NEW MUSIC: Acid Jazz announce Dee C Lee comeback single

Acid Jazz Records announce the return of the illustrious soul singer Dee C. Lee with the release of her first new material in 25 years, the double A-side single ‘Don’t Forget About Love’ / ‘Be There In The Morning’

This coming Friday (29 September), Acid Jazz Records will release Dee C. Lee’s comeback single, ‘Don’t Forget About Love’ / ‘Be There In The Morning’.

The A-side’s ‘Don’t Forget About Love’ finds one of the finest and most in-demand British soul singers of her generation – the writer and performer of Top three single ‘See The Day’, and former member of The Style Council, Slam Slam, Wham! and Animal Nightlife – in outstanding voice on a gentle, uplifting song written by Dee with Mike McEvoy and Ernest McKone as an antidote to the hate and negativity of lockdown.

The AA-side’s ‘Be There In The Morning’ was originally co-written and recorded by Australian soul singer Renée Geyer. Reminded of the song by Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller, Dee was enthusiastic to record her own version and delivers a euphoric vocal on another impressive return to form.

Released on Acid Jazz Records, these two songs mark the release Dee’s first music since 1998. Dee’s relationship with the label goes back to The Style Council days and it was the 2019 documentary on that great British group, Long Hot Summers, that renewed Dee’s friendship with the label’s founder, Eddie Piller. As a result, Eddie and label partner Dean Rudland were proud to sign Dee and add her to the roster of one of Britain’s truly independent record labels.

The single will be available to buy on digital download on 29 September. A 7-inch single version is available to order now: https://bio.to/dontforgetaboutlove

More news regarding future releases to follow soon…

Dee C Lee is a highly successful recording artist who has been at the heart of the British Soul and R&B music scene for more than 30 years. With her distinctive and entrancing vocal tone, she has performed with chart-topping acts, including Wham! Animal Nightlife, The Style Council, Guru and Mother Earth, as well as writing her own hits such as the acclaimed no.3 single, the ballad ‘See the Day’.

Dee started her career as a backing singer and first came to public attention when she performed with Wham! on their hits including ‘Club Tropicana’ and ‘Bad Boys’. In May 1983, while pursuing her solo career, she teamed up with The Style Council and appeared their debut album Cafe Bleu. Dee’s distinctive and soulful voice can be heard on many era-defining Style Council tracks including, ‘Headstart for Happiness’, ‘It Didn’t Matter’, ‘The Lodgers’, ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down’, and ‘Shout to the Top’.

In December 1985 Dee’s self-penned ballad ‘See the Day’ became an instant classic. The single was a huge UK hit and peaked at No.3, selling a quarter of a million copies in the UK alone and earning Lee a record industry Silver Disc. The song featured on her 1986 debut album, Shrine. Twenty years later, ‘See the Day’ was covered by Girls Aloud, their version peaking at no. 9 on the UK Singles Chart in December 2005.

In the 1990s, after a career break to have children, Lee teamed up with Robert Howard of The Blow Monkeys and her then husband Paul Weller to form the recording act Slam Slam, who achieved several UK club hits. She also collaborated with Gang Starr frontman Guru on a single from his solo project Jazzmatazz called No Time to Play. The subsequent Jazzamatzz tour of the UK, Europe and Japan saw her working with legends Roy Ayres, Courtney Pine, Lonnie Liston Smith and Donald Byrd. Following this she also sang on Jazzmatazz album Volume 2, The New Reality hosted by Guru, and on Jamiroquai’s Return of the Space Cowboy.

Dee released two further solo albums: Things Will Be Sweeter (1994) and Smiles (1998), recorded for and released in Japan. Thereafter she put her career on hold to be a Mum until her children left home in 2009. In 2011 she played some London dates to delighted audiences all the while continuing to write with Mike McEvoy and Arden Hart (co-writers of tracks on Sweeter and Smiles).

2020 saw Dee doing interviews and perform an exclusive live, one-off recording by the original Style Council line up of ‘A Very Deep Sea’ for Long Hot Summers -The story of The Style Council documentary-film for Sky. This renewed her friendship with Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller and in the summer of 2021, she signed a deal with the British independent label.

Pre-order details for Don’t Forget About Love’ / ‘Be There In The Morning can be found here