Cameo DEFINITIVE COLLECTIO

Cameo: Charlie Singleton (vocals, various instruments); Nathan Leftenant (vocals, trumpet); Larry Blackmon (vocals, bass guitar, drums, percussion); Tomi Jenkins (vocals).
Though it took a while for Cameo to break in the U.S. (they'd had two hit U.K. singles before their first American hit, "Word Up"), their sound was to become synonymous with 1980s R&B. This collection of hits and album tracks collects '80s dance classics like "Single Life" and "She's Strange," all featuring the group's sonic signature of Larry Blackmon's idiosyncratic vocals, synthetic drums, and a popping bass line. The influence of Parliament/Funkadelic is obvious in cuts like "Rigor Mortis" and "Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck," while "Candy" and "Back & Forth" are the kind of sunny pop/R&B that was unfortunately all but extinct by the '90s.

• Format: CD
• Genre: R&B