I recently learned that Nu Shooz, makers of the eternal black food jam “I Can’t Wait”, is a white duo from Oregon

One of my favorite songs to hearken to at almost any event where Black people gather is “I Can’t Wait” by Nu Shooz. I’m 45 years old and this song has been a part of my life for so long as I can remember. I’ve heard it at family reunions, cookouts, graduation parties, etc. I guess because I’ve only heard it at Black events (and for a while, all Black events), I assumed it was written by Black people—probably from Detroit.

So you’ll be able to imagine my surprise when I came upon about it, perhaps last 12 months, No, Shooz are a white husband-and-wife duo from Portland, Oregon. They join the list of white groups (this may increasingly require an asterisk) who’ve made music so ubiquitous in the black community that many of us either didn’t know it or never checked to see in the event that they were actually black. If this group of artists had a president, it will be Bobby Caldwell. There are still individuals who discover he’s white, and it tickles my fancy each time. To be clear, the race of the artists doesn’t matter; checking out that Nu Shooz are white doesn’t change my feelings about the song or them. I love “I Can’t Wait” and can play it anytime I get the likelihood or when I’m in the mood. It’s just fun.

What’s even funnier is that there is a music video for “I Can’t Wait,” but because it was released in 1986 — before I knew that songs apart from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” had music videos, and long before I had any idea where to observe them — I never saw it until I was 40. A song that I grew up with and has been in my life for about 40 years now has a music video, and since I rarely, if ever, return and take a look at music videos from the ’80s, I had no idea.

That’s how I made this discovery. I listened to “I Can’t Wait” and realized I knew nothing about this group. I didn’t know if it was a band. I didn’t know where they got here from, and I also realized that I couldn’t name one other song from them if my life trusted it. I searched the group and got here across them Wiki pagewhich doesn’t have their picture, but of course gives their names (John Smith and Valerie Day) and place of origin: Portland, Oregon.

PORTLAND, OREGON????????!!

I do not know much about Portland, but I definitely think of black people or black musicians (hi, Esperanza Spalding!) when I hear Portland. So I went on YouTube to see if there have been any videos of them and BOOM – the entire video for “I Can’t Wait” with a white woman singing all the parts that I assumed a black woman would sing. I’m not saying Valerie Day feels like Teena Marie, but I really never thought or considered that she was white because that song was at all times played at black parties, and typically songs by black individuals are played at black parties.

Of course, once I found this data, I needed to ask my friends in the event that they knew and shockingly, yes, most of my friends did. There were a few individuals who, like me, had never considered it and since that they had heard it in similar places as I had, they made the same assumption I did. But a lot more people than I realized had seen the movie and I was in my 40s watching it for the first time. Thanks to my musical knowledge and enthusiasm, a few of my buddies had a good laugh at my discovery.

So yes, at my age I’ve learned something that a lot of people already knew. I cannot wait until it happens next time. I know you see what I did then. I’ll get out.