Nu Shooz

We just found out today about the passing of Jack Charles Meussdorfer, AKA ‘Jack Charles.’

Jack was an amazing man, a veritable ‘Jack of all trades.’ He was up on all the latest technology. He had a world-class recording studio in his house.

He had a really annoying Parrot.

Jack was the Lead Guitar player in the hit 80’s band Quarterflash.

Later, he started a couple of bands on his own. He was the first guy in town with sequencers, so he could play along with synth tracks, not an easy thing to pull off back in 1985. Jack made it all work. His band MIEN STREET, with the Linn Sisters on vocals and the phenomenal Gregg Williams on drums, made all of us Portland bands sit up and take notice.

Jack built complex MIDI racks for Nu Shooz in the early 90’s. He went on tour with us in ’92 when we played with Cheap Trick in Kansas, and he built me my first pedal board. Jack liked gear…and I think gear liked him back.

One of his goals was to collect everything in the Vox 1965 catalog.

And he did it.
The Mando Guitar.
The Combo Organ.

All of it.

And then…
Somehow
Jack secured the rights to manufacture Vox guitars himself.
He had them made in India.

I ordered a six-string Mando-guitar from him, tomato soup red.
The workmanship was amazing.
That was Jack.

How can I describe his sense of humor? What it was like to be in the room with the guy.
I can’t.
I just can’t

Bon Voyage Brother

JRS

It’s June 21, and we have a LOT to celebrate—the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day, and the 47th anniversary of our band. You can read all about it in our Nu Shooz Summer News: a little history from our very first gig (June 21, 1979), plus the father-and-son inspiration behind the song and our video for “Right Before My Eyes,” and a couple of fun recommendations for the kid in you—or the father in your life. (Check out Austin Kleon's new book, Don't Call It Art, and The Shoestring Circus, performing in the Pacific N.W.)

It’s the longest day of the year, so grab a bevy and head outside to read the whole thing. Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/nu-shooz-summer-news-2026 Enjoy!

John and I just realized that it’s been 10 whole years since we released the final Nu Shooz album, Bagtown. It was an incredible ride from start to finish — the bag city that formed in John’s studio, recording with some of our favorite musicians, the artwork our son Malcolm created for the album cover, and videos — made this one of our favorite projects ever.

Thank you to all our friends and family for making Bagtown possible through Pledgemusic. We couldn’t have done it without you!

For those of you who might have missed it, here’s the video for the title cut!

Nu Shooz Goes To Bagtown! For the story behind this video, read on!Valerie opened the utility room door and frowned. "These bags are getting out of hand." John rolled his eyes and sa...

As you can see in the photo below, the Nu Shooz archive project is in full swing, taking over the art room in our house. It’s been humbling, this look in the rearview mirror. Look how young we were! How did the years fly by so fast? So many memories to sift through.

One of the memories that surfaced was tied to an envelope stuffed with reviews from our 1986 press junket in the U.K. As we shuffled through the stack, we remembered the first time we opened it, back in our kitchen on N.E. Broadway in Portland. The press clippings read like whiplash. Some were sweet. Some were savage. A few were… genuinely weird.

That story (and a couple current movie recommendations for music lovers) are in the Spring 2026 Nu Shooz newsletter. You can read the whole thing here: https://bit.ly/NS-April-News

If you want these little bits of news in your inbox, are you signed up yet? If not, hop on the list! Just head to our website and scroll down to the subscribe box. Tasty tidbits sent to your inbox quarterly. https://www.nushoozmusic.com/

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗱, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆… 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗱!

After Nu Shooz’s 1986 UK junket, we came home to a fat packet of press clippings.

Some were sweet. Some were savage. A few were… genuinely weird.

Artists get pelted with roses. Artists get pelted with rotten fruit.

One time, John got pelted with a 7-Up can (empty, thank goodness!).

We learned fast that reviews are not a measuring stick. They’re a mood with a byline.

Fame is strange, critics are cranky, and the only sane move is to keep making the thing.

So, if you’re making art, keep going, like we did!

You’ll find the full story here: https://bit.ly/nu-shooz-good-bad-ugly

We got a new little blaster for the studio. (HelloKitty!) Thought we’d try out one of our older cassettes on it to see how it would play. Miraculously, even though the cassette is over 40 years old, it didn’t break! Not bad! 😂

Four decades ago I Can’t Wait climbed to the #1 spot on the Billboard Dance charts. Thank you, DJs! Thank you, dancers! We’re still grateful!

Nu Shooz had the #1 dance song in the United States 40 years ago with “I Can’t Wait”. Let’s head back to the week of March 29, 1986 and check out the 20 biggest dance tracks in America.: