Nu Shooz is an American R&B group fronted by husband-and-wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day, based in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States. Nu Shooz released four albums in the U.S. during the 1980s. Their third album, '' Poolside'', brought the group's sound to a wider audience.

Career

Nu Shooz formed in 1979 in a lineup that originally featured 12 members. This incarnation of the group released its debut album, ''Can't Turn It Off'', in 1982. Although the album saw limited success, the band continued on, paring its lineup down to seven members over the next several years. Nu Shooz originally released the single " I Can't Wait" in Portland in April 1985 on Poolside Records. The original session occurred at Cascade Recording in Portland in the fall of 1984 and was also featured on the band's sparsely distributed second album, ''Tha's Right'', in 1985.Nu Shooz- ''Tha's Right'' album information @nushoozmusic.com
Retrieved 12-3-2011. "I Can't Wait" became popular on Portland radio stations at that time, but Nu Shooz was turned down by every major label. A copy of the song made it to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where it was

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed by

Peter Slaghuis Peter Slaghuis (; 21 August 1961 – 5 September 1991) was a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer, whose work was mostly released under the name Hithouse (a literal translation of his last name — ''slag'', a hit, a beat; and ''huis'', house). ...

. This version is known as the 'Dutch Mix.' The remix came back into the United States as an import on Dutch label Injection Records. This version got the attention of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, which signed the band to a contract in January 1986. Nu Shooz scored two major hits. "I Can't Wait" climbed to No. 2 on the R&B charts and No. 3 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart in June 1986 and spent 15 weeks in the Top 40, and it also hit No. 1 on the

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart earlier that year. Its follow-up, "

Point of No Return The point of no return (PNR or PONR) is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is dangerous, physically impossible or difficult, or prohibitively expensive. The point of no return can be a ...

," was remixed by

Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...

and also topped the dance chart in September 1986; the song peaked at No. 28 on the Hot 100 and No. 35 on the R&B chart. Both singles were on the album ''Poolside'', which charted on ''Billboard'''s 200 chart at No. 27, and sold 500,000 copies in the U.S., garnering

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

certification on October 2, 1986. In 1987, Nu Shooz was nominated for 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 ...

in the

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

category, based on its breakthrough success the previous year. The group lost to

Bruce Hornsby & the Range Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...

. In 1988, the band released the album ''Told'' U ''So'', which had its final chart entries to date: "Should I Say Yes?" hit No. 17 on the R&B chart and No. 41 on the Hot 100, while the track "Are You Lookin' for Somebody Nu" topped out at No. 2 on the dance chart. The album itself peaked on the Billboard 200 to No. 93 and was only an overall success in the urban market. "Time Will Tell" was supposed to be the first single from the third album for Atlantic, which was titled ''Eat & Run'', but the album was never released. In 2007, Nu Shooz was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. Also that year Smith and Day formed a spin-off band called Nu Shooz Orchestra with a sound they called "Jazz-Pop-Cinema." They released one album, ''Pandora's Box'', in 2010 along with music videos for the songs "Spy vs Spy," (directed by Mike Wellins) and "Right Before My Eyes" (animated by Smith and Day’s son Malcolm Smith.) The following year "I Can't Wait" was sampled in the hit song " Buzzin'" by Mann. In 2012, the band released ''Kung Pao Kitchen'', a return to their '80s roots. A year later they put the live group back together for the first time in 20 years and joined the '80s era tour Super Freestyle Explosion. A cover of "I Can't Wait", performed by Icona Pop and produced by Questlove, was used in a 2015 series of

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

commercials. Nu Shooz continued to record and perform through the 2010s, releasing their album ''Bagtown'' in 2016.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Other releases

* ''Nu Shooz: Then and Now'' DVD (NSO Music LLC, 2006)

References

Other sources

* ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 6th Edition - 1996 - BPI Communications -

External links

Nu Shooz
- Official website {{Authority control Musical groups from Portland, Oregon American pop music groups American contemporary R&B musical groups Musical groups established in 1979 American dance music groups Atlantic Records artists Family musical groups 1979 establishments in Oregon