Club Nouveau is back with new music, so “we be jammon, we be jammon” again, but why did they break up in the first place? They were at the height of their success when they did. Jay King (the founder of the group and owner of Jay Records) said they split up because in the late 80’s, they had major tension toward each other.
First off, the reason Club Nouveau was even formed was because Jay King (owner of their record label, Jay Records and founding member of Club Nouveau) produced the hit, “Rumors” for Timex Social Club, but he did not write the song, nor own the name of that group. “Rumors” was written by members, Marcus Thompson (founding member of Timex Social Club), Alex Hill and Michael Marshall.
After their #1 success, the members of Timex signed a record deal with another label without telling Jay, he was mad about that and had a ton of songs leftover, so he formed his own group, Club Nouveau, in 1986, which consisted of himself, Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy, Samuelle Prater, and Valerie Watson. That explains the similarities between both groups.
So how did things change so quickly though? Jay King said:
“I wanted to say what I wanted to say and I had the power to do so at that point. My contract had changed. Nobody could tell me anything. I could do anything I wanted to, I was in charge. Denzil and Thomas, who were my partners in production, felt like I was getting way too much credit and they were not getting their just due. So we started fighting with each other. Samuelle was friends with Denzil, so we both battled. When the group began to split, Samuelle went with the people he knew, Denzil and Thomas (who would go on to found EnVogue). Valerie went with the person she knew—which was me—because she was like my little sister. It was a tumultuous time for me.”
He further explained that the other guys started to distance themselves from him, including Benny Medina (who would go on to produce The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and who signed Club Nouveau to Warner Bros.). So Jay lost his music industry buddies for a while, but now that is changing.
He said this about the dangers of fame:
“A lot of what we as artists go through is stuff that we put ourselves through. Success is probably the most dangerous drug you can partake in. Success will give you power and access like you never had before and if you don’t know how to handle success, it can kill you. Fame is more powerful than cocaine and heroin.”
Jay’s analogy about fame and drugs is interesting and sadly, this is a story we here about groups all too often. Club Nouveau’s story is ending on a happy note though because…they’re BACK! check out one of their more recent ‘pre-pandemic era’ performances below and tell us if you think they’ve still got it.
As far as the members of Timex Social Club, we’ll be back with their side, because as the Old School saying goes: ‘There are two sides to every story.’ In the meantime, you can check out the founding member of Timex Social Club, Marcus Thompson’s book, “How Do Rumors Get Started”…he’s telling it all in that one!
