This US soul/funk group, originally called the New York City Players, was formed in 1974 by the core members Larry 'Mr. B' Blackmon (b. New York City, New York, USA; drums, vocals) and vocalists Thomas Jenkins and Nathan Leftenant. Building up a strong following by undergoing rigorous touring schedules, with their backing group at times numbering almost a dozen members, they signed with the Casablanca subsidiary label Chocolate City, where they recorded their debut, Cardiac Arrest, produced by Blackmon. Touring alongside Parliament and Funkadelic enhanced their reputation and subsequent album releases gained modest positions in the US pop chart. In Britain, they enjoyed a loyal cult following, but it was not until Cameo's seventh album release, Knights Of The Sound Table, that they were afforded a UK release. However, in 1984, the single 'She's Strange' crossed over from soul/funk into the pop market and Cameo found themselves with their first UK Top 40 single. After the success of the following year's 'Single Life' (UK Top 20), 'She's Strange' was remixed and peaked at number 22. Three sell-out shows at London's Hammersmith Odeon followed. Having won over the UK pop market, it was not until 1986 that they finally broke into the US Top 40 chart; 'Word Up' had reached number 3 in the UK, and subsequently reached number 1 in the US R&B chart and number 6 in the Billboard pop chart. Having trimmed down the group to the core trio of Blackmon, Jenkins and Leftenant, and only using additional session players when necessary, Blackmon attracted most of the media attention. His image was helped in no small degree by the expansive, bright red codpiece he wore on stage. Blackmon's own studio Atlanta Artists allowed him almost total control over Cameo's sound and helped him to promote and nurture local musical talent. By the 90s, however, their commercial success had dramatically waned, and founder member Jenkins left in 1992.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 1998

The Cameo Tribute Page

LOOK	ALBUM	YEAR
	Live: Word Up	1998
	Ballad Collection	1998
	Greatest Hits	1998
	Nasty	1996
	The Best Of Cameo: Volume 2	1996
	Secret Omen	1996
	The Best Of Cameo	1993
	Shake Your Pants	1992
	Emotional Violence	1992
	Real Men Wear Black	1990
	Machismo	1988
	Word Up	1986
	Single Life	1985
	She's Strange	1984
	Style	1983
	Alligator Woman	1982
	Knights Of The Sound Table	1981
	Cameosis	1980
	Ugly Ego	1978
	Cardiac Arrest	1977
	We All Know Who We Are	1977

Live: Word Up 1998

01. Shake Your Pants 02. Skin I'm In 03. Nasty 04. Why Have I Lost You 05. Word Up

06. Candy 07. She's Strange 08. Sparkle 09. Back & Forth 10. I Just Want To Be

Ballads Collection 1998

01. Why Have I Lost You 02. Sparkle 03. It's Over 04. Feel Me 05. We All Know Who We Are 06. Hangin' Downtown

07. Love You Anyway 08. Don't Be Lonely 09. I Owe It All To You 10. I'll Always Stay 11. I Never Knew 12. Why Have I Lost You

Greatest Hits 1998

01. Word Up 02. Single Life 03. Candy 04. She's Strange 05. Attack Me With Your Love 06. Back And Forth

07. You Make Me Work 08. I just Want To Be 09. Sparkle 10. Skin I'm In 11. Freaky Dancin' 12. Keep It Hot

Nasty 1996

01. Intro 02. Flirt 03. She's Strange 04. Back & Forth 05. Skin I'm In 06. Why Have I Lost You 07. Sparkle 08. Candy

09. Shake Your Pants (Intro) 10. Shake Your Pants 11. I Just Want To Be 12. Keep It Hot 13. Word Up 14. Come Fly With Me - ('96) 15. Nasty - ('96) 16. Mega-Mix

The Best Of Cameo: Volume 2 1996

01. Don't Be So Cool - (with Nona Hendryx) 02. I Want It Now 03. In The Night - (with Miles Davis) 04. We're Going Out Tonight 05. Why Have I Lost You 06. Hangin' Downtown 07. It's Serious

