Viki Dee: Following in Her Father’s Footsteps
As a child growing up in Baltimore’s Little Italy, one of Viki Dee’s earliest memories is of watching her father play trombone, Latin percussion, and sing in his own stage band. Tony Dee played the country club and society circuit, and he was her idol. “I wanted to do what he was doing,” she says. Well, take into account the passage of time and high-tech advances in the music industry, and that’s exactly what she’s doing right here in Rehoboth Beach.
Young Viki took clarinet lessons, but music came so naturally to her that she abandoned them and proceeded to teach herself not only to sing, but also to play piano and Latin percussion. By the tender age of 17, she had her own show band that enjoyed steady bookings at parties and clubs throughout the Baltimore area.
Now those were the days when you actually had to have talent to play a real musical instrument. Samplers and prerecorded sequences had not yet been invented, so professional musicians had to work to earn their spot in whatever limelight there happened to be. Viki and her dad knew just about every musician in the Baltimore area, so it stood to reason that they could put together any size band to suit the specific needs of their clients. Thus was born Dee Cee Talent, an agency capable of supplying clients with everything from duos to lounge groups, orchestras to show bands.
Viki performed at country clubs, parties, and society events, even opening a show for well-known composer, singer and MGM recording artist Gloria Loring. When Bill Clinton first won the presidency, Viki was chosen to sing at the Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C.
At 22, Viki married her guitar player, giving birth to her daughter Lauren in 1983. The marriage didn’t last, and about five years later she and her daughter moved to Los Angeles. If you’re talented, it doesn’t matter which side of the map you’re on, and Viki immediately began to open for headliners at the legendary Improv and the Comedy Store. In spite of her success, she hated L.A. “I was an East Coast girl and I could feel it.”
Around 1990, she headed back East and hit the ground running. One of her first gigs was the celebrated Governor’s Ball at Indian Spring Country Club in Maryland. Dad was still managing Dee Cee Talent, and Viki was always booked for weddings, celebrations, and all sorts of events. Nothing stays the same, however, and when dad got a hankerin’ to open an Italian grocery store, it was Viki’s turn to let him do his thing. Off he went to Westminster, Maryland to find his dream among the cheese, salami, and olives.
Things were changing in the music business, and it became harder and harder to book bands. Many talented musicians who had practiced long and hard to perfect their craft were tossed aside for the less expensive karaoke, singles and duos that replaced drummers, bass players, horns and strings with prerecorded samples, and computer-generated noises.
You can’t fight progress, and if Viki was going to go that route, she was going to do it right. She invested in expensive computer programs and sequencers that used MIDI, an emerging digital technology that allowed her total control over the music. Viki creates every note that accompanies her singing, and the resulting sound is remarkable. It’s no surprise that she quickly became successful, and in 1997 she released her first CD, “Exposed.” The title had a special meaning for Viki, as it marked her true coming out as a lesbian. “I was finally comfortable with who I was.”
She was performing at downtown Baltimore’s iconic Werner’s Restaurant when she became friends with her boss, Ruth Kloetzli. After a couple of years, Viki and Ruth became an item, and both women remained good friends with Ruth’s former partner. At that point in her life, Viki wanted to combine her love for music with her love for the beach, so she bought a house here. The timing was perfect: They packed up Ruth’s six-year-old son and made Rehoboth Beach their permanent home.
Viki’s second CD, “Drive” was so much of a success that Lifetime Network used her song, “Chance to Dream” on an episode of Missing. SyFy Network also featured it on Steven King’s Haven. Viki still travels to the West Coast, recently returning to Rehoboth after pursuing career interests in Palm Springs. She and Ruth have been together for ten years, and though they’re not currently living together, they are still very much “significant others.”
Viki performs regularly at the Frogg Pond, the Seafood Shack, the Green Turtle, Cloud 9, and the Rehoboth Ale House, just to name a few. She made a point of asking me if she could use my column to pay homage to all her loyal fans here in Rehoboth. “I love the diversity of my crowds,” she says. Hear that everyone? She means it, too.
And crowds they are! If you’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing her smiling voice and her meticulously crafted performances, it’s easy to see why.
Bob Yesbek is a Rehoboth Beach resident. Email Bob Yesbek