VIA PRESS RELEASE | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), the leader in high-fidelity audio reissues, is proud to announce the first-ever audiophile vinyl edition of the 1990 club favorite and international crossover success, Deee-Lite’s World Clique.
Sourced from the original master tapes (1/2” / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe) and strictly limited to 2,000 numbered copies, this 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents the club favorite in audiophile quality for the first time. Pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, the reissue allows for a boost in groove velocity and near eradication of inner-groove distortion by spreading the 48-minute album across four vinyl sides, enhancing high- and low-frequency reproduction.
Dig! A rare club album that crossed over into the mainstream and became an international success, World Clique seemingly came from out of the blue from a band whose whimsical, quasi-psychedelic name—Deee-Lite—hints at the sheer fun, quirky personality, and humorous flair within its diverse borders.
Renowned for the smash “Groove Is in the Heart,” ranked #233 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and No. 2 on Billboard’s 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time, the 1990 record is a good-time dive into funk, house, disco, and pop waters that never fails to put a smile on listeners’ faces or a spring in their step.
Constructed via a hybrid of instrumentation, singing, and samples, World Clique unfurls with a rainbow of colors, tones, details, and effects. This collectible reissue zeros in on the separation and spatial location crucial to the tracks, with clever touches such as supplementary echoes to panned vocals and hand claps in defined positions amid broad, deep soundstages.
The clarity of everything from Lady Miss Kier’s breathy vocals and the group’s effortless hooks to the statement-making horns from James Brown band legends Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley brings Deee-Lite’s joyous delirium to life in multi-dimensional fashion.
Beholden to no trend, look or algorithm, Deee-Lite approaches World Clique as if anything is possible. Rather than using pieces of songs by the likes of Betty Wright, Quincy Jones, and The Monkees as foundations and then layering original segments on top, Deee-Lite eschews then-popular excessive convention and judiciously incorporates samples as smart accents, transitions, and punctuation marks.
The group’s savvy knack for sunny hooks, piano riffs, and unpredictability does the rest. Steeped in retro R&B, daisy-age hip-hop, lite psychedelia, and bubbly pop, the music turns your space into an imaginary dance floor.
Further proof World Clique is much more than a one-hit wonder is found in Kier’s spry and airy vocals on the simmering “Good Beat,” hop-scotching title track, and percolating “What Is Love?” They seamlessly blend with Bootsy Collins’ guitar riffs and Parker and Wesley’s horns on the multifaceted “Try Me On…I’m Very You.”
On the iconic “Groove Is in the Heart,” Collins’ cooler-than-thou spoken intro, the slide whistle, the cowbell, and a spot-on rap interlude from Q-Tip add up to a track voted Best Single in the 1990 Pazz & Jop poll and one that is on “best” decade lists from Pitchfork, NME, Time Out, Billboard, Slant, and more.
De-lovely, delightful, and truly delicious.
