I pulled this outta the shelve while cleaning the house....


I think this is a very underrated Rufus album, probably coz of the backstage drama behind it. It ain't a superior funk effort like Rufusized and Ask Rufus but its MUCH betta than that Masterjam mess.

And I thought that Rene & Angela(Winbush) produced some nice cuts. Plus, CK and Tony Maiden' click is still there, listen to Quandary.

Chaka Khan said once live that this album was her "dirty lil' secret", she was forced to sing songs in there that she hated like "Music Man".
[Edited 12/18/06 14:40pm]

In all my years of devotion to miss Khan, I have never seen this album!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

http://www.last.fm/music/...CAMOUFLAGE

Harlepolis said:

Highlight has the same melodic vocal structure as Pop my clutch!

Thanks for draggin this out of the darkness Harly! Sounds much more solid than Masterjam although there are 3 cuts off that album that absolutely deserve to survive

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

You're the only cat who I never suspected to be clueless about this

Then again, never found about this till I was SURE I made my CK collection complete,,,and it wasn't through Chaka's site or allmusic.com either, it was by accident in some local broke ass wrecka stow.

Ain't this a killer? Tell ya, I was PIIIIISSED

...

I remember this album from back in tha day, but it came out, and then disappeared so fast--as if the record company didn't really want anybody to know it came out , lol!! I grabbed a copy, but soon after that, it practically vanished from the stores!

Anyway, I really like "Quandry", True Love, and Jig Saw on that album.....it was Kool, But I was also listening to "What Cha Gonna Do For Me"1981), and later, "Chaka Khan"(1982), and those two solo albums were kickin' my ass so hard that Camouflage kinda fell by the wayside...





...

Harlepolis said:

Thank you so much, Harlepolis. After hearing so much drama about this albu, I think it's excellent. GOing out to pick it up tomoorw. I know exactly where it's at.

See this is one of the things I love about music, everybody hears something different. IMO this album is average at best while Masterjam is way better, it has much more funk on it. I'm biased to the funk for sure!

Harlepolis said:

Haven't listen to this album for quite awhile.

Still have it on vinyl

I remember this album and the drama behind it.By the time the 80s rolled around,Chaka and her Rufus bandmates weren't getting along.She wanted to focus on her solo career,but Warner Bros. were demanding that she fulfill her contractual obligations with Rufus.Thus,this album is basically contractual filler.Neither side was enthusiastic about recording it and there were alot of bitter arguments in the studio.One song became a minor hit on the R&B charts: the beautiful midtempo "Sharing The Love",which I love.

SoulAlive said:

Even the photoshoot was done separatly, how NASTY did they get?

Harlepolis said:

Yeah,their relationship really deteriorated.In 1983,Chaka recorded one final album with the group...a live album with several studio tracks.She was done with the group at this point and was just going through the motions but ironically,a song from this album ("Ain't Nobody") became one of their biggest hits.

Abdul said:

It ain't that I dislike Masterjam, the shit was just RUSHED as hell like they have to deal with it. The ONLY bright moment was Chaka's semi-autobiographical "What Am I Missing?", co-written by her brotha Mark Stevens.

Uncle Q(As Chaka calls him) got 3 other MAJOR releases under his nose(MJ, George Benson and The Brothers Johnson) and Rufus happend to be squeezed between those projects, so you know it wasn't a focused effort(In fact, some trax sounded like rejects from other Q projects).

Beside, there was NO FUN in that record like the fun you hear/feel in Rufusized for example. Quincy and Tony Maiden were the ONLY connection between the group and Chaka.

David Nathan witnessed the tension when he met them during a recording session. When the interview started, Chaka seemed distant and out of the blue she would cut the other members right off,,,and at some point she would say that "music is so pimped and whored right now that everything seem out of substance".

Love Chaka,,,but I STILL can't figure out what went wrong with her and "them". She says "clashing opinions and tastes" but I think its deeper than that, anyway,, she did a good job hiding the real reason to this day.
[Edited 12/19/06 7:12am]

Harlepolis said:

Yeah,'Masterjam' isn't quite the great album that it should have been.The first single "Do You Love What You Feel" is fantastic but there's nothing else on the album that comes close.Furthermore,the music on the other tracks sounds formulaic and too polished.Rufus is a wonderful funk band but on this album,it sounds like they're holding back.

Harlepolis said:

ha! I haven't listened to my vinyl copy in a looong time, but guess what? yesterday I found a Japanese Import CD in the bargain bin for 5 lousy bucks!

yep, this holds quite a couple of songs I very much enjoy, right now I'm getting into it all over again


.
[Edited 12/22/06 0:19am]

Dancelot said:

5 measly bucks??? LOL heeeell, You sure know how to talk somebody down. This motherucker costs 40 BIG ONES over @ Amazon though, you believe that shit?

Harlepolis said:

no talking down was necessary. it was a normal sale in a big record store. I got a bunch of other gems even cheaper (not Rufus/Chaka though). that was quite a good purchase yesterday

Dancelot said:

Shit then, where the hell is this place, I might step into it one day