How was 1986 forty years ago? This is the first in a series of essays about THE perfect songs from that long ago spring.

Blackwell Hall on the Circle of William Smith College. Some fun was had here!

I Can’t Wait by Nu Shooz is THE perfect song. That distinctive bass and hand clap is unmistakable. When I hear it I can’t help but get funky with my bad self. And it takes me right back to one of the most soul charging seasons in my life- the spring of 1986. I cannot believe that it was forty years ago. In honor of that long ago spring, and the memories associated with it, I’m digging into the perfect songs from the spring of1986 and I Can’t Wait is the first.

Nu Shooz was a Portland, Oregon band formed in 1979 by husband and wife John Smith and Valerie Day and originally twelve other members. Smith says he was inspired by the bassline in Grandmaster Flash’s The Message as well as surf beats and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for the funk. I Can’t Wait was originally released in 1985 and garnered airplay on Portland radio but failed to get the attention of a major record label until it was remastered by a Dutch DJ and record producer. It was re-released and became known as the Dutch mix. This version caught the attention of Atlantic Records which signed the group in early 1986 and the song was included on the album Poolside.

I Can’t Wait is the perfect amalgamation or synchronicity or fusion or whatever you want to call of older analog recording equipment and instruments and the emergence and domination of synthesizers- so very, very 80s. And the video is delicious mid 80s perfection- the outfits, the hair, the graphics- everything screams 1986!

When I hear this song, I am transported to Geneva, New York, springtime- which if you live in upstate NY you know spring takes a long time to arrive, and when it does it makes people literally delirious. I was delirious that spring, in lust with a blond Hobart Lacrosse player who was, well, a player. I could not believe that he might have a thing for me. Boy was that fun. I transferred to Hobart and William Smith as a sophomore in September 1985 and it took me most of that year to feel like I had a place, like I fit in. Finally, when the weather broke that spring, I felt like a whole different person. It was magical. I was in a haze, I felt dreamy and light and airy. Have you ever experienced something like that? Where you felt like you were shedding past versions of yourself? Whenever I hear this groovy song I teleport to those heady, hazy days and feel so happy. And for those reasons, I Can’t Wait by Nu Shooz is the perfect song.

Was I a prep or a hippie? Or just a girl wanting to have some fun?

You can watch all my THE PERFECT SONG vids on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@SFB66