Cameo 4

Larry Blackmon and his Cameo mates ruled funk's domain for over a decade. Cameo evolved from its origins as a horn-based and dominated ensemble into a synthesizer-oriented group that still featured sturdy basslines and exuberant vocals, but was in tune with urban and black America's new sensibility. These 14 selections range from the formative cuts "Rigor Mortis," "Shake Your Pants," and "It's Over" to the definitive "Word Up," "Candy," and "Back and Forth." Blackmon's alternately sneering, defiant, and aggressive vocals were the constant from Cameo's beginnings in the 1970s to their emergence as funk's reigning champions in the 1980s.

Cameo's second album, We All Know Who We Are, is uneven, but it has its moments, both in the quiet storm field ("Why Have I Lost You") and the disco-funk category ("It's Serious"). Much of the record sounds like filler, but the best moments illustrate that Cameo is beginning to grow and refine their own sound.
An outlandish, in-your-face stage presence, a strange sense of humor, and a hard-driving funk sound that criss-crossed a few musical boundaries earned Cameo countless comparisons to Parliament/Funkadelic in their early days. However, Cameo eventually wore off accusations of being derivative by transcending their influences and outlasting almost every single one of them. Throughout the '70s and '80s, the group remained up with the times and occasionally crept ahead of them, such that they became influences themselves upon younger generations of R&B and hip-hop acts…

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.

As Cameo rode both the critical and commercial success resulting from their debut, Cardiac Arrest, Chocolate City took the group straight from the road and right into the studio to record its follow-up. Because of this, the overall quality of Ugly Ego suffers mildly. It's uneven at points, but this easily could be attributed to erratic song sequencing, something that thankfully can be rectified in the digital age by the custom programming button. The band was developing its definitive sound at this point - the sound later heard on Secret Omen that would usher Cameo from being just another funk band to funk overlords. The uptempo "Insane" would later go on to be a fan favorite, and the slower moments found on "Give Love a Chance," "Friend to Me," and "Two of Us" prove that Cameo were more than just a good-time party band, but serious soulful balladeers when the time was appropriate.

By 1984, African-American popular music had become extremely high tech. The horn-powered funk bands that were huge in the 1970s were out of style, and young audiences were demanding hip-hop, electro-funk, and urban contemporary – not horn bands that sounded like the Ohio Players or Tower of Power circa 1975. Horn bands were still in vogue only in the home of the go-go explosion: Washington, DC. But these changes in the marketplace didn't hurt Cameo; both commercially and creatively, 1984's She's Strange was a winner.

Word Up! is the 13th studio album by American funk group Cameo, released in 1986. The album reached number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, number 8 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of over 1 million copies. It took Cameo to their highest level of popularity, and solidified them as one of the most successful bands of the 1980s. The album includes three of their biggest hit singles, "Word Up!", "Candy", and "Back and Forth".

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.