phunkdaddy said:

The reality is that outside of "Alligator Woman," most of Cameo's albums had no more than two or three good songs on an album. So I'm not quite getting the complaint about "Word Up!," which had three strong songs (something Cameo never boasted before or since on an album) -- the title track, "Candy" and "Back and Forth."

I'm also not quite getting "the lack of commercial success" comment, because Cameo consistently had gold albums before "Word Up!" No, the group never had a pop hit before then, but I'm not seeing some of these comments about the act watering down its sound.

SoulAlive said:

"Style" was mostly a replay of the "Alligator Woman" album. The title track was the lead single (a top 20 R&B hit) that was a clone of "Be Yourself." The album also had Cameo making a cover of the Elvis Presley ballad, "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" and a jazz-influenced midtempo song "Aphrodisiac" (basically a a melodic chorus singing a la "Flirt" and in feel a precursor to the song "She's Strange." I personally don't feel you're missing anything here if you have never heard it.
[Edited 4/1/07 20:10pm]

"I'm pretty sure Melvin Riley and his friends were listening closely to 'Style,' since it kinda sorta bears a resemblance to "Oh Sheila.'"

"I also disagree with you on your comment on other cameo albums besides alligator woman being less than 3 songs deep. I know the majority here would agree with me too. Knights of the round table had freaky dancing, knights by knights was a funky cameo favorite when they toured on that album. Use it or lose it was good also other funky tracks like don't be so cool and i like it. Cameosis was also an album that was 5 tracks deep. The feel me album was also deep with keep it hot, let's go dancing, the title track, your love takes me out."

"Now you consider back and forth from word up to be strong and that's cool but others like myself saw it as watered down and weak. The only song i bothered to listen to from that album other than word up was the ballad don't be lonely. Nobody's really trashing the song word up, most of us just feel it was not up to par with cameo's earlier body of work."

IMO, Cameo started adding other elements to their core style once Larry Blackmon downsized the group. The new wave influence was evident on the "Alligator Woman" album; with "She's Strange," the title track and songs like "Groove with You" and "Love You Anyway" showed more of a jazz influence; with "Candy" the group used more of a rock edge while "Back and Forth" had more of a breezy, soul/contemporay jazz touch.

In other words, Cameo was no longer locked-in to that gut-bucket funk it made when it was a 13-member band. Maybe some of you see that as being watered-down, but Cameo's music hardly qualified as that, IMO.
[Edited 4/2/07 11:41am]

Najee said:

I'm pretty sure Melvin Riley and his friends were listening closely to "Style", since it kinda sorta bears a resemblance to "Oh Sheila".

Najee said:

And that's what I liked. The fact that Cameo branched off into other styles like Jazz, Hard Rock, and New Wave (), or rather incorporated elements of those sounds into their raw Funk style. And at least they stopped sounding like their Funk contemporaries at that point.

"Oh Sheila" and RFTW's whole first album was heavily influenced by Prince and the Minneapolis sound.

IMHO Cameo and their song "Style" did not influence RFTW at all.

NWF said:

As someone who bought all of Cameo's albums (first as LPs then as CDs), I agree. As good as the horn-laden version of Cameo was, to the unknowledgeable person the group was fairly indistinguishable from their contemporaries like Con Funk Shun and The Bar-Kays.

The fact the group was able to transform both in members and in musical styles (while still retaining its funk core) is what made Cameo's career intriguing. Songs like "She's Strange," "Attack Me with Your Love," "Single Life" and "Flirt" added to the group's legacy.

Part of the reason they sounded like their funk contemporaries was because they were heavily influenced by them. Larry Blackmon once said he learned the ropes from touring with the barkays over the years. Cameo was also originally named the new york city players but changed to cameo as to not be confused with the ohio players whom influenced cameo as well.

