Samuelle & Val - The Whole Story You know the voices. You know the songs. Now it’s time you know the names of the voices that have quintessentially defined the sound of the 80’s R&B group Club Nouveau.  The saga began in 1986 with the release of “Rumors” by Timex Social Club, but it wouldn’t be until months later, after a faction of the group splintered off, formed Club Nouveau and released their debut single “Jealousy”, that you would be introduced to the voices of Samuelle Prater and Val Watson.  Native to the bay area in Northern California, Samuelle and Val didn’t meet until their first session together to record the Life, Love and Pain album. Sam had recently graduated high school and Val was a senior at Stanford University. It took that one session, under the production savvy of Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy (En Vogue, Tony Toni Tone), for their fates to be decided. These would be the voices forever tied to a distinctive brand of 80’s R&B. Samuelle and Val are the original and featured vocalists on all of Club Nouveau’s greatest hits: “Jealousy”, “Situation #9”, “Why You Treat Me So Bad”, and of course the Bill Withers classic, “Lean On Me”. This go-go inspired cover garnered the group a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1987. It reached #1 on the Billboard Pop/Dance chart and stayed there for weeks, as well as charting #2 on the R&B chart. Internationally recognized and primarily responsible for the group’s success, “Lean On Me” was not the group’s only chart topping hit. The first single, “Jealousy” also landed a top ten Billboard spot and was featured on the soundtrack for the Warner Brothers film, Modern Girls. The haunting “Why You Treat Me So Bad” reached #2 on the R&B charts and has proven its staying power by periodically re-emerging back into the public’s consciousness, transformed and re-imagined; most notably in the hit single “I Got 5 On It” by the hip-hop duo Luniz, as well as being a featured motif in the creepy Jordan Peele movie “Us”. Aside from being part of a chart topping group, both Samuelle and Val have released solo projects. Samuelle released an album on Atlantic Records entitled “Living in Black Paradise”. The album reached #37 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and imprinted listeners with the infectious refrain “Get with the program!” on the hit single “So You Like What You See”. Val Watson released the critically acclaimed project “Urbal”, featuring collaborations with R&B/Soul legends George Clinton, Con-Funk-Shun, and Bootsy Collins. So now you know their names: Samuelle and Val - The Voices of Club Nouveau. These are the voices you remember; from the boomboxes in your homes, the radios in your cars to the dance floor at the club. Remember? Pump it, pump it up…pump it up homeboy just like that! For media and booking, contact: EM: SamuelleandVal@gmail.com PH: 510-253-7776