thebanishedone said:

Wonder why Cameo didn't sue

Maybe they don't care. Nobody sued the Bar-Kays and they have several songs that sound like others. Billy Ocean didn't get sued for Caribbean Queen which sounds similar to Billie Jean. The rhythm to Billie Jean itself sounds kinda like I Can't Go For That by Hall & Oates. Hall & Oates even said that Mike told them this at the We Are The World recording session. A lot of times lawsuits comes from a publishing company or an unknown songwriter that only sues when a song becomes a big hit. John Fogerty got sued for having a solo song that sounded like a CCR song that he wrote. John did not own the publishing to the CCR material, the owner of Fantasy Records did. That's who sued. If people are going to sue because of soundalike songs, then entire genres like house music, reggaeton, or Tejano wouldn't exist. Because there's a lot of soundalikes there.

yep,when I first heard "Oh,Sheila",I thought that the synth riff sounds alot like Cameo's "Style".

MickyDolenz said:

thebanishedone said:

Wonder why Cameo didn't sue

Maybe they don't care. Nobody sued the Bar-Kays and they have several songs that sound like others. Billy Ocean didn't get sued for Caribbean Queen which sounds similar to Billie Jean. The rhythm to Billie Jean itself sounds kinda like I Can't Go For That by Hall & Oates. Hall & Oates even said that Mike told them this at the We Are The World recording session. A lot of times lawsuits comes from a publishing company or an unknown songwriter that only sues when a song becomes a big hit. John Fogerty got sued for having a solo song that sounded like a CCR song that he wrote. John did not own the publishing to the CCR material, the owner of Fantasy Records did. That's who sued. If people are going to sue because of soundalike songs, then entire genres like house music, reggaeton, or Tejano wouldn't exist. Because there's a lot of soundalikes there.

I agree about Bar Kays but Carribian Queen only have similar way of how bass is accented,harmony wise its totally different

thebanishedone said:

Wonder why Cameo didn't sue cause it's the same groove

I am not familiar with Cameo's "Style" but I always liked "Oh Sheila" as the best and most accurate emulation of Prince's Minneapolis Sound.

Speaking of Cameo the Larry Blackmon produced band Ca$hflow's Mine All Mine was

a direct take off of The Fatback Band's I Found Loving. There are plenty of songs that sound

like others and it didn't just start in the 80's.

onlyforaminute said:

They knew how to capitalize well. That was the song. Seems strange Prince didn't throw shade at them. Or did he and I missed it?

acording to Melvin when he met Prince Prince praised their work

I also remember reading a funny story (in "Black Beat") where RFTW went backstage to go meet P for the first time and he ignored them.

SPYZFAN1 said:

I also remember reading a funny story (in "Black Beat") where RFTW went backstage to go meet P for the first time and he ignored them.

The Gap Band put out a video about that kind of behavior called Disrespect

SPYZFAN1 said:

I also remember reading a funny story (in "Black Beat") where RFTW went backstage to go meet P for the first time and he ignored them.

I read the same thing

SPYZFAN1 said:

RFTW were a good band.I love their first two albums.They borrowed heavily from Prince,though.My favorite jam by them is "Digital Display"

When I first heard Ready For The World, it was their lead single to that album which was a slow song called "Tonite". I thought they were a group called Dreamboy which had a song called "Don't Go" two years earlier in 1983. And when I first heard "Don't Go" by Dreamboy, I thought they might have been a new Prince project because the song sounded like The Time's "Oh, Baby".

.

When the second single "Oh Sheila" came out, Jesse Johnson's "Be Your Man" had hit the airwaves around that time and the DJ in the skating rink was mixing the two songs. That definitely made me take notice, especially when the next song "Digital Display" came out and I knew it was past time to stop buying just the 45s, I had to get the album then. The Prince sound is what I heard as soon as I heard Ready For The World.

They ripped off Prince, get it right.

No one is not saying that RFTW wasn't a Minneapolis influenced band as they hail from Flint, Michigan

but for the purpose of this thread yes Oh Sheila was a play on Cameo's style. This song has

nothing to do with Prince.

vainandy said:

When I first heard Ready For The World, it was their lead single to that album which was a slow song called "Tonite". I thought they were a group called Dreamboy which had a song called "Don't Go" two years earlier in 1983. And when I first heard "Don't Go" by Dreamboy, I thought they might have been a new Prince project because the song sounded like The Time's "Oh, Baby".

.

When the second single "Oh Sheila" came out, Jesse Johnson's "Be Your Man" had hit the airwaves around that time and the DJ in the skating rink was mixing the two songs. That definitely made me take notice, especially when the next song "Digital Display" came out and I knew it was past time to stop buying just the 45s, I had to get the album then. The Prince sound is what I heard as soon as I heard Ready For The World.

Good call on Dreamboy. I had forgotten about them. I remember the first time I heard Tonite I

was a freshman at the University of South Carolina and a guy on the hall was playing it and I asked

him what the fuck is this you're playing. Then later on I started hearing it on quiet storm. I never

liked this song but I do like the guitar solo at the end. I also thought they had a weird name for a band. Later on that spring Oh Sheila came on the scene and I thought it wasn't bad but when I went back and listened to Cameo's Style album I said holdup. This is where they got that keyboard riff

from.

phunkdaddy said:

No one is not saying that RFTW wasn't a Minneapolis influenced band as they hail from Flint, Michigan

but for the purpose of this thread yes Oh Sheila was a play on Cameo's style. This song has

nothing to do with Prince.

