Burning The Ground Exclusive 1987
“Why You Treat Me So Bad?” is a 1987 single by Club Nouveau from their 1986 album Life, Love & Pain. The basic melodic hook of the song is taken from a hit by Club Nouveau member Jay King’s previous project as producer, Timex Social Club (namely, the song “Thinkin’ About Ya”).
The song has been sampled several times by other musicians. Hip-hop duo Luniz interpolated the music on their hit single “I Got 5 on It”; that song was then sampled by Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs, on his hit single, “Satisfy You”; as well as “I Like It” by Mr. Capone-E and “I Know” by Yo Gotti. Singer Ashanti sampled the song for her hit single “Only U” and Jennifer Lopez on “I’m Gonna Be Alright”.
No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani cited the song for recording her solo debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., after she listened to it while the band was on tour.
“Why You Treat Me So Bad?” reached #2 on the Billboard R&B Chart, #22 (Dance), and #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.
SIDE A:
Why You Treat Me So Bad (Club Mix) 7:50
Why You Treat Me So Bad (Radio Edit) 5:36
SIDE B:
Why You Treat Me So Bad (Ultimate Nouveau Mix) 9:06
Engineer [Mix] – John Morales
Engineer [Overdubs] – Peter Sturge
Producer [Additional], Remix [Mixes] – John Morales And Sergio Munzibai
Tracking By [Keyboard Overdubs] – David “Jaz” Grant, John Morales
Why You Treat Me So Bad (LP Version) 5:08
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Why You Treat Me So Bad | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #39 |
| 1987 | Why You Treat Me So Bad | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #222 |
| 1987 | Why You Treat Me So Bad | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop | #2 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Tommy Boy – TB 895, King Jay Records – TB 895
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Funk, Swingbeat, Contemporary R&B
CREDITS:
- Engineer – Dave Houston*
- Engineer [Mix] – Steve Counter
- Executive-Producer – Benny Medina
- Illustration – Mary Kelleher Smith
- Layout, Design – Steve Miglio*
- Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Samuelle Prater, Valerie Watson
- Mastered By – Herb Powers, Jr.*
- Vocals, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Producer, Arranged By, Mixed By – Denzil Foster, Jay King, Thomas Mc Elroy*
- Written-By – D. Foster*, J. King*, T. McElroy*
NOTES:
Produced, arranged, and mixed for 2 Tuff-E-Nuff Productions.
Additional production and mixes for Another M+M Production, Inc.
Recorded at Moon Studio, Sacramento, CA.
Mixed at Starlight Studios, Richmond, CA.
Remix mixed at Quad Recording Studios, New York.
Mastered at Frankford-Wayne, NYC.
Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!
Password: burningtheground
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Thank you Paul!! This is such a great jam with a similar rhythm to their monster hit, Lean On Me. While the latter was completely deserving of all the attention, it’s good to know this one reached #2 on the Billboard R&B Chart. Thanks for your pristine transfer. And by the way I do remember Lean On Me being played EVERYWHERE!
You’re welcome, Retro Hound. I agree with you that “Lean On Me” was a great cover version that deserved its praise 🙂
I prefered “Rumors” of Timex Social Club to all of CN´s output. What’s more important in the Luniz song and subsquent connections? “Thinkin’ About Ya” or “Why You Treat Me So Bad?”
Paul! AMAZING! Thank you so much for this post! I am SO happy. I loved Lean On Me, Why You Treat Me So Bad, and Jealousy. And it seems that time has often forgotten this group. Thanks for sharing. I am going to enjoy this one!
You’re welcome. They had some great singles that have been overlooked due to the popularity of “Lean On Me”. I might have a couple more of their singles. 🙂
Awesome! Thank you!!!
You can already hear in these 2 Tuff E-nuff produtions that something new was bubbling up in Soul/Funk/Hip Hop, culminating in the birth of New Jack Swing late ’87, exploding on the scene in ’88.
Thanks for sharing this gem in your meticulous quality, Paul.
peace,
dj
You’re welcome, dj. They were pioneers of that genre. 🙂
Interesting post! Of course I remember the group but I do not recall this song! And of course I have the 12” of Rumours!
Thanks
I posted Rumors a while back which is Times Social Club.
Exactly 👍😃 classic 12” and thanks gain for the pristine rip and time saved! 🤩
Thank you! Man, I loved their song “Lean On Me” in that time period but had forgotten this one.
You’re welcome, Grant. 🙂
super merci
You’re welcome 🙂
Thank you, Paul! Although I wasn’t as familiar with this song like their monster hit, “Lean On Me”, I’m so happy you’ve decided to spotlight this track instead. I am thoroughly looking forward to hearing the various mixes on this 12-inch!
Jeff
This one and “Jealousy” are jams 🙂
Oh My!! Yes, “Jealousy”!! Heard that one at the Frat house in college and never forgot it!! And, of course, “Lean On Me”!! That was an awesome cover version.
I also had to comment on the quality of your post. Tommy Boy was one of my favorite labels in the 1980’s however, their pressing quality I was so disappointed in. Not everything, but a lot. You have such pristine pressings, Paul. If you have any TKA singles, that would be great. AND!!! I would love “Planet Rock” the instrumental. John Robie did Kraftwerk proud on that mix!!
Jeff
Luniz’ “I Got 5 on It” is definitely in my top 10 Hip Hop songs of all time (and I love the Drum & Bass remixes), so it’s hard for me to appreciate this song for the wonderful gem that it is (my mind immediately goes to Luniz, when the main hook kicks in). I’m excited to check out the remixes, as I’ve never heard them before. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I know a lot of people like to hate on “LEAN ON ME” by Club Nouveau, but I’ve always loved their version. Obviously, Bill withers had an inimitably soulful… Read more »
I am not familiar with any of the songs listed in my write-up that sampled this song because I am hopelessly stuck in the 80s lol 🙂
I’m right there with you Paul… and happily I might add.
I may be old, but unlike most of my friends my age, I’m not stuck in the ’60s. Imagine trying to catch up with 35 years of music since the eighties! Sure, not all of it is great, but same with the sixties output as well. I’m really into music discovery so I don’t miss something great and find out about it decades later. Just sayin’ DJ Paul…
It’s hard to get past the 80s! Music definitely peaked in that decade after 4 decades of Rock experimentation and the invention of the commercially available synthesizer. Music exploded into all the various sub-genres, but it really hasn’t evolved much since then. You can play a dance or pop song from the 90s and kids would believe it’s from today. By contrast, when you listened to a song from the 60s or 70s in the 80s, you definitely knew it was from that era.