What cameo did was not neccessarily groundbreaking on their latter day albums. All of their contemporaries always changed with the times to as technology caused bands change.

phunkdaddy said:

Larry Blackmon also has said he was influenced by George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic concepts, which he adopted into their stage show (such as when LB used to emerge from a coffin). Another person Blackmon has cited repeatedly was Maurice White.

phunkdaddy said:

I would have to say albums such as "Alligator Woman" and songs such as "Be Yourself" and "She's Strange" were things Cameo's contemporaries (namely, The Bar-Kays and Con Funk Shun) were not doing; if anything, it was the latter two who copied Cameo's style -- see The Bar-Kays' "Boogie Body Land" and to a degree "Do It (Let Me See You Shake)" and Con Funk Shun's "Electric Lady."
[Edited 4/2/07 19:20pm]

NWF said:

"Oh Sheila" and RFTW's whole first album was heavily influenced by Prince and the Minneapolis sound.

IMHO Cameo and their song "Style" did not influence RFTW at all.

Najee said:

It is no secret confunkshun's electric lady mirrored cameo's sound but an outside producer named larry smith known for his work with whodini was brought
on board to update confunkshun's sound. Outside of that project, confunkshun stayed true to its sound. I actually think confunkshun was more diverse than any funk band of its time especially more so than cameo. Just like you stated cameo did try some different things on their latter day albums but only skin i'm in and in the night with miles davis stood out. They even went back to their hardcore funk roots on i want it now from the real men wear black lp.
Confunkshun always did their thing whether it was funk or ballads from day one.
I think that seperated them from their funk contemporaries and their ballads were usually more appealing than cameo's. The barkays were influenced more so by parliament/funkadelic, sly stone, and the ohio players. Cameo came after the barkays and confunkshun so cameo was like the third generation funk band.
The thing that always stood out to me with the barkays is their live show. They were probably the fiercest live band that ever hit the stage. I have seen them repeatedly tear down headliners.
[Edited 4/2/07 19:49pm]

I noticed you also stated that larry was also influenced by maurice white. I remember when ewf was reuniting for the touch the world album, larry blackmon was on board as a producer for the project. Maurice White scrapped the larry blackmon produced tracks because he said it sounded to much like cameo. I was looking forward to it but it never happened. Side one of touch the world was good but the side two of that album was pretty bland.
[Edited 4/2/07 19:54pm]

NWF said:

As someone who bought all of Cameo's albums (first as LPs then as CDs), I agree. As good as the horn-laden version of Cameo was, to the unknowledgeable person the group was fairly indistinguishable from their contemporaries like Con Funk Shun and The Bar-Kays.

The fact the group was able to transform both in members and in musical styles (while still retaining its funk core) is what made Cameo's career intriguing. Songs like "She's Strange," "Attack Me with Your Love," "Single Life" and "Flirt" added to the group's legacy.

OWWWWW!!!!!

Larry pretty much put his signature on that one, even though I'm sure he took it from Sugarfoot of the Ohio Players. That's why my mother doesn't like Cameo. She says they're just Ohio Player clones.

This has been one hell of a thread. I would like to see more like this.

phunkdaddy said:

There have been quite a lot of good threads in the past couple of weeks, actually.

I'd still like to know if the band is still touring. I would love to see them live. I missed the opportunity when I was in L.A. a few years ago.

NWF said:

I don't know if Cameo is currently touring but I got to see them in Oakland way back in 1982 (or was it 1981???) when they (along with One Way) opened up for Rick James on the "Throwin' Down" Tour.

This was right after the release of "Alligator Woman" and I actually liked Cameo's show better than Rick's. Rick's was too busy getting high and talking, Cameo was just straight bringing the funk!





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[Edited 4/3/07 11:22am]

"I agree...all this talk of Cameo becoming watered down when they went for a more stripped down, synthesized sound and smaller lineup makes little sense...And for those who say Word Up was a weak release, I don't know if we are listening to the same joints....Larry and guys crossed over on their own terms; that's what made their success so cool..."

"Even with their landmark album, (Cameo) tried to repeat themselves on machismo. You make me work was a clone of word up, and honey was a complete replica of candy. Skin i'm in was this albums gem. I dig all the funk bands from the 70's but i'm like everyone else. You have different albums you favor more so than others."