CAMEO
JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
CAMEO
This US soul/funk group, originally called the New York City Players, was formed in 1974 by the core members Larry 'Mr. B' Blackmon (b. New York City, New York, USA; drums, vocals) and vocalists Thomas Jenkins and Nathan Leftenant. Building up a strong following by undergoing rigorous touring schedules, with their backing group at times numbering almost a dozen members, they signed with the Casablanca subsidiary label Chocolate City, where they recorded their debut, Cardiac Arrest, produced by Blackmon. Touring alongside Parliament and Funkadelic enhanced their reputation and subsequent album releases gained modest positions in the US pop chart. In Britain, they enjoyed a loyal cult following, but it was not until Cameo's seventh album release, Knights Of The Sound Table, that they were afforded a UK release. However, in 1984, the single 'She's Strange' crossed over from soul/funk into the pop market and Cameo found themselves with their first UK Top 40 single. After the success of the following year's 'Single Life' (UK Top 20), 'She's Strange' was remixed and peaked at number 22. Three sell-out shows at London's Hammersmith Odeon followed. Having won over the UK pop market, it was not until 1986 that they finally broke into the US Top 40 chart; 'Word Up' had reached number 3 in the UK, and subsequently reached number 1 in the US R&B chart and number 6 in the Billboard pop chart. Having trimmed down the group to the core trio of Blackmon, Jenkins and Leftenant, and only using additional session players when necessary, Blackmon attracted most of the media attention. His image was helped in no small degree by the expansive, bright red codpiece he wore on stage. Blackmon's own studio Atlanta Artists allowed him almost total control over Cameo's sound and helped him to promote and nurture local musical talent. By the 90s, however, their commercial success had dramatically waned, and founder member Jenkins left in 1992.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 1998
The Cameo Tribute Page| LOOK | ALBUM | YEAR | | Live: Word Up | 1998 | | Ballad Collection | 1998 | | Greatest Hits | 1998 | | Nasty | 1996 | | The Best Of Cameo: Volume 2 | 1996 | | Secret Omen | 1996 | | The Best Of Cameo | 1993 | | Shake Your Pants | 1992 | | Emotional Violence | 1992 | | Real Men Wear Black | 1990 | | Machismo | 1988 | | Word Up | 1986 | | Single Life | 1985 | | She's Strange | 1984 | | Style | 1983 | | Alligator Woman | 1982 | | Knights Of The Sound Table | 1981 | | Cameosis | 1980 | | Ugly Ego | 1978 | | Cardiac Arrest | 1977 | | We All Know Who We Are | 1977 |
Live: Word Up 1998
|
01. Shake Your Pants 02. Skin I'm In 03. Nasty 04. Why Have I Lost You 05. Word Up | 06. Candy 07. She's Strange 08. Sparkle 09. Back & Forth 10. I Just Want To Be |
Ballads Collection 1998
|
01. Why Have I Lost You 02. Sparkle 03. It's Over 04. Feel Me 05. We All Know Who We Are 06. Hangin' Downtown |
07. Love You Anyway 08. Don't Be Lonely 09. I Owe It All To You 10. I'll Always Stay 11. I Never Knew 12. Why Have I Lost You |
Greatest Hits 1998
|
01. Word Up 02. Single Life 03. Candy 04. She's Strange 05. Attack Me With Your Love 06. Back And Forth |
07. You Make Me Work 08. I just Want To Be 09. Sparkle 10. Skin I'm In 11. Freaky Dancin' 12. Keep It Hot |
Nasty 1996
| 01. Intro 02. Flirt 03. She's Strange 04. Back & Forth 05. Skin I'm In 06. Why Have I Lost You 07. Sparkle 08. Candy |
