Cameo – Raunchy, Hot, Foot Stompin Soul And R&B!

Cameo is an American R&B Group and was formed by Larry Blackmon in 1974 as a 13 member group in New York. It was initially named as “New York City Players” but changed its name to Cameo after being signed by Casablanca Records in 1976 to avoid confusion between them and “Ohio Players” which was also a funk band.

Though Cameo started with deep funky sound they had aspirations to hit the dance floors. Their initial albums “Secret Omen”, “We All Know Who We Are”, “Ugly Ego” and “Cardiac Arrest” featured dance floor music and songs such as “Find My Way”, “I Just Want To Be” and “Rigor Mortis”. Their song “Find My Way” became the smash hit on disco floors and was included in “Thank God It’s Friday”.
Cameo grew slowly as a group but gained enough popularity in 1980 when “Cameosis” was released. Cameo displayed their eclectic style in 1981 with their album “Knights of the Sound Table” and in 1982 with “Alligator Woman”.

The latter left the band shed to five members and they were still active in shows and concerts as a band. Later Gregory Johnson, who was the keyboardist, left the band and Kevin Kendricks was promoted as the keyboardist with other members which were Blackmon, Nathan Leftenant, Charles Singleton and Tomi Jenkins.

Blackmon had the vision to succeed and led the band into hard code “electronic funk”. During this move, bass, occasional horn arrangements and sequenced drum machines were used by the band for bringing the electronic funk effect. Cameo later came out with “Style”, in 1983 and “She’s Strange” in 1984 which hit the discs and were major smash hits in several R&B clubs. Another R&B hit included Single Life in 1985 by the band. 1986 saw “Word Up” hit radios and became one of the biggest and most successful pop songs of the year.

This album turned Cameo group into superstars and by the end of 1986, “Word Up” was heard in radios, Coca-Cola commercials, MTV, and various clubs. To everybody’s surprise, Larry explained that the title “Word Up” was inspired from a fan for the band who shouted “Word Up!” after a UK show.
By Now Cameo was a well-known successful band and made the group overexposed. In 1990, the group released Real Men Wear Black and Emotional Violence in 1992 but these albums were nowhere close to the success and smash hits given by “Word Up”.

After this album lots of changes hit the band as Nathan Leftnant left the band and Charlie Singleton rejoined as guitarist. In 1994, Cameos had their album In The Face of Funk released which brought some club play but could not match up previous albums and saw Cameos fall as a band. Their work got awarded as a band in 1999 by US Vibe magazine.

Cameo performed for various shows in U.S. and Europe after their last album as a group, “Sexy Sweet Thing”. Larry continued to hold the band and inspite of the infighting and changes, Cameo tour the globe till date. Even after the breakup of most members, Cameo members Tomi Jenkins, Anthony Lockett, Gregory Johnson and Charlie Singleton are still active in their own careers till date.

Cameo’s success and career is well judged by the albums they have released which include their complete list of “Cardiac Arrest” in 1977, “We All Know Who We Are” in 1978, “Ugly Ego” in 1978, “Secret Omen” in 1979, “Cameosis” in 1980, “Feel Me” in 1980, “Knights of the Sound Table” in 1981, “Alligator Woman”, “Style” in 1983, “She’s Strange” in 1984, “Single Life” in 1985, “Word Up” in 1986, “Machismo” in 1988, “Real Men Wear Black” in 1990, “Emotional Violence” in 1992, “In the Face of Funk” in 1994, “Nasty” in 1996 and “Sexy Sweet Thing” in 2000.

Despite the downfall of the group as a band, Cameo shall always be remembered from the hit “Word Up” and is in millions of hearts worldwide.

TJ Grooves

Rare Soul Grooves & Soul Music TV