08. Freaky Dancin' 09. Keep It Hot 10. Be Yourself 11. Alligator Woman 12. Insane 13. We All Know Who We Are 14. Feel Me 15. Your Love Takes Me Out

Secret Omen 1996

1. Energy 2. I Just Want To Be 3. Find My Way 4. Macho

5. The Rock 6. Sparkle 7. New York

The Best Of Cameo 1993

01. Word Up 02. Single Life 03. Candy 04. Shake Your Pants 05. Rigor Mortis 06. Attack Me With Your Love 07. Talkin' Out The Side Of Your Neck

08. Sparkle 09. Back And Forth - (single version) 10. Flirt 11. She's Strange - (12" rap version) 12. I Just Want To Be 13. Skin I'm In 14. It's Over

Shake Your Pants 1992

1. I Just Want To Be 2. The Rock 3. Macho 4. I'll Always Stay

5. Shake Your Pants 6. I Care For You 7. Feel Me 8. Keep It Hot

Emotional Violence 1992

01. Emotional Violence 02. Money 03. Raw But Tasty 04. Front Street 05. Kid Don't Believe It

06. Another Love 07. Don't Crash 08. Love Yourself 09. Nothing Less Than Love 10. That Kind Of Guy

Real Men...Wear Black 1990

1. Close Quarters 2. I Want It Now 3. Me 4. Attitude 5. Get Paid

6. Am I Bad Enough 7. Time, Fire And Space 8. Nan-Yea 9. Just A Broken Heart

Machismo 1988

1. Promiscuous 2. Dkwig 3. Pretty Girls 4. In The Night - (with Miles Davis)

5. Honey 6. Skin I'm In 7. I Like The World 8. Soul Tightened 9. You Make Me Work

Word Up 1986

1. Word Up 2. Candy 3. Back And Forth 4. Don't Be Lonely

5. She's Mine 6. Fast, Fierce, And Funny 7. You Can Have The World

Single Life 1985

1. I've Got Your Image 2. Single Life 3. Attack Me With Your Love 4. A Good-Bye

5. I'll Never Look For Love 6. Urban Warrior 7. Little Boys, Dangerous Toys

She's Strange 1984

1. She's Strange 2. Love You Anyway 3. Talkin' Out The Side Of Your Neck

4. Tribute To Bob Marley 5. Groove With You 6. Hangin' Downtown 7. Le Ve Toi

Style 1983

1. Aphrodisiac 2. This Life Is Not For Me 3. You're A Winner 4. Can't Help Falling In Love 5. Interlude (Serenity)

6. Style 7. Cameo's Dance 8. Let's Not Talk Slot 9. Slow Movin' 10. Heaven Only Knows

Alligator Woman 1982

1. Be Yourself 2. Soul Army 3. Flirt 4. Enjoy Your Life

5. Alligator Woman/Secrets Of Time 6. I Owe It All To You 7. For You

Knights Of The Sound Table 1981

1. Knights By Nights 2. Freaky Dancin' 3. I Never Knew 4. Use It Or Lose It

5. The Sound Table 6. Don't Be So Cool - with Nona Hendryx 7. I'll Always Stay 8. I Like It

Cameosis 1980

1. Cameosis 2. Shake Your Pants 3. Please You 4. We're Goin' Out Tonight

5. I Care For You 6. On The One 7. Why Have I Lost You

Ugly Ego 1978

1. I'll Be With You 2. Insane 3. Give Love A Chance 4. I Want You

5. Ugly Ego 6. Anything You Wanna Do 7. Friend To Me 8. Two Of Us

Cardiac Arrest 1977

1. Still Feels Good 2. Post Mortem 3. Smile 4. Funk, Funk

5. Find My Way 6. Rigor Mortis 7. Good Times 8. Stay By My Side

We All Know Who We Are 1977

1. Inflation 2. C On The Funk 3. Why Have I Lost You 4. Stand Up

5. We All Know Who We Are 6. It's Serious 7. It's Over