09. Shake Your Pants (Intro) 10. Shake Your Pants 11. I Just Want To Be 12. Keep It Hot 13. Word Up 14. Come Fly With Me - ('96) 15. Nasty - ('96) 16. Mega-Mix |
The Best Of Cameo: Volume 2 1996
| 01. Don't Be So Cool - (with Nona Hendryx) 02. I Want It Now 03. In The Night - (with Miles Davis) 04. We're Going Out Tonight 05. Why Have I Lost You 06. Hangin' Downtown 07. It's Serious |
08. Freaky Dancin' 09. Keep It Hot 10. Be Yourself 11. Alligator Woman 12. Insane 13. We All Know Who We Are 14. Feel Me 15. Your Love Takes Me Out |
Secret Omen 1996
|
1. Energy 2. I Just Want To Be 3. Find My Way 4. Macho |
5. The Rock 6. Sparkle 7. New York |
The Best Of Cameo 1993
|
01. Word Up 02. Single Life 03. Candy 04. Shake Your Pants 05. Rigor Mortis 06. Attack Me With Your Love 07. Talkin' Out The Side Of Your Neck |
08. Sparkle 09. Back And Forth - (single version) 10. Flirt 11. She's Strange - (12" rap version) 12. I Just Want To Be 13. Skin I'm In 14. It's Over |
Shake Your Pants 1992
|
1. I Just Want To Be 2. The Rock 3. Macho 4. I'll Always Stay | 5. Shake Your Pants 6. I Care For You 7. Feel Me 8. Keep It Hot |
Emotional Violence 1992
|
01. Emotional Violence 02. Money 03. Raw But Tasty 04. Front Street 05. Kid Don't Believe It | 06. Another Love 07. Don't Crash 08. Love Yourself 09. Nothing Less Than Love 10. That Kind Of Guy |
Real Men...Wear Black 1990
|
1. Close Quarters 2. I Want It Now 3. Me 4. Attitude 5. Get Paid |
6. Am I Bad Enough 7. Time, Fire And Space 8. Nan-Yea 9. Just A Broken Heart |
Machismo 1988
|
1. Promiscuous 2. Dkwig 3. Pretty Girls 4. In The Night - (with Miles Davis) |
5. Honey 6. Skin I'm In 7. I Like The World 8. Soul Tightened 9. You Make Me Work |
Word Up 1986
|
1. Word Up 2. Candy 3. Back And Forth 4. Don't Be Lonely |
5. She's Mine 6. Fast, Fierce, And Funny 7. You Can Have The World |
Single Life 1985
|
1. I've Got Your Image 2. Single Life 3. Attack Me With Your Love 4. A Good-Bye |
5. I'll Never Look For Love 6. Urban Warrior 7. Little Boys, Dangerous Toys |
She's Strange 1984
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1. She's Strange 2. Love You Anyway 3. Talkin' Out The Side Of Your Neck |
4. Tribute To Bob Marley 5. Groove With You 6. Hangin' Downtown 7. Le Ve Toi |
Style 1983
|
1. Aphrodisiac 2. This Life Is Not For Me 3. You're A Winner 4. Can't Help Falling In Love 5. Interlude (Serenity) |
6. Style 7. Cameo's Dance 8. Let's Not Talk Slot 9. Slow Movin' 10. Heaven Only Knows |
Alligator Woman 1982
|
1. Be Yourself 2. Soul Army 3. Flirt 4. Enjoy Your Life |
5. Alligator Woman/Secrets Of Time 6. I Owe It All To You 7. For You |
Knights Of The Sound Table 1981
| 1. Knights By Nights 2. Freaky Dancin' 3. I Never Knew 4. Use It Or Lose It |
5. The Sound Table 6. Don't Be So Cool - with Nona Hendryx 7. I'll Always Stay 8. I Like It |
Cameosis 1980
|
1. Cameosis 2. Shake Your Pants 3. Please You 4. We're Goin' Out Tonight |
5. I Care For You 6. On The One 7. Why Have I Lost You |
Ugly Ego 1978
|
1. I'll Be With You 2. Insane 3. Give Love A Chance 4. I Want You |
5. Ugly Ego 6. Anything You Wanna Do 7. Friend To Me 8. Two Of Us |
Cardiac Arrest 1977
|
1. Still Feels Good 2. Post Mortem 3. Smile 4. Funk, Funk |
5. Find My Way 6. Rigor Mortis 7. Good Times 8. Stay By My Side |
We All Know Who We Are 1977
| 1. Inflation 2. C On The Funk 3. Why Have I Lost You 4. Stand Up | 5. We All Know Who We Are 6. It's Serious 7. It's Over |
