History
In 1974, Cameo started out with 10 members created by Larry Blackmon and called the New York City Players. They were Signed by Casablanca Records to their Chocolate City imprint in 1976, the group soon changed its name to Cameo after concerns that "New York City Players" might cause confusion between them and the funk band Ohio Players. Prior to this, Blackmon, keyboardist Gregory Johnson, and the late Gwen Guthrie formed the band East Coast, together with James Wheeler (alto saxophone), Melvin Whay (bass), Michael Harris (percussion), and Haras Fyre (also known as Pat Grant) on trombone. They released one self-titled album in 1973 on the independent label Encounter.
Cameo started with a deep, funky sound, but it was obvious from the start their sights were set on the dance floor. Their first album was titled Cardiac Arrest The gold status achieving single titled Rigor Mortis was the start of Cameo's hit-studded career. Ugly Ego, We All Know Who We Are, and Secret Omen contained dance floor songs such as, "I Just Want To Be" and "Find My Way," the latter of which was a major disco smash and was included on the soundtrack to Thank God It's Friday. But the sleeper hit on the movie was It's Serious. The height of Cameo's career was Word Up! The writers of the song were actually Larry Ernest Blackmon (founder & front man to Cameo) and Thomas Michael Jenkins (member of the group).
Read more about this topic: Cameo (band)
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