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, D.J.ing and performing in clubs. In 1995, a solo song named "Touch Me With Your Sunshine" appeared on the Wigstock: The Movie
Wigstock: The Movie
Wigstock: The Movie is a 1995 documentary film focusing on Wigstock, the annual drag music festival that had been held New York City's East Village through the 1980s and 1990s. The film presents a number of performances from the 1994 festival, including Crystal Waters, Deee-Lite, Jackie Beat,...
soundtrack. In 1996, she debuted new songs at the Enit Festival. Her new direction was more DnB
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
than dance, but none of the songs were ever released. In the late nineties, she collaborated on the albums of such diverse artists as Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
, I Kamanchi and A Guy Called Gerald
A Guy Called Gerald
A Guy Called Gerald is the stage name for the musician, record producer and DJ Gerald Simpson ....
. In 2002, she contributed an exclusive solo track called "I'm not staying at home" to the compilation "Straight Up & Dirty". In 2005, she began performing new material, then appearing in club performances internationally in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, New Orleans, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, San Francisco and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. She also made television appearances on the OUTtv
OUTtv
OUTtv is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that airs entertainment and lifestyle programming for LGBT audiences.OUTtv's licensee is OUTtv Network Inc. which is 55.9% owned by Shavick Entertainment, 24.94% owned by Pink Triangle Press, 15% owned by Peace Point Entertainment...
/Pink TV television series the House of Venus Show
House of Venus Show
Created by Canadian filmmaker Mark Kenneth Woods and co-produced by Michael Venus, the first season of the world's first LGBT themed sketch comedy TV show started airing on OUTtv in July 2005. The second season began airing in September, 2006 and, after a hiatus, a third season debuted in July,...
and has been featured in the New York City festival Wigstock
Wigstock
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in the 1980s in New York's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Traditionally the festival would act as the unofficial end to the summer for the gay community of New York City...
. In 2005 Kier was the featured artist on the podcast Ron-Kat-Delic Show, where she premiered her solo work for the first time, namely a song entitled "Hot Wax." In 2006, she toured Australia with the Good Vibrations Festival
Good Vibrations Festival
Good Vibrations Festival commenced in 2004 and is an annual Australian music festival held in Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Perth. The festival takes place during February.-2011:-2010:-2009:Master of Ceremonies – Supernatural-2008:-2007:...
.
She has since moved back to New York City, and is rumored to be putting together a solo album for release. Unreleased songs include "Me and My Records", "Bulletproof", "Dance Police", "The Outer Planets", "Black Out Love Affair", "Wear U Out", "Go Down" and "Strip". Kirby occasionally releases snippets from her body of work on Myspace and her personal website. There are also several clips of her group and solo performances on YouTube. Most recently, Kirby has released a sound bite of "I Surrender" on Myspace.com, hinting that a solo album effort is still ongoing. On April 28, 2007 she performed at Coachella
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
. She appears on the release from NYC noise band, Apollo Heights
Apollo Heights
Apollo Heights are an American shoegazer band that was formed in New York City in 2002. Consisting mainly of twin brothers, Daniel and Danny Chavis, they play experimental rock music. They cite AR Kane and My Bloody Valentine as a major inspiration...
on a song titled "Winter in the Summertime", released in October 2007.
"Space Channel 5" and Lawsuit
In 2003, Kirby sued video game company SegaSega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, claiming that the character of "Ulala" in their game Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5 is a music video game developed by United Game Artists under the direction of Tetsuya Mizuguchi and published by Sega. The gameplay features a system where the player must copy sequences of dance steps performed by the computer...
was an unauthorized use of her likeness. Kirby claimed that Sega offered to pay her $16,000 to license her name, image and songs for the game, though she rejected their offer. Kirby alleged that the video game maker later went ahead and used her resemblance anyway, and at which point she decided to initiate the lawsuit. She ultimately lost the suit and a later appeal, based on the appeals court's finding that the character was developed by designers who were unaware of Kirby or her persona. In court it was mooted that the animated character looked more like another 90's pop star, Michaela Dornonville de la Cour
Michaela Dornonville de la Cour
Maria Susanna Michaela Dornonville de la Cour, also known simply as De la Cour, is best known as a singer in the Swedish pop music group Army of Lovers.-Biography:Michaela was born on 16 August 1961 in Helsingborg, Sweden...
from the Swedish band Army of Lovers
Army Of Lovers
Army of Lovers are a Swedish dance music group formed in 1987.The name of the band alludes to a documentary Armee der Liebenden oder Revolte der Perversen about the German gay rights activist Rosa von Praunheim, the title of which in turn alludes to the Theban Band.-History:The founding members,...
. Kirby was also mandated to pay Sega's legal fees of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
608,000 (reduced from $763,000 requested) for their legal costs; a situation acknowledged by the justices as unfortunate but mandated under California statute. It was also ruled that Kirby would have to pay the cost associated with any further appeals, none of which have been filed as yet. In 2008, her single "Groove Is in the Heart" was licensed for use in the Sega video game Samba de Amigo
Samba de Amigo
Samba de Amigo is a rhythm game originally developed by Sonic Team and released in 1999 by Sega in arcades, 2000 for the Dreamcast video game console, and developed by Gearbox Software and Escalation Studios in 2008 for the Wii. The player uses controllers shaped like maracas with the goal of...
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console, ironically appearing in a stage featuring Ulala.