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Cameo (band)
Cameo is an American funk band that formed in 1974. Cameo was initially a 14-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo. As of the first half of 2009, some of the original members continued to perform together. Two other original members were hired by the hip hop group Outkast. 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. Cameo topped the R&B charts for more than a decade, has sold more than 18 million albums and is considered one of the most popular funk bands of its era. Background 1974–1979: Formation and early years Formed by Larry Blackmon in 1974 as the New York City Players the band was signed by Casablanca Records to its Chocolate City imprint in 1975 as “The Players”. However, according to original band member Nathan Leftenant, the gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid-20th century. It de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths. Funk originated in the mid-1960s, with James Brown's development of a signature groove that emphasized the downbeat—with a heavy emphasis on the first bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently focuses on dance and electronic music under the direction of Brett Alperowitz. Biography Casablanca was founded in 1973 by former Buddah Records executive Neil Bogart, who named the label in homage to the 1942 film ''Casablanca''. He partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris and Buck Reingold in 1973, and was based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after they left Buddah and secured financing from Warner Bros. Records to start the venture. Casablanca became one of the most successful American labels of the 1970s, signing and releasing albums by such acts as Kiss, Donna Summer, Village People, Cher, Lipps Inc. (with lead vocalist Cynthia Johnson), and Parliament (featuring George Clinton). In 1976, the label merged with indie-film c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Degrees
The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holiday, and Freddi Poole. The group were particularly successful in the UK, achieving 13 Top 50 hit singles between 1974 and 1985. The original members were Fayette Pinkney, Shirley Porter and Linda Turner. Porter and Turner were soon replaced by Janet Harmon and Helen Scott. The line-up from 1967 to 1976 was Pinkney, Valerie Holiday and Sheila Ferguson, who would go on to sing lead on most of the group's biggest hits. This line-up topped the US Hot 100 as featured vocalists on the MFSB single "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" in 1974, and had seven UK Top 40 hits, including the 1974 single "When Will I See You Again", which was a huge international hit, reaching the Top 5 in seven countries, including number two in the US and topping the U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars. Disco started as a mixture of music from venues popular with Italian Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans and Black Americans "'Broadly speaking, the typical New York discothèque DJ is young (between 18 and 30) and Italian,' journalist Vince Lettie declared in 1975. ..Remarkably, almost all of the important early DJs were of Italian extraction .. Italian Americans have played a significant role in America's dance music culture .. While Italian Americans mostly from Brooklyn largely created disco from scratch .." in Philadelphia and New York City during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Disco can be seen as a reaction by the 1960s counterculture to both the dominance of rock music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thank God It's Friday (film)
''Thank God It's Friday'' is a 1978 American musical disco comedy film directed by Robert Klane and produced by Motown Productions and Casablanca FilmWorks for Columbia Pictures. Produced at the height of the disco craze, the film features The Commodores performing "Too Hot ta Trot", and Donna Summer performing " Last Dance", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1978. The film features an early performance by Jeff Goldblum and the first major screen appearance by Debra Winger. The film also features Terri Nunn, who would go on to fame in the 1980s new wave group Berlin. This would be one of several Columbia Pictures films in which the studio's "Torch Lady" came to life in the opening credits, showing off her moves for a few seconds prior to the start of the film. Plot ''Thank God It's Friday'' tells several intertwining stories of the patrons and staff of the fictional Los Angeles disco nightclub The Zoo over the course of a single Friday evening. These people in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Omen
''Secret Omen'' is the fourth album by the funk band Cameo, released in 1979. It was their first of 9 albums, and first of 5 consecutive albums, to be certified gold in the US for sales of over 500,000 copies. Track listing # "Energy" – 4:21 (Larry Blackmon) # "I Just Want to Be" – 5:16 (Larry Blackmon, Gregory Johnson) # "Find My Way" – 9:18 (Johnny Melfi) # "Macho" – 5:04 (Larry Blackmon, Tomi Jenkins, Nathan Leftenant) # "The Rock" – 3:56 (Larry Blackmon) # "Sparkle" – 4:49 (Larry Blackmon, Anthony Lockett) # "New York" – 4:57 (Larry Blackmon, Anthony Lockett, Aaron Mills) Personnel *Larry Blackmon - lead vocals, drums, percussion * Gregory Johnson - keyboards, piano, vocals *Aaron Mills - bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals *Damon Mendes - percussion *Anthony Lockett - lead guitar, rhythm guitar, percussion, lead vocals, backing vocals *Fred Wells - guitar *Randy Stern - keyboards *Arnett Leftenant - tenor saxophone, percussion, backing vocals *Nathan Lef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ugly Ego