Except that a lot of people thought 'Oh Sheila' was a Prince song when it came out.

vainandy said:

When I first heard Ready For The World, it was their lead single to that album which was a slow song called "Tonite". I thought they were a group called Dreamboy which had a song called "Don't Go" two years earlier in 1983. And when I first heard "Don't Go" by Dreamboy, I thought they might have been a new Prince project because the song sounded like The Time's "Oh, Baby".

.

When the second single "Oh Sheila" came out, Jesse Johnson's "Be Your Man" had hit the airwaves around that time and the DJ in the skating rink was mixing the two songs. That definitely made me take notice, especially when the next song "Digital Display" came out and I knew it was past time to stop buying just the 45s, I had to get the album then. The Prince sound is what I heard as soon as I heard Ready For The World.

I thought the SAME THING about Dreamboy vs. The Time!!! And RFTW is MORE Prnce than Cameo!!! Welcome back, vainandy!!!

[Edited 1/29/21 11:47am]

funkaholic1972 said:

SoulAlive said:

funkaholic1972 said:

Except that a lot of people thought 'Oh Sheila' was a Prince song when it came out.

I heard that,when Sheila E. first heard it on the radio,even she thought it was Prince singing about her

Yeah, heard about that story as well!

SoulAlive said:

I remember Dreamboy.I have their debut album on vinyl.I like the second single,an uptempo jam called “Walk The Streets”

DreamBoy Music

If I remember correctly, some of Walk The Streets lyrics are, "I walk the streets all night, thinking that you're worth the fight..."

"I walk the streets all night, and I'm tired too.."

I still don't think Dreamboy's music has been released on CD. And last i checked(a while ago), it's not even on any streaming sites.



As far as the OP. Even though i was/am a massive Cameo fan, i never realised(until your post) the Style, Oh Sheila connection. As far as Cameo suing RFTW? They(Cameo) were probably caught up in their own success to be bothered (if they even thought about it at all). Although RFTW was a good band and have some really good songs, in terms of success, Cameo was/is pretty much on a whole different level.

[Edited 2/2/21 16:34pm]

SoulAlive said:

funkaholic1972 said:

phunkdaddy said:

No one is not saying that RFTW wasn't a Minneapolis influenced band as they hail from Flint, Michigan

but for the purpose of this thread yes Oh Sheila was a play on Cameo's style. This song has

nothing to do with Prince.

Except that a lot of people thought 'Oh Sheila' was a Prince song when it came out.

I heard that,when Sheila E. first heard it on the radio,even she thought it was Prince singing about her

SoulAlive said:

I remember Dreamboy.I have their debut album on vinyl.I like the second single,an uptempo jam called “Walk The Streets”

My favorite is "Slow Down".

woogiebear said:

vainandy said:

When I first heard Ready For The World, it was their lead single to that album which was a slow song called "Tonite". I thought they were a group called Dreamboy which had a song called "Don't Go" two years earlier in 1983. And when I first heard "Don't Go" by Dreamboy, I thought they might have been a new Prince project because the song sounded like The Time's "Oh, Baby".

.

When the second single "Oh Sheila" came out, Jesse Johnson's "Be Your Man" had hit the airwaves around that time and the DJ in the skating rink was mixing the two songs. That definitely made me take notice, especially when the next song "Digital Display" came out and I knew it was past time to stop buying just the 45s, I had to get the album then. The Prince sound is what I heard as soon as I heard Ready For The World.

I thought the SAME THING about Dreamboy vs. The Time!!! And RFTW is MORE Prnce than Cameo!!! Welcome back, vainandy!!!

[Edited 1/29/21 11:47am]

Thanks.

JoeyC said:

SoulAlive said:

I remember Dreamboy.I have their debut album on vinyl.I like the second single,an uptempo jam called “Walk The Streets”

DreamBoy Music

If I remember correctly, some of Walk The Streets lyrics are, "I walk the streets all night, thinking that you're worth the fight..."

"I walk the streets all night, and I'm tired too.."

I still don't think Dreamboy's music has been released on CD. And last i checked(a while ago), it's not even on any streaming sites.



As far as the OP. Even though i was/am a massive Cameo fan, i never realised(until your post) the Style, Oh Sheila connection. As far as Cameo suing RFTW? They(Cameo) were probably caught up in their own success to be bothered (if they even thought about it at all). Although RFTW was a good band and have some really good songs, in terms of success, Cameo was/is pretty much on a whole different level.

[Edited 2/2/21 16:34pm]

I've had the "Don't Go" 45 since 1983. In recent years, I got the album at a used record store. When I got it home though and put it on the turntable, I noticed the album is warped in one section and those tracks in the warped section go from fast to slow every time the record turns.

.

I'm forever using a youtube to mp3 converter to download songs though. The sound quality on almost every single one of those Dreamboy songs on youtube is absolutely horrible no matter who posted the videos. They all sound muffled like an old worn out cassette tape. There are very few with crystal clear sound.

alphastreet said: