"Old Shooz Get A Nu Start"
by Jonathan Nicholas/Portland Oregonian Friday, September 01, 2006"Twenty years ago, Valerie Day and John Smith were playing a Nu Shooz gig in Ashland the day Z100 first aired their single. "I Can't Wait" went on to hit No. 3 on the Billboard chart, spawning everything from a gold record to a tour with Tina Turner.
It also earned the Portland couple lifetime status as icons of big hair.
Still active in local music, the duo were back in the studio early this year for a 20th anniversary remake. And where were they this week when KINK first aired the single?"
"A Remix That Was Worth The Wait"
by Marty Hughley/Portland OregonianA REMIX THAT WAS WORTH THE WAIT
Portland Favorite Nu Shooz dusts off and updates it’s ’86 hit, ‘I Can’t Wait’
October 25, 2006
For Valerie Day and John Smith, the song “I Can’t Wait†was a big part of their past. And they’d assumed it would stay that way.
As the core of Nu Shooz, one of Portland’s most popular bands in the 1980’s, the couple rode the catchy pop/R&B song all the way to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart in 1986, a gold album award and a Grammy nomination. At the occasional low-key performances they’d done since disbanding the group, it was common for fans to ask them to play “I Can’t Waitâ€, but Day and Smith would decline. It wasn’t a song that would hold up, they felt, as something stripped down and simple.
But they played a small fund-raiser for Day’s niece’s school a year or so ago, just Day’s voice and Smith’s guitar, and faced the same request at the end of the night. “And for some weird reason, we looked at each other and said â€There’s hardly anybody here. Let’s do it,†Day recalled over a recent breakfast near their Northeast Portland home. “And it worked! It was very surprising.â€
Inspired, they decided to re-record the song, both to celebrate the 20th anniversary of it’s chart run and as an experiment in integrating their pop past with the romantic jazz approach Day has pursued on more recent projects. The new version was produced by Gregg Williams (who’s worked with the Dandy Warhols and Sheryl Crow) and features a sumptuous arrangement with acoustic bass, trumpet, vibes and cello. It’s a fresh sounding treat in it’s own right, as well as a reminder of the familiar hit’s enduring appeal.
The unplugged version is available as a digital download through iTunes and CDBaby.com and as a CD at Music Millennium stores. A listening party at Aura (1022 W. Burnside St.), from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. tonight, will feature autograph signings, vintage video, and even Smith trying his hand as D.J. A copy of the CD is included with the $5 cover charge.
Day and Smith even have assembled a new version of the band which will play for the variety show “Live Wire!†on November 16th at the Aladdin Theater (to air Nov. 25 on Oregon Public Broadcasting radio stations), and at the KINK Holiday Benefit on December 8 at the Roseland, with Feist and Jonny Lang. “I Can’t Wait†just might wind up a big part of the couple’s present and future.