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

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

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

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, on which Club Nouveau released its first three albums. Club Nouveau's go-go version of

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

's song " Lean on Me" won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best R&B Song in 1987.

History

From its debut album, '' Life, Love & Pain'', 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; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences; derived from Latin 'noise'), is an unverified piece of information circulating among people, especial ...

"), "Situation #9", " Lean on Me" and " Why You Treat Me So Bad". 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''. " Why You Treat Me So Bad" was interpolated by the hip-hop duo

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, on its hit single "

I Got 5 on It "I Got 5 on It" is a song by American Rapping, rap duo Luniz featuring Contemporary R&B, R&B singer Michael Marshall (singer), Michael Marshall, released in May 1995 by C-Note, Noo Trybe Records, Noo Trybe and Virgin Records, Virgin as the lead ...

", and subsequently by rapper/record producer

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on his #1 R&B single " Satisfy You". The group's original lineup consisted of Jay King, Valerie Watson, Samuelle Prater, Denzil Foster, and Thomas McElroy. 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 reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

-influenced version of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

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), ''Who's That Girl'' (1987 film), an American film starring Madonna * ''Who's That Girl'', a List of Philippine films of 2011#Films, Philippine film of 2011 * "Who's T ...

'' 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 Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

s, nominated and won a Bammy Award, a BRE Drummer award, a Bay Area Star award and it won two NARM (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., 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 the third-largest in the gl ...

'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 Records 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, Amber, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digita ...

, 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