In 2010, Cherry Red’s Superbird imprint combined Cameo’s first two albums, Cardiac Arrest and We All Know Who We Are, in one package.  Now, five years later, Cherry Red’s Robinsongs has just reissued the funk supergroup’s third and fourth outings, 1978’s Ugly Ego and 1979’s Secret Omen.

Originally founded as The New York City Players, Larry Blackmon and his big band soon changed the group name to Cameo, to avoid confusion with the Ohio Players.  Prior to this, Blackmon (the band’s percussionist and also its chief creative force as songwriter and producer) and keyboardist-arranger Gregory Johnson had played together in the band East Coast.  Taking their cues from not only the Ohio Players but George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Blackmon and his crew knew how to get funky – but also had their sights on the dance floor.

Released on Casablanca’s Chocolate City imprint, Cameo’s 1977 debut Cardiac Arrest went Top 20 on the U.S. R&B chart and also spawned two R&B hits (“Rigor Mortis” and “Funk Funk”); sophomore LP We All Know Who We Are yielded another R&B chart entry with “Serious.”  Ugly Ego, recorded in New York and Burbank, featured a nine-piece iteration of the group; its line-up had been somewhat fluid since Cardiac Arrest.  Former jazz bassist and veteran arranger Johnny Pate (Curtis Mayfield, Bee Gees) supplied string charts for the album.  Upon its release in September 1978, the chart placement of Ego was anything but ugly, as it reached No. 16 R&B (just one notch below We All Know Who We Are).  The funk jam “Insane” reached the R&B Top 20; the ballad “Give Love a Chance” made the lower reaches of the R&B chart at No. 76.

Cameo picked up creative and commercial steam with the second release on this set, Secret Omen.  With seven members from the Ugly Ego line-up remaining in place, Omen took Cameo into the R&B Top 5 for the very first time.  Recorded in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, it also included the band’s biggest hits on the R&B singles chart yet: the exuberant No. 3 smash “I Just Want to Be,” and the silky No. 10 “Sparkle.”   The album took inspiration from disco, funk and even Philadelphia soul and set the stage for Cameosis.  That LP kicked off the 1980s for Cameo with a No. 1 R&B album.

Robinsongs will follow the release of Ugly Ego and Secret Omen in March with another two-fer, of Cameosis and Feel Me, both from 1980.  In addition to reaching pole position, Cameosis also crossed over with a not-too-shabby Top 25 Pop placement.  Album No. 6, Feel Me, wasn’t quite as successful despite two more Top 30 R&B singles (one of which, “Keep It Hot,” hit No. 4) but the successes kept on coming for Cameo.  1986’s Word Up! finally cracked the U.S. Top 10 Pop chart and earned the group its only charting album in the United Kingdom, as well.  Since that peak, Cameo has released a further five albums, and Larry Blackmon continues to tour today with an iteration of the group he founded.

Ugly Ego/Secret Omen is available now, while Cameosis/Feel Me follows on March 9 in the U.K. and one week later in the U.S.  Both include new essays by Lois Wilson and Charles Waring. respectively. Remastering on both release is courtesy Alan Wilson.  You can order below!

Cameo, Ugly Ego/Secret Omen (Robinsongs CDMRED648, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

1. I’ll Be with You
2. Insane
3. Give Love a Chance
4. I Want You
5. Ugly Ego
6. Anything You Wanna Do
7. Friend to Me
8. Two of Us
9. