Cameo Modelert

Abkco's 2005 compilation The Best of ? & the Mysterians: Cameo Parkway 1966-1967 is the first official CD release of the Michigan garage rocker's classic Cameo Parkway recordings, but for hardcore garage rock collectors, it might look a little bit similar to a 1995 unofficial release called Original Recordings. The discs not only share 25 tracks but they're presented in the same sequencing. Then again, that shouldn't be a surprise since both discs contain the entirety of the quintet's two full-length LPs – the 1966 96 Tears and its 1967 follow-up Action – plus the "Do Something to Me"/"Love Me Baby (Cherry July)" single. The '95 release contains five tracks that didn't make it to this release, but this has two previously unreleased versions of "Midnight Hour" and "96 Tears," neither of which were as a good as the released versions (the alternate "96 Tears" is surprisingly limp, actually).

The Cameo Blues Band is a Toronto-based blues band, originally formed in 1978. It is particularly notable for its association with several of Canada's leading blues singers, including Richard "Hock" Walsh, Tony Flaim and Chuck Jackson, all of whom were also associated with the Downchild Blues Band. In 2002, at the instigation of producer and independent label owner Lance Anderson, the Cameo Blues Band recorded its first album, on Make It Real Records. Band membership for the album was composed of Ray Harrison (piano and Hammond B3), John Bride (guitar), Tom Griffiths (bass) and Michael Sloski (drums). Vocals were contributed by four previous lead singers of the band: Dickie, Jackson, Tomlinson and Zwol. Invited guests contributing to the album were Michael Fonfara, keyboard player for Downchild, Freddie Keeler and Terry Blersh on guitars, and Larry Shields on tuba.

There are collectors…and then there are doo wop collectors, which is why we have dedicated our first Cameo Parkway compilation to the fantastic vocal groups who recorded for the label. All of these (except the Rays track and the two Roommates tracks, which we HAD to include) are from the original tapes, and only one track (the Lydells There Goes the Boy , which again we felt was a must) has ever been out on CD at retail before….

Nasty, Cameo's first live recording, showcases Larry Blackmon's musical creativity and futuristic-sounding love songs. Everything is on time – the horns, the sometimes hokey vocals – and that cool New York-flavored lead bass struts on every cut. Guitarist Charlie Singleton's slicker-than-butter falsetto shines on the crowd favorite "Why Have I Lost You." Tomi Jenkins' tenor is steady on the moving and romantic "Sparkle." "Skin I'm In," with its staccato vocals and socially significant lyrics, makes you think. Delight at Larry Blackmon's Sugar Foot Bonner-sounding vocal on the heavily sampled "Candy." Two studio cuts augment the live songs: "Come Fly With Me" and "Nasty." Nasty's caboose is a 6:27 mega-mix of the live sides.