We'll be in Philadelphia, PA (8/1), Las Vegas, NV (8/7), and Stockton, CA (8/14) with our Freestyle Explosion pals, and in Portland for our last gig of the summer with our whole band at a benefit for the Special Olympics - The Bite of Oregon (8/8 at 7 PM) We've been trying to get to Las Vegas for years! So far, we've only been to the airport.
We've started a new video feature we call "Q&A with Valerie & John." We invited our Facebook friends to ask us ANYTHING.
Co-Hosting the 80s @8 Show on 106.7 The Eagle w/Jim E. Chonga
We had a great time co-hosting the 80s @8 on 106.7 The Eagle w/Jim E. Chonga (on the right.) It was fun to go in the way back machine AND talk to talk about the NOW of Nu Shooz. Great to meet Bubba too! (on the left)
For those of you who missed the show, check out the tasty conversational tidbits below!
Read moreIt Was 36 Years Ago TODAY
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Actually we have TWO dates to celebrate this month. TODAY, Sunday, June 21st is the 36th anniversary of the first Nu Shooz gig. You read that right. 36 years since that first show in 1979 at Colonel Sumners Park in Portland OR. Yup. We're a summer solstice baby! There were just four band members back then. (It would take another year before the Shoo-horns and I-Lets came on board.)
Also last week, we played Fresno, CA with the Freestyle Explosion Tour. Two years ago in Fresno was our first EVER performance on the tour that has taken us all over the U.S.. Nu Shooz has always had a soft spot for Fresno; friendly people, great crew. It was one of the best shows on the 1986 tour too.
NOW it's on to...
Read moreIt Takes A Universe
It's been interesting around here, a hundred projects going on at once. Carpenters are upstairs rebuilding the shower while downstairs we're working with our friend Mariecella on choreography for the horn section.
Somewhere on the other side of town the finishing touches are being applied to our "nu" website by a guy named Daniel Webb (really - you can't make this stuff up!) and Tim Simpson is building a synth-guitar system so we can trigger piano sounds from a six string.
We have a summer-ful of shows coming up and a million details to attend to; costumes, charts, drum heads, wires, vans....Whoever said it takes a village was only partly right.
It takes a universe.
Read moreCan you believe it's 2015?
That sounds like something out of Star Trek or Star Wars, or...Dancing with the Stars! Weren't we supposed to have flying cars by now?
It's only January, but 2015 is already shaping up to be a fun year. Once again, we'll be appearing with our 80's pals on the Super Freestyle Explosion Tour. Miami, Boston, San Jose, and Fresno are already confirmed.
Read moreHappy Holidays!
May your holidays be bright! Much love to all...
November Shows
If you’re in Oregon, you can catch the reunited Nu Shooz Band twice in November. We’ll be in Sheridan, OR at the Monroe Events Center on November 8th and at Jimmy Mak’s in Portland on Saturday, November 15, for TWO shows - one at 7:30 PM and one at 10:00 PM. The band features Nu Shooz alumni Gary Fountain on bass, Tracey Harris, Margaret Linn, and Haley Horsfall on vocals, Johnny Riley on drums, and the Shoo Horns Paul Mazzio and Tim Jensen performing songs from 'Poolside' through 'Kung Pao Kitchen.' Hope to see you there!
September News 2014
Our summer shows in Oregon were a BLAST! The best part was laying down the groove with some of our favorite NU SHOOZ alumni. The other best part was the people who showed up and gave us massive doses of LOVE. Thank you band for working so hard. Thank you audience for keeping the music alive. It couldn't happen without you.
Read moreA Story About a Dad, Two Boys, a Giant Caterpillar and a NU SHOOZ Orchestra Video
Happy Father's Day! In honor of the occasion - we'd like to tell you a story about a father and son and how our new video came to be...
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Malcolm.
Read moreNu Shooz and director Jim Blashfield talk about “I Can’t Wait”
When citing examples of music video directors with signature looks, names like Anton Corbijn or Matt Mahurin jump out, but the unfortunately overlooked genius in this club must be Jim Blashfield. Creating a trademark visual sensibility with just a handful of videos, the Oregon native created dreamlike fantasies with a cut-out xerographic animation style that reveals a gentle magic hiding the ordinary — strangely devilish garage-sale travelogues, if you will. Jim’s artisan videos, which embrace both texture and perspective, include Talking Heads’ “And She Was,” Paul Simon’s “Boy in the Bubble,” Tears for Fears’ “Sowing the Seeds of Love” and Michael Jackson’s wildly self-effacing “Leave Me Alone.” His most visually-trippy grab bag of kitchen sink mischief, though, is his clip for Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait” from their album Poolside. The video he created for his fellow Portlanders, Valerie Day and John Smith, helped propel the duo’s inescapably catchy hit into pop history — and also into the still-curious minds of video music fans everywhere.
I spoke to Jim recently about his career, and he shared his experience on creating this amazing piece of filmmaking:
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