Word Up!
Encyclopedia
Word Up! is an album
by funk
/R&B group Cameo
released in 1986. The record made Cameo one of the most successful bands of that decade.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
/R&B group Cameo
Cameo (band)
Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several...
released in 1986. The record made Cameo one of the most successful bands of that decade.
Track listing
- Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6 & 7 Published By All Seeing Eye Music-Better Days Music. Tracks 4 & 5 Published By All Seeing Eye Music-Better Days Music-Better Nights Music.
- "Word Up!"Word Up! (song)"Word Up!" is a funk/hip hop song written and originally recorded by Cameo in 1986. Due to its heavy play on American dance and R&B radio, as well as music video play on MTV , the single became the band's most well-known hit.From the album of the same name, "Word Up!" was Nick's first US Top 40...
(Larry Blackmon, Tomi Jenkins) 4:21 - "CandyCandy (Cameo song)"Candy" is a song by funk group Cameo, released as the second single from their 1986 album Word Up!. It reached number twenty-one on the Hot 100 and number one on the R&B charts in 1987...
" (Blackmon, Jenkins) 5:39 - "Back and Forth" (Kevin Kendrick, Nathan Leftenant, Blackmon, Jenkins) 6:33
- "Don't Be Lonely" (Blackmon, Jenkins, Kendrick, Willlie Morris) 5:19
- "She's Mine" (Blackmon, Leftenant, Antonio Matthews, Ray Malloy) 4:37
- "Fast, Fierce & Funny" (Blackmon, Jenkins, Leftenant) 4:09
- "You Can Have the World" (Blackmon, Jenkins, Leftenant) 4:38
Cameo
- Larry BlackmonLarry BlackmonLarry Ernest Blackmon is the lead singer and frontman for the funk and R&B band, Cameo. He came to Cameo from the band, Black Ivory....
: Lead VocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, Electric BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, Backing VocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Tomi Jenkins: Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
- Nathan Leftenant: Backing Vocals
Other Players
- Charlie Singleton: GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Backing Vocals - Aaron Mills: Bass
- Michael Burnett: Bass, Backing Vocals
- Bernard Wright, Eric Rehl, Kenni Hairston, Kevin Kendrick, Merv de Peyer: Keyboards
- Duduka Fonseca, Giovanni Hidalgo, Steve Thornton: Percussion
- Melvin Wells: SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, Backing Vocals - Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
: Saxophone - Randy BreckerRandy BreckerRandal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
: Saxophone - Arno Hecht: Tenor SaxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Crispin Cioe: Alto SaxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, Baritone SaxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece... - Robert Funk: TromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Paul Litteral: TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Sammy Merendino: Drum Programming
- Patrick Buchanon: Guitars
- Peter Scherer: SynclavierSynclavierThe Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
Programming - Willie Morris: Backing Vocals