473 Hello Cameo - She's Strange

Chart  entered : 31  March  1984

Chart  peak : 37  ( 22  on  re-issue  in  1985 )

Number  of  hits  : 10

From  Pete  Burns  we  move  on  to  another  guy  who  liked  to  advertise  his  "credentials ".

I'd  no  idea  this  lot  had  a  considerable  history. Main  man  Larry  Blackmon  was  born  in  New  York  in  1956  and  started  out  as  a  session  drummer. He  played  on  the  first  two  singles  by  the  vocal  trio  Black  Ivory , "Don't  Turn  Around", "You  And  I"   which  were  both  moderate  hits  in  the  US. Both  are  soft  soul  in  the  Stylistics  mould. In  1973  he  and  keyboard  player  Greg  Johnson  formed  the  band  East  Coast  with  singer  Gwen  Guthrie  ( of  Ain't  Nothing  Going  On  But  The  Rent  fame ) . They  released  one  eponymous  album  in  1973 . I've  heard  four  tracks  which  are  decent  examples  of  early  70s  urban  soul  although  Gwen's  vocals  could  certainly  do  with  being  polished  up.

Larry  and  Johnson  then  formed  the  New  York  City  Players  , a  13-man  collective  signed  to  Casablanca's  Chocolate  imprint  in  1976. Their  first  single  "Find  My  Way"  was  meant  to  be  released  under  the  name , "The  Players"  but  they  changed  their  name  to  Cameo  fearing  a  lawsuit  from  the  Ohio  Players.  I  have  little  idea  who  the other  members  were  until  their  first  album  "Cardiac  Arrest "  in  1977. The   only  ones  from  that  who  survived  into  the  line  up  for  this  single  were  Larry, co-vocalist  Tomi  Jenkins  and  trumpeter  Nathan  Leftenant ; Johnson  had  quit  in  1978.

"She's  Strange"  was  the  title  track  from  their  tenth  album  and  I  won't  pretend  for  a  moment  that  I've  listened  all  the  way  through  each  of  them. Checking  out  their  long  list  of  singles  that  didn't  break  out  of  the  R &  B  chart  is  probably  enough. They  pitched  their  tent  halfway  between  Parliament / Funkadelic  and  Earth, Wind  &  Fire  lacking  the  out  there  zaniness  of  the  former  or  the  good  pop  tunes  of  the  latter. Their  debut  single  "Find  My  Way"  is  a  lightweight  disco  number  but  the  subsequent  singles  from  their  debut  LP  "Cardiac  Arrest "  had  a  harder  funk  sound. 1978's  "It's  Over"  featuring  singer  Wayne  Cooper  and  a  surfeit  of  xylophones  showed  they  could  do  ballads  as  well. Its  parent  LP  "We  All  Know  Who  We  Are"  got  to  number  58  in  the  US. Their  third  "Ugly  Ego"  followed  in  the  same  year and  reached  number  85. 1979's  "Secret  Omen" restored  their  upward  trajectory  reaching  number  46.

By  the  turn  of  the  eighties  the  band  were  starting  to  use  synthesisers  more  as  heard  on  the  Prince-like "Shake  Your  Pants"  the  lead  single  for  their  next  album  "Cameosis"  which  reached  number  25. That  was  the  first  of  two  albums  in   1980  , the  second  being  "Feel  Me" which  got to  44. Its  lead  single  "Keep  It  Hot "  is  the  first  to  feature  Larry's  trademark  nasal "Yow"s,   1981's "Knights  of  The  Sound  Table"  album   was  the  first  to  feature  guitarist  Charlie  Singleton  though  only  as  a  vocalist.  It  reached  number  44.

With  1982's  "Alligator  Woman"  changes  were  afoot. It  was  Johnson's  last  album  with  the  band  and  his  replacement  Kevin  Kendrick  is  also  credited  as  a  keyboard  player  on  the  album.  With  the  shift  towards  a  more  electronic  sound  and  the  advances  in  drum  technology  Larry  was  freed  from  the  drum  stool  to  become  the  pop-eyed  frontman  with  the  red  cod  piece  ( though  that  came  later )  we  all  remember. It  was  their  highest  charting  album  ( number  23 )  but  their  last  for  Chocolate  City  as  they  switched  to  Atlanta  Artists.

The  change  in  sound  also  allowed  Larry  to  trim  the  band  down  to   a  five  piece  of  him  Tomi, Charlie, Nathan  and  Kevin  for  1983's  "Style". That  reached  number  53,  its  cause  perhaps  not  helped  by  one  of  the  singles  being  a  pretty  dreadful  version  of  "Can't  Help  Falling  In  Love". Before  the  next  album  they  were  joined  by  bassist  Melvin  Wells.

"She's  Strange "  (  I  think  it's  meant  as  a  comlpliment  ) saw  them  moving  on  to  hip  hop. Larry  does  the  verses  as  a  soft-edged   rap  over  a  slamming  backbeat  and   lazy   funk  bass  line   while  Kevin  plays  Spaghetti  Western  motifs  on  the  keys  to  provide  some  melody. It  was  helped  along  by  a  cool  video  with  some  tasty  "chicks", both  real  and  not-so-real  and  was  their  breakthrough  single  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  reaching  number  47  in  the  US. Not  really  my  cup  of  tea  but  by  God  they  deserved  it !