Songoftheday 7/19/15 - You told me that you'd never hurt me girl you just tore my life apart, tell me baby why'd you do it won't you bring me back my heart...

"Why You Treat Me So Bad?" - Club Nouveau
from the album Life, Love & Pain (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 1

Today's SOTD comes from the R&B group Club Nouveau, whose leader/producer Jay King rose from the ashes of the Timex Social Club to score a #1 hit pop single with their proto-new jack swing cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me". Their next 7" release was an original, a moody, melancholy heartbreak piece called "Why You Treat Me So Bad?". Written by King with member musicians Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy, lead singers Samuelle Prater and Valerie Watson-English traded off verses of deceit providing the shadow image of their previous hit...

"Why You Treat Me So Bad?" became the Club's second and most recent top-40 pop hit in July of 1987. The record did much better on R&B radio, climbing to #2 on that chart, and peaked at #22 on Billboard's Dance Club Play list. The single also nicked the singles chart in the Netherlands at #96.

The final hit from Life, Love & Pain, "Heavy On My Mind", missed the R&B top 40 at #42. Foster and McElroy left shortly after to concentrate on writing and producing, working with Tony! Toni! Tone'! before recording their own material, landing a top-10 soul hit with "Dr. Love" in 1989. They also put together the 90's "girl group" supreme En Vogue, even nabbing a featured credit as "FMob" on the #51 pop/#15 R&B hit "Runaway Love". Samuelle scored a chart-topping R&B single with "So You Like What You See" in 1990. The Club's next album in 1988, the more political-leaning Listen To The Message, wasn't as successful, though they claimed another top-40 soul hit with "It's A Cold, Cold World". A year later, their single "No Friend Of Mine" did much better, reaching #12 on the R&B chart. They were last seen in 1992 with a lite-reggae take on the gospel standard "Oh Happy Day".

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King took the foundation from the song from a track from his previous act Timex Social Club's "Thinkin' Bout Ya" single...

In 1995, rapper Luniz interpolated the music of "Why You Treat Me So Bad" for his single "I Got 5 On It", which made the top-10 on the American pop (#8) and R&B (#4) charts, and top-10 all over Europe...

Puff Daddy then took Luniz' treatment of the song and reused it for his own "Satisfy You" with R. Kelly, which topped the R&B chart and climbed to #2 on the Hot 100...

In 2001, the "So So Def" remix of Jessica Simpson's "Irresistible" went to #15 on the Hot 100...

 
The song also serves as the bases for Jennifer Lopez's top-10 pop hit from 2002, "I'm Gonna Be Alright" with 50 Cent. It topped out at #10 on the pop chart and #32 R&B...

In 2009, R&B/pop single "Only U" has Ashanti sampling the song as well.....

Rapper Yo Gotti missed the Hot 100 by a notch with his single "I Know", which did make the R&B top-40 at #31 last year...

An finally, Club Nouveau as a reunited trio with their version ..

Up tomorrow: Birds need some too, says this English rock band.