Q&A With Dee C. Lee

Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Photo Credit: Ki Price

Dee C. Lee is a British singer who worked with Wham! on “Club Tropicana” and “Bad Boys”. In 1984 she released her first solo single “Selina Wow Wow”: a song I love! In May 1983 she teamed up with The Style Council and her voice can be heard on songs like “Money Go Round”, “Headstart For Happiness”, “It Didn’t Matter”, “The Lodgers”, “Walls Come Tumbling Down”, and “Shout to the Top”. Her latest album “Just Something” was released last year to critical acclaim.

KB: Did you always want to be a singer growing up?

Actually no – I’d always fancied myself as more of a musician – especially when I was listening to a lot of Jazz / Funk instrumental album tracks when I was growing up. Laziness quite frankly scuppered those ambitions fairly quickly when I discovered I could hit those notes vocally. Singing was definitely the discipline that came most naturally to me.

KB: You were a backing singer for Wham! and appeared in a few of their videos. How did you meet and what was it like working with George and Andrew?

I met the guys via a record company meeting. At the time Innversion had just signed a new band called Wham!. The band already had x2 guys and x1 girl (you may have already heard of them) and were looking for one more female vocalist to complete the band vision. Working with Wham wasn’t like working at all! We were all so young and so excited about the whole process we found ourselves in. I didn’t realize back then how special this time would become – because we were all so caught up in making the music and videos. None of us had ever done anything like that before and we loved all of it! It definitely didn’t feel like working.

KB: You released your hit “Selena Wow Wow” in 1984. I love the song. I always wondered who Selena was?

Great question! Thanks for that – as this was my very first solo single released on my first record deal ever!. Selena Wow Wow was a made up character – back in those early days I was still exploring my songwriting abilities. At the time of writing Selena Wow Wow I had also written See The Day (which was probably one of  the first or second tracks I wrote in my fledgling songwriting career). Selena Wow Wow was a happy pop song – and I was inspired by a lot of the pop music around at the time. A lot of the people making this music were people I was friends with, it was a bit of a scene at that time. The song is about a girl called Selena who’s a WOW! (And the life and soul of the party) – inspired by quite a few of the people on the scene I knew at the time.

KB: You started working with The Style Council in 1984. You were married to Paul Weller. How did you meet and what is your fondest memory working with The Style Council?

I first got a call from Paul Weller via the Musicians Union to go and meet him at the original Solid Bond studios in Marble Arch as he was in the process of putting together a new band. That’s where I met Steve White and Mick Talbot for the first time. Working as part of The Style Council was the change that I needed after working with Wham! as I was given the opportunity to grow a lot more as a vocalist. So many great memories – it’s difficult to whittle it down to one! But at a push, shooting the video in Poland for Walls Come Tumbling Down was pretty awesome and of course performing at Live Aid – but trust me there’s so many more!!!

KB: Are there any artists out there you would love to collaborate with or you wished you had?

There are still so many great artists out there!!

I would have loved to work with Chaka Khan – I’ve been a huge admirer of her work forever. I’d also love to work with some of the Artists I’m listening to right now such as : Carmy Love, Abi Farrell, Emma Noble, Mama Terra, Stone Foundation and Blue Lab Beats

KB: I let you make an album with 7 of your most favorite songs (not your own): What songs would you pick and why?

Oh that’s easy – it would be classics!!

Anita Baker – “Caught Up In The Rapture” – which I’ve been relistening to on my recent holiday. Just a beautiful ballad!

Chaka Khan – “Stay” – I love songs with stories and highs and lows and this one hits all the right notes.

Lucy Pearl – “Without You” – again just a beautiful track.

Lonnie Liston Smith – “Expansions” – I had the honour of working with Lonnie on Guru’s Jazzmatazz project – and always loved his work. This one is a particular favorite

Gang Starr – “You Know My Steez” – I listened to a lot of early hip hop back in the day. Gang Starr particularly stood out for me as one of the best in my humble opinion. I loved the way they blended Jazz with Hip Hop.

Earth Wind & Fire – “Jupiter” – it’s a hand banger of a track – and definitely one to play a lot of ‘Air Sax’ too.

Change – “Glow of Love” – a great track and I love how you can hear the early vocals of Luther Vandross here.

KB: Your album “Just Something” was released last year and received critical acclaim. How did that process go?

At the screening of the Sky Arts documentary ’The Style Council’ I ran into a very old friend of mine called Eddie Piller of Acid Jazz Records and he asked me if I was still making music and if
I would like to make some more. I’m always writing and had quite a few tracks ready to go in the pipeline and I loved the challenge of coming up with a few new ones – especially as “Just Something” is quite stylised. On signing to Acid Jazz, they hooked me up with the amazing producer Sir Tristan Longworth, who pulled in an incredible team of musicians. We went on to record the album at Tristan’s studio over the course of a couple of months.

KB: What are you currently up to?

Currently I’m enjoying a few quiet moments at home while regrouping after last year’s album release and live UK tour. Having finished all the songs in my repertoire (so to speak), I’ve been working on new songs and looking into a few new project options which I’m really excited about!

Check out Dee’s website HERE

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