THE “KING” OF CLUB NOUVEAU

Catching Up With Jay King

By Contributing Writer, Donna Michele Ramos

THE HUB is doing a follow-up interview with the infamous Jay King of Club Nouveau who is a BUSY man. Aside from making music and touring, Mr. King is a talk show host, manager/booking agent, and president of the California Black Chamber of Commerce.

THE HUB: You and Club Nouveau have been going strong since 1986. You’ve welcomed new members Tirza Hubbard and J Ali. Looking at all of your hits, between “Why You Treat Me So Bad?” “Rumors,” “Jealousy,” and “Situation Number 9,” which song is your favorite to perform?

MR. KING: It’s hard to say. The audience response has a lot to do with it. “Situation Number 9” is a cool song because of the audience response. So is “I’ve Got Five On It.” We close out the show with “Lean On Me.”

THE HUB: March and April of this year you performed in New Mexico and Detroit. In July you’ll be performing in Georgia. Will you be touring in California anytime soon?

MR. KING: Yes, we’ll be in Sacramento June 17 during the Juneteenth celebration. We will be performing outside of the Guild Theater. We were in Folsom May 13, Las Vegas May 26 and Tulsa May 27.

THE HUB: You won a grammy for “Lean on Me.” Where do you keep it?

MR. KING: I don’t know where anything is. I wasn’t into it like that. I am more into making music than accolades. Our awards are in storage. I do have a “Lean On Me” gold record in my office.

THE HUB: You released Consciousness in 2015. Are there any new projects you can tell us about?

MR. KING: I worked on solo stuff. The new Club

Nouveau song is called “It’s Alright” and it will be released in June or July.

THE HUB: What was the defining moment for you that made you think, I did it! I definitely have a future in this business.

MR. KING: When people start buying your records and come to see you in concert. You thank God you got the opportunity. There are lots of people way more talented that don’t get to do what I do. Our first album was released by Warner Brothers and it went gold.

THE HUB: Is there anything you haven’t done yet musically that you would like to explore?

MR. KING: I’d like to do a project with all the groups in Sacramento. To get together and create a unity song like, “We Are the World.” Put money into a fund to help young people who want to do music or need scholarships. There are lots of great musicians in Sacramento. I want to create a whole organization around it. First, I’d like to do another big 50 to 60 city tour before retiring; that would probably last 4 to 5 months. Now we’re just doing singles, I want to make one last Club Nouveau album.

After the album we’d go back to making singles. Next, I would love to tour with Charlie Wilson and Anderson Paak. Being a special guest to a big-name artist would be cool. We can travel light because we’re under nine people. I want people to hear new music; they’ll be surprised and like what we’re doing.

CLUB NOUVEAU is an American R&B group formed by record producer/ performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group’s name (French for “Club New”) was changed from its original incarnation, “Jet Set”, to capitalize on the breakup. The group was signed by Warner Bros. Records, on which Club Nouveau released its first three albums. Club Nouveau’s go-go version of Bill Withers’s song “Lean on Me” won a Grammy award for Best R&B Song in 1987. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Nouveau.

As a veteran mogul JAY KING brings as much humility to the field as he does what has been called his genius. With three decades of continuous achievements in music, management, film/TV/radio, consulting and publishing; King has made an indelible impression. He claims Northern California in general (Sacramento, Vallejo, San Francisco, Oroville) as his hometown due to a nomadic youth spent between many of the Bay Area’s cities; as well as Alaska for birthing his career.

As his music and connections continued to develop, he found himself writing songs for Con Funk Shun whose members, Michael Cooper and Felton Pilate, encouraged King against the detractors who at the time didn’t like his sound. In 1986, King starting the independent record label JAY Records to release the Timex Social Club hit ‘Rumors’ and ushered in the biggest selling single of 1986 (3.5 million copies) and becoming the #1 R&B single on the Billboard Charts. With a Top 10 single on the Billboard Pop charts for over 56 weeks, King watched his life change as his music became an unprecedented hit.

Because of its position as an indie manufacturer with no association to a major label. Such moves from a 24 year old entrepreneur made the year 1986 even more memorable, as he quickly followed up with a label/production deal with Warner Brother Records and his King Jay Records label, subsequently releasing the first Club Nouveau single ‘Jealousy’ and the album, ‘Life, Love & Pain’. After ‘Jealousy’ went to #8 on the Billboard

R&B charts in September of 1986, followed by ‘Situation #9’ (#4 Billboard R&B charts), 1987 came in with an even bigger bang when ‘Lean On Me’ was released in February and became #1 Billboard Pop/#2 Billboard R&B platinum single, winning a Grammy for R&B Song of The Year.

Jay King continues to do his morning radio talk show “Kings In The Morning” (11years running) Monday thru Friday from 8 to 10 am PST at www. thejaykingnetwork.com, he’s also an on air radio personality doing a drive time radio show playing classic R&B music at 97.5fm a terrestrial radio station in Sacramento Tuesday thru Thursday 3-7 pm PST it can also be heard at www. kdeefm.org .

The founder of the CALBCC Aubrey Stone passed away last November after a battle with cancer, Jay King took the reins on June 24, 2019. Mr. King was voted in as CEO by the board of directors and has taken the post in a permanent capacity. He hopes to expand on Stone’s vision and strengthen the organization’s connections with the chambers of commerce for other ethnic groups.

Jay King acts as Manager/Booking Agent for Cameo, Club Nouveau and Larry Dunn. For more information contact: 818-518-8062 n

Check out Club Nouveau: Saturday, June 17, 2023, in front of The Guild Theater, 2828 5th Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95817 at the Juneteenth Block Party.

The Jay King Show, www.thejaykingnetwork.com or listen by phone 515-605-9376.