Life, Love & Pain in Bloomington, MN

The funky,
dance
-oriented
R&B
act
Club Nouveau
stormed onto the musical scene in late 1986 with
Life, Love, & Pain
. Half the songs on this eight-title set received some form of airplay, but none matched the success of their lighthearted,
reggae
/
hip-hop
remake of the
Bill Withers
classic
"Lean on Me,"
which topped the
American pop
charts for two weeks in 1987. The follow-up,
"Why You Treat Me So Bad,"
only peaked at number 39 on the
pop
charts (but fared much better on the
charts), yet has enjoyed an equally long (if not longer) shelf life. By the end of the '90s,
"Why You Treat Me So Bad"
had already been sampled into two of the decade's biggest
hits:
"I Got Five on It"
by
Luniz
and
"Satisfy You"
Puff Daddy
R. Kelly
. The album also featured
"Jealousy,"
which was a remake/answer song to
Timex Social Club
's 1986 Top Ten hit
"Rumours,"
and the
hit
"Situation #9."
The album closes with
"Pump It Up,"
which is a reprise of
"Lean on Me."
never again came close to matching the success of this album or its singles. There are a few compilations on
, but to capture the spirit of the band at their best, go with
. ~ Jose F. Promis