I Can't Wait (Nu Shooz song)

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B-side"Make Your Mind Up"
ReleasedFebruary 1986
Length
  • 5:25 (album version)
  • 3:38 (single/dutch mix)
"I Can't Wait"
Front cover of 1986 US reissue (Atlantic)
Single by Nu Shooz
from the album Tha's Right and Poolside
B-side"Make Your Mind Up"
ReleasedFebruary 1986
Genre
Length
  • 5:25 (album version)
  • 3:38 (single/dutch mix)
LabelAtlantic
SongwriterJohn Smith
Producers
  • John Smith
  • Rick Waritz
Nu Shooz singles chronology
"I Can't Wait"
(1986)
"Point of No Return"
(1986)
Music video
"I Can't Wait" on YouTube
Back cover
Back cover of 1986 US reissue (Atlantic)
Back cover of 1986 US reissue (Atlantic)

"I Can't Wait" is a song by American group Nu Shooz, included on the band's second album, Tha's Right (1985).[3] The song was remixed by Dutch DJ and producer Peter Slaghuis: this remixed version is the one that appears on the group's 1986 album, Poolside.

In the United States, the remixed version of the song reached number one on the Billboard Dance/Disco Club Play chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom and West Germany, the song reached number two, while in Canada, it peaked at number one. The single returned to the Billboard charts in 2015, where it peaked at number 17 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Songs chart.[4]

Instrumentalist John Smith would try to write songs in batches of 10 and have two a week ready for rehearsals in Portland, Oregon. He bought a new Teac-3440 4-track recorder in 1983, and "I Can't Wait" was one of the first songs he recorded on it. He scribbled out the lyrics in fifteen minutes as the band was loading up gear to go to rehearse it, and his wife, singer Valerie Day, approved.[5]

Critical reception

John Leland's writeup in a Spin magazine column wrote about the single, saying: "You can listen to this record as many times as you want and still not have any strong impressions that human beings actually made it. In other words, it's the perfect disco record."[6]

Music video

The music video was directed by Jim Blashfield. It contains animations and has a hint of the very surreal. The plot has Valerie Day singing the song sitting at a desk, repairing a coffeepot, while tools and other oddities pass into the frame and out again. Her dog sits nearby, wearing sunglasses.

Personnel

According to the liner notes for the Tha's Right album:[3]

  • Valerie Day- lead vocals, congas, percussion
  • John Smith- guitars
  • Mark Bosnian- keyboards, vocals
  • Danny Schauffler- tenor saxophone
  • Lewis Livermore- trumpet
  • Gary Fountaine- bass guitar
  • Peter K. Williams- drums
  • Shannon Day, Lori Lamphear-Rosenfeld- backing vocals
  • Nate Phillips- Moog bass

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[33] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Silver 250,000^
United States (RIAA)[35] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Cover version and samples

See also

References

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