D Mob

This article is about the music producer. For the unrelated video game character also called "D-Mob", see Def Jam Vendetta and Def Jam: Fight for NY.

D Mob (or D-Mob) is one of the stage names used by the British house music producer, Dancin' Danny D (born Daniel Kojo Poku).^[1] A British house music crew, D Mob enjoyed a flourish of popularity in 1989 and 1990, helping to introduce that style to the mainstream, with the hit singles "We Call it Acieed" and "C'mon and Get My Love".^[2] The latter featured vocalist, Cathy Dennis, who went on to some solo success in 1991.^[2]

Career

Essentially the creative vehicle of Dancin' Danny D, an ex-McDonald's employee, he found solace by DJing for four years, at one point working with journalist, James Hamilton at Gullivers in Park Lane, London.^[3] He subsequently started nightclub promotions for Loose Ends (for whom he contributed his first remix), Total Contrast and Full Force, before taking up an A&R post at Chrysalis Records.^[3] This brought a number of further remixing opportunities, including Nitro Deluxe, Kid 'n Play, Adeva and Eric B. & Rakim's "I Know You Got Soul" in tandem with Norman Cook.^[3] By the time he had started using the name D Mob he had already released two records, as the Taurus Boyz, which were minor hits in the U.S.^[3] Then came "Warrior Groove', about the tribe (the Ashanti) his Ghanaian parents came from.^[3] The first D Mob release was 1988's UK Top 5 hit "We Call It Acieed". The BBC banned it from Top Of The Pops. However, as Poku confirmed to the press: "I don't take any form of drugs. I don't even go the doctor to get something for my cold".^[3]

The 1988 UK hit "We Call It Acieed"^[4] reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart, and was one of a wave of acid house singles to enjoy success that year. D Mob went on to have a further three Top 20 singles in the UK during 1989 and 1990, which were "It Is Time to Get Funky", which reached #9, "C'mon and Get My Love", which reached #15, and "Put Your Hands Together", which reached #7.^[5]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s D Mob charted five songs on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, four of which went to #1, including "We Call It Acieed", "It Is Time to Get Funky", "C'mon and Get My Love" (with Cathy Dennis), and "That's the Way of the World" (also with Dennis). In the U.S., they are best known for the hit "C'mon and Get My Love",^[6] a song featuring vocalist Cathy Dennis, that crossed over to pop radio and hit #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990.

Poku also produced/remixed records for Adeva, Juliet Roberts ("Another Place, Another Day, Another Time"), Monie Love, Diana Ross ("Working Overtime"), Chaka Khan ("I'm Every Woman"), Dannii Minogue (remixing several tracks for the UK release of Love and kisses) and the Cookie Crew ("Love Will Bring Us Together").^[3] In 1993, he brought back Dennis (who had enjoyed subsequent solo success) for vocals on "Why", his 'comeback' single as D Mob.^[3] As an in-demand producer and remixer he had never been away, although following his early 1990s successes, Poku gradually faded from the forefront of the dance scene.^[3]

Discography

Singles

• 1988 "We Call It Acieed" / "Trance Dance" (D Mob featuring Gary Haisman) - UK #3, U.S. Dance #1
• 1989 "It's Time to Get Funky" (D Mob featuring LRS) - UK #9, U.S. Dance #1
• 1989 "C'mon and Get My Love" (D Mob with Cathy Dennis) - UK #15, U.S. Dance #1, U.S. Pop #10, U.S. R&B #69
• 1990 "Put Your Hands Together" / "All I Do" #13 (D Mob featuring Nuff Juice) - UK #7, U.S. Dance #13
• 1990 "That's the Way of the World" (D Mob with Cathy Dennis) - UK #48, U.S. Dance #1, U.S. Pop #59
• 1994 "Why" (D Mob with Cathy Dennis) - UK #23
• 1994 "One Day" - UK #41

^{[5] [7]}

Albums

• A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That - UK #46, U.S. Pop #82, U.S. R&B #60 ^[5][8]

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• List of songs banned by the BBC
• List of Polydor Records artists
• List of house music artists
• List of performances on Top of the Pops
• List of 1990s one-hit wonders in the United States

References