CAMEO - SINGLE LIFE

Cameo is a band I have a hard time with.  As I mentioned in a previous review, I like songs they do, but I usually find their albums a bit on the boring side.  I don't know the entire history of the group, but I can put something together based on what I hear on the records.

I suspect Cameo was a product of 70s funk.  They came in on the coat tails of bands like Earth, Wind & Fire, The Temptations, Cool & The Gang...  They play a lot of traditional soul funk.  Their songs are almost textbook in composition.  However, when the 80s started, the lead singer, Larry Blackmon discovered a persona he started to employ on certain songs.  That vocal delivery and his attitude when using this voice changed the fortunes of the band.  I'm not even sure what you'd call him.  But it's quite different from his other material.  The music is more rhythmically centered like much of the Minneapolis Sound then.  'Single Life' is a great example of this.  It may very well be the first track Cameo employed this method of song writing.  Blackmon still sings somewhat in a more traditional R&B manner, but the transition is evident.  The beat and drum sounds are deeper, more prominent and the keyboard melodies are stripped down to serve as accentuation for the drums.

On subsequent records, the sound is more formulated and they deliver stronger material.  Here, the only song I find very appealing is 'Single Life'.  Of the rest of the songs, only 'Little Boys - Dangerous Toys' offers much musically.  'Urban Warrior' features an early rap.  Tame by more modern standards.  Half the record is mid tempo ballads.  Hardly worth spending much time there unless that kind of R&B is what you're into.

Arguably, the first track, 'Attack Me With Your Love' features Blackmon's vocals in the style I enjoy, but it centers too heavily on the other vocalists and still follows a more traditional style of R&B.  It's fine for what it is, but hardly the mind blowing strangeness of 'Single Life'.

I discovered Cameo when they performed 'Single Life' on Solid Gold.  It blew my mind.  I thought they were strange and freaky.  I ordered their tape at the local music store and actually had to wait for it to come in.  When I got it, I was singularly struck with the tune, but unimpressed with the rest of the cassette.  These many years later, even after purchasing the CD, my initial reaction remains my overall feeling for the disc.

My final words:  MIXED WITH STRONGER TRACKS FROM OTHER ALBUMS AND YOU GOT A WINNER.

CAMEO - SINGLE LIFE

01. Attack Me With Your Love

02. Single Life

03. I've Got Your Image

04. A Good-Bye

05. I'll Never Look For Love

06. Urban Warrior

07. Little Boys - Dangerous Toys