Customer Reviews

Poolside

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unless you lived the 80's you probably won't get it. Yes it sounds dated, yes there is filler, yes its mostly fluff. BUT my girlfriend (now my wife)and our friends used to hang out together in '86 and this record (LP) was in heavy in our rotation. I Can't Wait and Point of No Return were all over the radio. You heard those songs everywhere you went. For me all these songs take me back to that time. This album really has that definitive '80s sound, even the band name: "Nu Shooz" came from the '80s. If nothing else pick it up and put it in your time capsule. They're not making sounds like this anymore, which is probably a good thing, but for me it will always have a special place.

I enjoy this CD very much. It's been about 10 years since I first heard "Point of No Return" for the 1st time and it has stuck in my mind since. The rest of the CD just flows. "Don't Let Me Be The One" is a great vocal song, one with high energy. Yes, there is one or two they could have cut from the final production, but overall, it's the reason I'm purchasing it again since I lent it to a friend and never got it back!

Valerie Day and husband John Smith rode the whirlwind of their 80's pop success to its logical end, and wound up right where they began: as beloved local music stars here in their home town of Portland, Oregon. Valerie is now performing jazz standards with other notable locals including the Woody Hite Big Band, Tom Grant, Big Horn Brass and others. She's also very active in promoting/supporting arts programs in the schools, and is a founder of Artists for the Arts (www.artistsforthearts.org). I think John is still arranging and producing most of Valerie's recordings.

Although I bought this CD for "I Can't Wait," the other tracks possess that pure, upbeat disco sound that almost make me long for the '80s.

Nu Shooz broke out with "I Can't Wait", but I have always favored the follow-up single but not as big hit "Point of No Return". There a few other memorable songs like "I Lost Your Number" and "Don't Let me be the One", and it is glossy pop with a little funk tossed in, but I think the fact Jeff Lorber was a Producer and added his own keyboard and synth touches is what makes this cd very good and worth a listen.

you will want to listen to poolside by the pool.the songs i can't wait,point of no return,lost your number,don't let me be the one,and don't be afraid will be fun to listen while laying by the pool. when you go to the pool,don't forget your sunblock,sunglasses,portable cd player,and nu shooz poolside cd have a nice summer. ed wilson

This is a back in the day song, which was quite popular; great to dance to, but I use it for when I do my walking exercise. It is just a great CD.

For years now I've been listening to this song called "I Can't Wait",a great piece of 80's dance funk with a great crunchy bass line and inventive melodic exchanges. And honestly...I wasn't at all surprised to discover about this album shortly thereafter. And that both Jeff Lorber and 80's dance mix master Shep Pettibone were both involved in the production of this album. The presence of that excellent cut and the production credits gave me the impression that this would be a truly great lost classic of the mid 80's. And a funky one at that. Aside from that hit,this album isn't honestly that big on funky music. It's more high octane poppy dance music. But it's certainly not hard to see how songs like "Point Of No Return","Going Through The Motions" and "Lost Your Number" wouldn't become easy dance floor shakers of that era.

Honestly?Unless your major interest is fairly by-the-numbers mid 80's dance/pop numbers this album in it's entirety. The song "I Can't Wait" is so inventive,uniquely grooving and composed that you'd think it would be part of one of the most amazing albums of it's era. This is definitely not an album project in any formal sense though. It's a collection of songs kind of put out there to see what songs would hit on radio and MTV and what wouldn't. That doesn't take any of my impressions of Nu Shooz being an extremely talented duo who were under the guidance of a talented production team. I think some of the mid 80's sales ethic got to them a little bit here. And even though the type of dance music featured here is far,far more inventive than much of what's being done today,it wasn't so much for it's time. Their music of the near future to this would find things on a very different level and provide a better opportunity for more "headphone" style music fans to come to appreciate their talents.

As a native of Oregon I enjoyed Nu Shooz as a kid in high school. I am proud that they are from Portland Oregon, I only live about an hour outside the city. Point of no return is my favorate. What bums me is that Amazon is the only place that I can find the CD I-tunes doesn't even carry "poolside".

While Nu Shooz's single "I Can't Wait" seemed to be the big single from Poolside, it was "Point Of No Return" that was the best song on the album.

In fact "I Can't Wait" gets a little repetitive for it's own good near the end of the track. {Samples are fun, but don't get carried away.} `heard some folks like to sample the samples ;-)

This was released on CD in 1986, and re-released in 1990.
I'm not sure if there has been any remastering on the 2nd pressing.

2 OTHER tracks you'll wanna spin are "Don't Let Me Be The One" and
the opening song "Lost Your Number." This is fun pop that isn't a total Freestyle recording, as some consider Nu Shooz a freestyle group. Shep Pettibone helped on this project as producer and remixer.