AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Nu Shooz

Artist:Nu Shooz
Song:I Can't Wait
Album:Disco Queens: The 80s





Here's one of the more notorious hits of the 80s because MTV played the crap out of the video. Nu Shooz were successful on the dance charts. I Can't Wait is probably the only song most music fans remember. It's perceived as a one hit wonder but technically it isn't a one hit wonder. Nu Shooz was the husband and wife duo of John Smith and Valerie Day from Portland, OR. He wrote and produced all the songs and played guitar and keyboards. She did all the singing. Nu Shooz was a 12 piece band when they first formed in 1979. But after two independently released albums, it was reduced to seven members. At first Valerie played percussion but by 1983, she became the lead singer. I Can't Wait first appeared on the 1985 EP Tha's Right. When it became a regional hit in Oregon, they tried to get a record deal but were rejected. I Can't Wait made it to Europe where it was remixed by Dutch DJ Peter Slaghuis. It became a dance hit and then Nu Shooz signed with Atlantic Records. Then they recorded the album Poolside in early 1986. Smith wrote or co-wrote all the songs and he produced with his engineer Rick Waritz. Smooth Jazz pioneer Jeff Lorber played keyboards and co-wrote the arrangements. Lorber lived in Washington state at the time. The album Poolside was released in May 1986. I Can't Wait was a dance hit first but by Sept. 1986 it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 fueled by the music video in heavy rotation on MTV. The next single Point Of No Return also topped the dance charts and reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nu Shooz was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy. Poolside is available on CD but you can get I Can't Wait on this Rhino various artists budget comp. Nu Shooz' 1988 album Told U So did not sell and they recorded a third album that was never released and Atlantic dropped them. Nu Shooz reformed in 2007 as more of a jazz orchestra and they still tour mostly on the west coast. Their latest CD was released in 2012. Here's the video for I Can't Wait by Nu Shooz.