Biography
Nu Shooz assembled in 1979 under guitarist John Smith as a jazz-funk outfit honed through live performances, a sound captured on their self-released 1982 debut album Can't Turn It Off. Based in Portland, Oregon, the group experienced significant personnel shifts after that record, though Smith and vocalist/percussionist Valerie Day remained its foundation and shifted toward current sounds on the 1984 EP Tha's Right, which mixed several genres including a pop-flavored R&B approach reminiscent of Cameo and Change. The standout track "I Can't Wait" achieved regional success yet remained limited in reach until Dutch DJ Peter Slaghuis delivered a remix. Known as the Dutch mix, it earned support from Larry Levan, the influential DJ at New York's Paradise Garage. Atlantic subsequently signed the band and reissued "I Can't Wait," sending it to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 by June 1986. The follow-up single "Point of No Return" matched its predecessor by reaching the top of the club chart, even while only entering the lower portion of the pop Top 30. Those two successes drove their proper second album Poolside to gold certification in the United States. A nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards followed, though Bruce Hornsby & the Range claimed the prize.
On the 1988 Atlantic album Told U So, the freestyle cut "Are You Lookin' for Somebody Nu" climbed to number two on the club chart and the ballad "Should I Say Yes" reached the R&B Top 20, yet the project fell well short of Poolside's commercial impact. After an extended pause, Smith and Day—by then a married couple—revived Nu Shooz and resumed live work. They issued the eclectic Pandora's Box in 2006 under the Nu Shooz Orchestra banner, then released Kung Pao Kitchen in 2012 as a collection of previously unheard recordings from the late '80s and early '90s. Separately, Smith has created music for films, advertisements, and additional outlets, while Day released the big-band and swing-styled album Beginning to See the Light and has taught jazz and contemporary voice at Portland State University. "I Can't Wait" has endured among the most lasting mid-'80s pop singles, appearing through frequent samples and covers in films and television programs including Hot Tub Time Machine and Master of None.
On the 1988 Atlantic album Told U So, the freestyle cut "Are You Lookin' for Somebody Nu" climbed to number two on the club chart and the ballad "Should I Say Yes" reached the R&B Top 20, yet the project fell well short of Poolside's commercial impact. After an extended pause, Smith and Day—by then a married couple—revived Nu Shooz and resumed live work. They issued the eclectic Pandora's Box in 2006 under the Nu Shooz Orchestra banner, then released Kung Pao Kitchen in 2012 as a collection of previously unheard recordings from the late '80s and early '90s. Separately, Smith has created music for films, advertisements, and additional outlets, while Day released the big-band and swing-styled album Beginning to See the Light and has taught jazz and contemporary voice at Portland State University. "I Can't Wait" has endured among the most lasting mid-'80s pop singles, appearing through frequent samples and covers in films and television programs including Hot Tub Time Machine and Master of None.
Albums
