AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Cameo

Artist:Cameo
Song:Word Up!
Album:The Best Of Cameo





Cameo was one of the top funk groups of the 80s. Word Up! was their biggest hit in 1986 but they were a staple on the R & B and dance charts for several years. Larry Blackmon was the lead singer and main songwriter. He was the drummer for Black Ivory. His band East Coast released an album in 1973. While hanging around the mid-70s New York City club scene, he formed the New York City Players with Tomi Jenkins and Nathan Leftenant. The band had 13 members and Cameo's lineup changed a lot over the years. But those three guys were the nucleus of the band. They signed with Casablanca Records in 1977 but Blackmon changed the group name to Cameo to avoid confusion with the Ohio Players. They had a lot of success on the R & B charts immediately. In 1982, The group moved to Atlanta and started their own label Atlanta Artists. By this time, Cameo had been scaled back to a quartet with the three original guys and Charlie Singleton. They added musicians for tours. They started using a lot of synthesizers and took on a harder edge. The result was that Word Up! reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. It turned out to be their biggest mainstream hit. This budget comp is a good intro to their music. Cameo faded by the late 80s and by 1991, Larry Blackmon went to work as an A & R rep for Warner Bros. Cameo last recorded in 2000 but they still perform occasionally. Here's the video for Word Up! by Cameo. LaVar Burton plays the police detective.