Nu Shooz

Not to be confused with New Shoes.

Nu Shooz
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres	Latin freestyle, R&B
Years active	1979–1992; 2007–present
Labels	Atlantic Poolside
Website	www.nushoozmusic.com

Nu Shooz is an American Freestyle-R&B-Dance group fronted by husband-and-wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day, based in Portland, Oregon. The Shooz released four albums in the U.S. during the 1980s, and it was its third album, Poolside, that brought the group's sound to a wider audience.

Career

Nu Shooz originally released the single "I Can't Wait" in Portland in April 1985 on Poolside Records. The original recording was done at Cascade Recording in Portland in the fall of 1984. "I Can't Wait" was a big hit on Portland radio stations at the time, but they were turned down by every major label. A copy of the song made it to the Netherlands, where it was remixed by Peter Slaghuis. This version is known as the 'Dutch Mix.' The remix came back into the United States as an import on Dutch label Injection Records. It was this version that got the attention of Atlantic Records, which signed the band to a contract in January 1986.

Nu Shooz scored two major pop / R&B / dance hits. "I Can't Wait" climbed to #2 on the R&B charts and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 1986 and spent 15 weeks in the Top 40, and it also hit #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart earlier that year. Its follow-up, "Point Of No Return", was remixed by Shep Pettibone and also topped the dance chart in September 1986; the song peaked at #28 on the Hot 100 and #35 on the R&B charts. Both singles were on the album Poolside, which charted on Billboard's 200 chart at #27, and sold a half million copies in the U.S., garnering gold record RIAA certification on October 2, 1986.

In 1987, Nu Shooz was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best New Artist category, based on its breakthrough success the previous year. The group lost to Bruce Hornsby & the Range; the other nominees that year were Glass Tiger, Simply Red, and Timbuk3. In 1988, the band released the album Told 'U' So, which had its final chart entries to date: "Should I Say Yes?" hit #17 on the R&B charts and #41 on the Hot 100, while the track "Are You Lookin' For Somebody Nu" topped out at #2 on the dance charts. The album itself peaked on the Billboard 200 to #93. A third album for Atlantic, titled 'Eat & Run', was recorded but never released.

In 2007, Smith and Day reformed the group as the Nu Shooz Orchestra, which featured a more cinematic approach. The band released an album, Pandora's Box in 2010, and continues to perform.

Discography

Studio Albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions			Certifications (sales threshold)
		US	CAN	UK
Can't Turn It Off	Release date: 1982 Label: Nebula Circle	—	—	—
Tha's Right	Release date: 1985 Label: Poolside Records	—	—	—
Poolside	Release date: May 5, 1986 Label: Atlantic Records	27	16	32	US: Gold
Told U So	Release date: March 28, 1988 Label: Atlantic Records	93	—	—
Pandora's Box	Release date: June 10, 2010 Label: NSO Music LLC.	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions					Album
		US	US Dance	US R&B	CAN	UK
1986	"I Can't Wait"	3	1	2	1	2	Poolside
	"Point of No Return"	28	1	36	23	48
	"Don't Let Me Be the One"	—	39	—	—	—
1988	"Should I Say Yes"	41	—	17	—	—	Told U So
	"Are You Lookin' for Somebody Nu"	—	2	—	—	—
1992	"Time Will Tell"	—	—	—	—	—	Eat & Run (unreleased)
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Other releases

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

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• Music of Oregon

References

• The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition - 1996

External links

• Nu Shooz - Official website
• Valerie Day - Valerie Day's official website