Nu Shooz

As you can see in the photo below, the Nu Shooz archive project is in full swing, taking over the art room in our house. It’s been humbling, this look in the rearview mirror. Look how young we were! How did the years fly by so fast? So many memories to sift through.

One of the memories that surfaced was tied to an envelope stuffed with reviews from our 1986 press junket in the U.K. As we shuffled through the stack, we remembered the first time we opened it, back in our kitchen on N.E. Broadway in Portland. The press clippings read like whiplash. Some were sweet. Some were savage. A few were… genuinely weird.

That story (and a couple current movie recommendations for music lovers) are in the Spring 2026 Nu Shooz newsletter. You can read the whole thing here: https://bit.ly/NS-April-News

If you want these little bits of news in your inbox, are you signed up yet? If not, hop on the list! Just head to our website and scroll down to the subscribe box. Tasty tidbits sent to your inbox quarterly. https://www.nushoozmusic.com/

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗱, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆… 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗱!

After Nu Shooz’s 1986 UK junket, we came home to a fat packet of press clippings.

Some were sweet. Some were savage. A few were… genuinely weird.

Artists get pelted with roses. Artists get pelted with rotten fruit.

One time, John got pelted with a 7-Up can (empty, thank goodness!).

We learned fast that reviews are not a measuring stick. They’re a mood with a byline.

Fame is strange, critics are cranky, and the only sane move is to keep making the thing.

So, if you’re making art, keep going, like we did!

You’ll find the full story here: https://bit.ly/nu-shooz-good-bad-ugly

We got a new little blaster for the studio. (HelloKitty!) Thought we’d try out one of our older cassettes on it to see how it would play. Miraculously, even though the cassette is over 40 years old, it didn’t break! Not bad! 😂

Four decades ago I Can’t Wait climbed to the #1 spot on the Billboard Dance charts. Thank you, DJs! Thank you, dancers! We’re still grateful!

Nu Shooz had the #1 dance song in the United States 40 years ago with “I Can’t Wait”. Let’s head back to the week of March 29, 1986 and check out the 20 biggest dance tracks in America.: 

It’s the Nu Shooz Winter news!

This month, we're taking you back to the summer of 1986 when "I Can't Wait" was climbing the charts worldwide. Atlantic Records whisked us off to Europe for a promotional tour—just the two of us, no band. We were jet-lagged, overwhelmed by our sudden fame, and unprepared for what we would find across the pond.

We appeared on over a dozen radio and TV shows in England, France, and Italy, including a little BBC thing called…TOP OF THE POPS.

Welcome to the pre-Internet era of rock stardom, where you could conquer Europe and have no clue you were doing it!

Read John's full story in the latest issue of our newsletter here: https://bit.ly/nu-shooz-news-nov-2025

Nu Shooz were tops on the U.S. Billboard Club Play (Dance) Chart on September 6, 1986 with “Point Of No Return”. Here are the Top 20 dance songs from this week 39 years ago back in 1986….

Welcome to your summer. Yes, it's finally here! And it's the 46th anniversary of the very first NuShooz gig. [Colonel Summer's Park, Portland, Oregon, June 21st, 1979.] What a different world that was; pre-internet, no smartphones or smart toasters, our President was the
benign Jimmy Carter, a gallon of gas was less than a buck (but you might have to wait in line), instead of GPS, we had these accordion maps you could never quite fold back up. A few of you are old enough to remember all that!

This month, John answers that perennial fan question about the making of 'I Can't Wait.'

And finally, we say farewell to some beloved musicians we lost recently.

Read all about it here: https://bit.ly/Nu-Shooz-News-Summer-25

Here's the latest featured FAN QUESTION:

Dear NU SHOOZ, can you talk about some difficult recording studio experiences?

Anthony

Tampa, FL

Hi there Anthony,

We’ve got three different experiences for you.

1. This doesn't come under the category of 'difficult,' but it was formative. When we recorded the original 'American' mix of "I Can't Wait," the audio engineer Fritz Richmond said, "Is this going to be a single?"

And we were like, "Single? What's that?"

He ended up cutting the intros and verses and "middle-8s" in half and made some breakdowns without which the famous version of "ICW" wouldn't have been possible. He did this by cutting up the 2" master tape with a razor blade on an editing block. There was no digital audio back then, and that's how it was done.

Fritz Richmond was this incredible, super-humble guy. You'd never know he was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene and actually started the whole 'granny glasses' thing. He never brought any of that up while we were recording - that's just the kind of person he was.

He’s deserving of a whole blog post of his own. Someday soon, we’ll write it.

2. We were down in L.A. at Sunset Sound Factory recording "Should I Say Yes." We couldn't get a vocal take that I liked better than the demo. Eventually we decided to use the vocal from the demo tape. The problem was the demo vocal was on 1/4" four track and the master was 2" 24 track. Also, they were running at slightly different speeds. And there was no time code. So we had the demo FedExed down from Portland, set up a machine, and 'flew in' the vocal one phrase at a time. To do this, Jeff Lorber marked a place on the demo tape with a grease pencil, played the master, and hit go on the other machine. It would take several attempts before it landed in the right place. We did the whole song like that.

3. At some point in the making of a record, we'd have to make a cassette and take it to the A&R department at the Label. The problem was the people at the label always had the crappiest stereos, and *no two cassette players ran at the same speed.* This was way before CDs or DATs. So we're sitting with whoever and the tape is either running too slow or too fast, quaaludes or helium, and everything sounds stupid.

There you go. Thanks for the question. There are so many more. Like the all-nighter I pulled for a band I was producing. Next day I found out it was the *wrong tune!* Like the pet rabbit who liked to chew on the cables and eventually died for his bad lifestyle choices.

All the best,

John R. Smith

Nu Shooz

P.S. For more Fan Questions and Nu Shooz Stories from back in the day, head on over to our website page: The Nu Shooz Chronicles: https://www.nushoozmusic.com/news

P.S.S. And if you made it this far and have a question or two of your own, please leave them in the comments below. See you next time!

Now, THIS is funky! 🤩

Parliament - Flash light ✖️New Shooz - I can’t wait