Dee Long

Singer/songwriter and guitarist Dee Long began his successful recording career in 1970 when he was in his late teens. That first offering was a two-sided single he did as part of a group called Bloodstone. Over the next three decades, he worked with a number of bands, including completing a long list of singles and albums with Klaatu. In the late '90s, Long decided to try recording a few tunes on his own. The result was his first solo offering, the EP Digital, released in 1998.

Dee Long was born David John Long in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, in 1951. Growing up in Yorkville, music was always a part of life for the young artist. By the time he was in high school, he could play both the guitar and keyboards. As a teen he joined a local band called the Sundogs, which later became the Polychromatic Experiment. His next group was the above-mentioned Bloodstone. Some of the guys he worked with in those early bands include Cliff Maynes, Fred Coutts, Steve Bale, John Judge, and Terry Draper.

In 1971, Long was serving time as a member of Mudcow. When it disbanded the next year, Long and friend John Woloschuk put down the first plans for a new group they named Klaatu. In 1973, Klaatu recorded two double-sided singles: "Sub Rosa Subway"/"Hanus of Uranus" and "Doctor Marvello"/"For You Girl." Both singles were done under the GRT label. Over the next decade, the band recorded more than a dozen two-sided singles, as well as six albums. Most of those albums were done under the Daffodil/Capitol labels, such as Sir Army Suit, Endangered Species, Klaasic Klaatu, and Hope.

As part of Klaatu, Long and the other members took an odd path. The members didn't tour, didn't make live appearances, and avoided the public spotlight completely — an unheard of move for a group trying to gain public support. Somehow, though, the purposeful elusiveness caused more interest in the mysterious group than sold-out concerts could have.

In the early '80s, Long began doing less recording of his own to run his studio. He also worked as both a producer and engineer when he got the chance and went on to write some jingles during this time. In 1982, Long left Klaatu behind to spend more time in his studio, ESP.

When things didn't go as well as planned, Long sold his studio, moved to England, and found work as a project engineer for other artists. He also worked at doing jingles. He did return to Klaatu briefly in 1988 to do a single, "Woman." More interest in the group bloomed again in 1995 with the reissue of the 1981 album Magentalane, and Long was there with his bandmates once more.

In the summer of 1998, Long finally released his first solo EP, Digital, under the Bullseye Records label. He followed up the debut with BHB4, a two-disc set. Disc one is titled "Phobos," and disc two is "Deimos." After the release, Long soon went to work on his next album, Outside of Time and Space, which was released in 2004, followed by Long Live and Prosper in 2006 on Bullseye Records. Welcome to the Future, also on Bullseye, was released later that same year.