Cameo is an American funk band that formed in 1974. Cameo was initially a 14-member group known as the New York City Players; In 2015, Cameo announced a new residency show at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, opening in March 2016. On February 20, 2019, Larry Blackmon of Cameo announced "El Passo", the first new single from the band in 19 years.

Career

1974–1979: Formation and early years

Formed by Larry Blackmon in 1974 as the New York City Players

1979–1993: Mainstream breakthrough

The 1979 single, "I Just Want to Be", reached number 3 on the Billboard magazine Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and along with the follow-up single, the top 10 R&B ballad "Sparkle", pushed the album Secret Omen to gold status with sales of over 500,000 copies, the band's first album to achieve this status. Their next album, Cameosis, came out in 1980 and also achieved gold status thanks in large part to the funk classic "Shake Your Pants", the mid-tempo single "We're Goin' Out Tonight", and the ballad "Why Have I Lost You" (a re-recording of a song from their 1978 album We All Know Who We Are). It reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 25 on the Billboard 200 chart. Their second album of 1980, Feel Me, 1981's Knights of the Sound Table and 1982's Alligator Woman also went gold and saw the band playing up their eclectic style. Band members Aaron Mills, Thomas "TC" Campbell and Jeryl Bright briefly left the band in 1983 to form a spinoff group called MCB. The band released She's Strange in 1984, which performed well and hit number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and 26 on the Billboard 200. The album's title track, eponymous single became the band's first number 1 R&B hit, as well as their first charting pop single; reaching number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1985's album Single Life, featuring the title track and "Attack Me with Your Love", hit number 2 on the Top R&B chart. The single "Word Up!" was released in 1986 and reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart, plus number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's biggest single on the pop chart. The follow-up single "Candy" reached number 1 R&B and 21 pop, while their next release, "Back and Forth", went to number 3 R&B and number 50 pop. Meanwhile, the accompanying album also hit numbers 8 and 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B charts respectively, becoming their highest-charting album. The song hit number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Blackmon was given a co-songwriting credit.

These years saw a great period of inactivity and unofficial hiatus, in which time six compilation albums were released. The compilation albums released in this period were, in chronological order: The Hits Collection (2000), 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Cameo (2001), Anthology (2002), Classic Cameo (2003), The Best of Cameo (2004), Gold (2005) and The Definitive Collection (2006).

2016–present: Recent years

In March 2016, Cameo began a year-long Las Vegas residency show at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.

Discography

  • Cardiac Arrest (1977)
  • We All Know Who We Are (1978)
  • Ugly Ego (1978)
  • Secret Omen (1979)
  • Cameosis (1980)
  • Feel Me (1980)
  • Knights of the Sound Table (1981)
  • Alligator Woman (1982)
  • Style (1983)
  • She's Strange (1984)
  • Single Life (1985)
  • Word Up! (1986)
  • Machismo (1988)
  • Real Men... Wear Black (1990)
  • Emotional Violence (1992)
  • In the Face of Funk (1994)
  • Sexy Sweet Thing (2000)

See also

  • List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart

References

  • Jeff Nelson Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2022)