Mikkey Dee
Mikkey Dee
Background information
Birth name Michael Kiriakos Delaouglou
Born 31 October 1963 (1963-10-31) (age 45)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre(s) Heavy metal, Speed metal
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) drums, Acoustic guitar (live only)
Years active 1985 - present
Associated acts Motörhead
King Diamond
WWIII
Website www.IMotörhead.com
Michael Kiriakos Delaouglou, better known as Mikkey Dee (born 31 October 1963 in Gothenburg, Sweden,[1]) is a half-Greek half-Swedish drummer/songwriter in the heavy metal band, Motörhead. He has been known for his speed and precision since his mid-80s stint with King Diamond.
Contents
1 Career
1.1 Early Life
1.2 King Diamond (1985-1989)
1.3 Don Dokken (1990)
1.4 Motörhead (1992-Present)
2 Discography
2.1 King Diamond
2.2 Don Dokken
2.3 Motörhead
2.4 Helloween
2.5 Other
3 References
4 External links
Career
Life
Delaouglou began his musical career with local bands Nadir and Geisha. His favourite drummer is Ian Paice, other influences being Brian Downey, Neil Peart and Steven Smith. Dee also gives credit to Buddy Rich.[2]
Dee has endorsed German drum manufacturer SONOR for well over 20 years, starting with King Diamond. He is also a long-time endorser of Paiste cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and DW/Drum workshop bass drum pedals.
King Diamond (1985-1989)
Having moved to Copenhagen to play with Geisha,[2] in 1985, he joined King Diamond, who were looking for additional members to complete their line-up. After their release of the "Conspiracy" album (1989), Dee decided to leave the band, as he felt he was becoming more of a back-up musician, rather than an equal contributing songwriter — Diamond himself was becoming quite popular and the musicians backing him were taking a secondary role in the writing and decision making, often Diamond was the only person answering for the whole group in magazine interviews, etc.[2] Dee continued to play as a session drummer for the recording sessions of the Conspiracy album (1989), after which he was replaced by Snowy Shaw.
Don Dokken (1990)
He joined Don Dokken for his solo album, Up From The Ashes (1990) the music videos for the songs "Stay" and "Mirror Mirror" received airplay on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. whilst also playing for World War Three (WWIII).
Motörhead (1992-Present)
Mikkey Dee during a drum soloLemmy had been repeatedly asking him to join Motörhead since 1985, and in 1992, when asked once again, Dee accepted the offer, replacing Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor.[3] Commenting on his replacement of a longstanding member of the band, Dee said in a 2006 interview:
Phil Taylor was great when he was good... so I could never have filled that space. It's like when you get married and have kids, no one can take my father's place. Of course, some other guy could have taken his place, but he wouldn't have been my father; so I could never be Phil Taylor, so I had to introduce Mikkey Dee into Motörhead.[4]
Dee's first gig with the band was on 30 August 1992 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center,[5] but he did not have much input on that year's release, March or Die, as this had been recorded with Tommy Aldridge prior to Dee joining the group. Dee did play on the tracks 'Hellraiser', which was on the album, and 'Hell On Earth', which wasn't on the album, but was on the soundtrack album to the film Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. Ideally the band would have had Dee re-record all the drum tracks but this was not possible, due to a combination of money and time factors.
It is important to note that even though Aldridge was a member of the band, Dee's photo appeared on the rear album sleeve. Aldridge generously said that Dee could take his credit for the playing but Dee politely declined, as the drummers' styles are very different. In an ironic reversal, Aldridge had earlier had his photo on an album on which he played nothing, namely Ozzy Osbourne's Diary of a Madman.
Mikkey Dee live with MotörheadTheir record label, Epic Records dropped the band after its release and the group continued recording with SPV GmbH. The band also started a label themselves, called "Motörhead", which was copyrighted and distributed through Warner-Chappell and ZYX, Dee's first album for this label being 1993's Bastards.
He also played drums on Helloween's 2003 album Rabbit Don't Come Easy, stepping in for Mark Cross.
In April 2006 King Diamond reunited with old friend Mikkey Dee at a sold-out gig at Kåren in Gothenburg, Sweden.[6] In 2001 King referred to Dee as "one of the best [drummers] of all time and that's something that has bothered us since he left."[7]
Dee also played the drums for Martin "E-Type" Eriksson in the Swedish pre-qualification to the Eurovision song contest 2004, as well as on E-Type's 2003 Eurometal tour.
He is famous for his long drum solos during concerts, often lasting between five and fifteen minutes and filling between songs. On the Motorizer tour he performed several long solos, in which the other members left the stage and re-joined at the end for another song.
Dee is a hockey enthusiast and a supporter of the Frölunda HC team from Gothenburg. The rumor that Dee was in a Swedish National Youth Hockey team (stemming from an interview on Motorhead's stagefright DVD) has since been rebutted by Dee himself, claiming that "in the end of the 80's and a bit into the 90's I played for a team called Team Sweden in southern California" causing the rumor to arise.[8]
Discography
[edit] King Diamond
Fatal Portrait (1986)
Abigail (1987)
Them (1988)
Conspiracy (1989)
[edit] Don Dokken
Up From The Ashes (1990)
[edit] Motörhead
March ör Die (1992)
Bastards (1993)
Sacrifice (1995)
Overnight Sensation (1996)
Snake Bite Love (1998)
We Are Motörhead (2000)
Hammered (2002)
Inferno (2004)
Kiss of Death (2006)
Motorizer (2008)
[edit] Helloween
Rabbit Don't Come Easy (2003)
[edit] Other
Metallic Assault CD: A Tribute to Metallica, - Sanitarium (2001)
Numbers From The Beast: An All Star Salute to Iron Maiden- Fear Of The Dark (2005)
[edit] References
^ "Biography for Mikkey Dee". IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. Also gives date of birth.
^ a b c "Mikkey Dee (Motörhead) Interview". Metal Rules — Heart of Steel: Interviews. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
^ Lemmy (2002). White Line Fever Simon & Schuster p. 243. ISBN 0-684-85868-1.
^ Burridge, Alan (March 2007). "Interview with Mikkey Dee by Artyom Golew - became cover story in Sep 2006 issue of Russian Alive magazine". Motörheadbangers 27 (78): 6–9.
^ Burridge, Alan Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motorhead Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing p.62. ISBN 0-9695736-2-6.
^ "MOTÖRHEAD's MIKKEY DEE Jams With KING DIAMOND In Sweden", Blabbermouth.net (Apr. 21, 2006). Retrieved on 13 July 2007.
^ "Diamonds Are Forever: An Exclusive Interview With King Diamond", KNAC (December 31, 2001). Retrieved on 13 July 2007.
^ "Interview with Mikkey Dee". Slitz: 60. September 2008.
