Club Nouveau is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, following the breakup of the

Timex Social Club Timex Social Club is an American R&B group, formed in 1985 and best known for the 1986 hit single "Rumors". History Originally known as the Timex Crew, members included Marcus Thompson (founder), Gregory "Greg B" Thomas, Michael Marshall, Cra ...

. The group's name (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for "New Club") was changed from its original incarnation, "Jet Set", to capitalize on the breakup. The group was signed by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, on which Club Nouveau released its first three albums. Club Nouveau's go-go version of Bill Withers's song " Lean on Me" won a

Grammy award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best R&B Song in 1987.

History

From its debut album, ''

Life, Love & Pain ''Life, Love & Pain '' is the debut album by R&B group Club Nouveau. It was released in late 1986 with production by Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy and Jay King. The album reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Soul Albums chart and number ...

'', which was released in 1986, the group scored four consecutive hits: "Jealousy" (essentially an

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...

responding to Timex Social Club's hit "

Rumors A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin:rumorem - noise), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in p ...

"), "Situation #9", " Lean on Me" and "

Why You Treat Me So Bad "Why You Treat Me So Bad?" is a 1987 single by Club Nouveau from their 1986 album '' Life, Love & Pain.'' The basic melodic hook of the song is taken from a hit by Club Nouveau member Jay King's previous project as producer, Timex Social Club (nam ...

". The latter two both made it to #2 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart the next year, with " Lean on Me" going on to become a big ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit. "Jealousy" also made an appearance on the soundtrack for the film '' Modern Girls''. "

" was interpolated by the hip-hop duo

Luniz Luniz (formerly the LuniTunes) is an American hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Virgin Records, Noo Trybe Records, and C-Note Records. They were the flagship act for C-Note Records. The g ...

, on its hit single " I Got 5 on It", and subsequently by rapper/record producer

Puff Daddy Puff may refer to: Science and technology * Puff, a small quantity of gas or smoke in the air ** Puff, a light gust of wind ** Exhalation ** Inhalation * Puff model, volcanic ash tracking model developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks * PUF ...

on his #1 R&B single " Satisfy You". The group's original lineup consisted of

Jay King Club Nouveau is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name ( French for "New Club") was changed from its original inca ...

, Valerie Watson, Samuelle Prater,

Denzil Foster Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy are an American R&B record production and songwriting duo, releasing recordings under the names Foster & McElroy and Fmob. They have written and produced songs for musicians such as Club Nouveau, Tony! Toni! Ton ...

, and

Thomas McElroy Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy are an American R&B record production and songwriting duo, releasing recordings under the names Foster & McElroy and Fmob. They have written and produced songs for musicians such as Club Nouveau, Tony! Toni! Ton ...

. Foster and McElroy soon left to form their own production team and focus on working with other acts. Prater, who had performed lead vocals on "Lean on Me," eventually left as well to pursue a solo career, but reunited with the group in 2009. The group's next albums — beginning with '' Listen to the Message'' — were laced with an evolving social consciousness. Notable recordings include "You Ain't No Friend of Mine" from ''Under A Nouveau Groove''; a

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

-influenced version of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

classic " Oh, Happy Day," from ''A New Beginning''; "Let It Go" from ''Everything Is Black''; and "What Kind of Love" from ''The Collection Volume I''. The group also recorded "Step by Step" for the ''

Who's That Girl Who's That Girl? may refer to: Film and television * ''Who's That Girl'' (1987 film), an American film starring Madonna * ''Who's That Girl'', a Philippine film of 2011 * "Who's That Girl?", an episode of ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' Music * Who's Tha ...

'' soundtrack. Club Nouveau was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance in 1987. The group's version of "Lean on Me" was its most celebrated hit, resulting in a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year in addition to winning the Grammy for Best R&B Song that same year. "Lean on Me" was also nominated for two American Music Awards, nominated and won a Bammy Award, a BRE Drummer award, a Bay Area Star award and it won two

NARM NARM was the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, now renamed as the Music Business Association. NARM may also refer to: *North American Reciprocal Museums *North American Registry of Midwives, a certifying organization for Midwifery#Ce ...

(National Association of Recording Merchandisers) awards. The 2015 lineup consists of King, Watson, and Prater. In 2017, as part of

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

's divestment requirements as a result of its purchase of Parlophone, the group's Warner Bros. recordings were acquired by

Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digital U ...

, which worked 12-inch singles from its first album to clubs as a result of its emerging relationship with Warner and from being an expert in the format.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links