''Ugly Ego'' is the third album by the funk band Cameo, released in 1978. Track listing All tracks composed by Larry Blackmon; except where indicated # "I'll Be with You" – 4:23 # "Insane" – 5:01 # "Give Love a Chance" – 4:50 (lyrics: Blackmon; music: Anthony Lockett) # "I Want You" – 4:09 # "Ugly Ego" – 4:53 (Blackmon, lyrics: Tomi Jenkins) # "Anything You Wanna Do" – 3:32 (Blackmon, music: Eric Durham) # "Friend to Me" – 5:13 (Blackmon, lyrics: Zelda Black) # "Two of Us" – 4:32 Personnel *Larry Blackmon Larry Ernest Blackmon (born May 24, 1956) is an American vocalist and musician who gained acclaim as the lead singer and founder frontman of the funk and R&B band Cameo. Musical career Starting the band "East Coast", Blackmon formed the "N ... - lead vocals, drums, percussion * Gregory Johnson - keyboards, piano, vocals *Gary Dow - bass guitar *Anthony Lockett - guitar, vocals *Eric Durham - guitar *Arnett Leftenant - saxophone *Nathan Lefte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
We All Know Who We Are
''We All Know Who We Are'' is the second album by the funk band Cameo, released early in 1978. Track listing All tracks composed by Larry Blackmon; except where indicated # "Inflation" – 4:40 # "C On the Funk" – 4:25 # "Why Have I Lost You" – 5:17 # "Stand Up" – 3:34 (Blackmon, Eric Durham) # "We All Know Who We Are" – 4:52 (Blackmon, Tomi Jenkins) # "It's Serious" – 8:06 (Blackmon, Greg "Doc" Johnson) # "It's Over" – 4:17 (Blackmon, Tomi Jenkins, Nathan Leftenant) Personnel *Larry Blackmon Larry Ernest Blackmon (born May 24, 1956) is an American vocalist and musician who gained acclaim as the lead singer and founder frontman of the funk and R&B band Cameo. Musical career Starting the band "East Coast", Blackmon formed the "N ... - lead vocals, drums, percussion * Gregory Johnson - keyboards, piano, vocals *Gary Dow - bass guitar *Eric Durham - guitar *Arnett Leftenant - saxophone, percussion *Nathan Leftenant - trumpet, percussion *Wayne Cooper - v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigor Mortis (song)
"Rigor Mortis" is a song by the funk band Cameo, released on April 20, 1977 in their debut album ''Cardiac Arrest''. In the US, the song peaked at #33 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. In this instance "Rigor Mortis" is a euphemism for being lonesome on the dance floor. Reception Barry Michael Cooper of '' Spin'' wrote, "The first time I heard Cameo's song "Rigor Mortis", I knew there was something different about the guys that sang it. They didn’t have that West Coast studio glitz nor a midwestern twang in their vocals. They were gritty, raw, alley-honed, and street sharp." In the media * "Rigor Mortis" was sampled in Brand Nubian's song '"Brand Nubian". * DJ Quik David Marvin Blake (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper and producer, known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast hip-hop. Blake has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, ... sampled "Rigor Mortis" for his song entitled, "Get At Me". R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiac Arrest (album)
''Cardiac Arrest'' is the debut album by the funk band Cameo. The album reached No. 16 on the R&B charts. It contains the hit singles "Rigor Mortis" and “Funk Funk”. Critical reception Rickey Vincent, in ''Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One'', deemed the album an "exquisite xampleof the fertile, erotic realm of R&B-based funk at its most stretched out." Track listing Personnel *Larry Blackmon - lead vocals, drums, percussion * Gregory Johnson - keyboards, piano, vocals *William Revis - bass guitar *Eric Durham - guitar *Arnett Leftenant - saxophone *Nathan Leftenant - trumpet *Tomi Jenkins, Kurt Jetter - vocals Charts ;Singles References External links * Cardiac Arrest' at Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ... {{Authority ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Record Label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label", derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and promote their singles on streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haras Fyre
Haras Fyre (born January 5, 1953), also known professionally as Patrick Grant, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. After writing songs for Sister Sledge and Ben E. King early in his career in a songwriting duo with his girlfriend Gwen Guthrie, Fyre spent some time in the backing band for The Drifters, before relocating to Switzerland to become a composer of music for corporate events. Background Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, United States, Fyre's early musical influences included Victor Herbert and Frankie Valli. As a teenager, Fyre learned to play his brother's trombone from recordings by Chicago. He subsequently began learning bass while playing with the band Parkway North from East Orange, New Jersey, borrowing a Baldwin Bass from the band's bassist Romeo Williams. In 1971, Fyre joined a local band called the Matchmakers, where he met vocalist and pianist Gwen Guthrie. Fyre and Guthrie became romantically involved, moved in together, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
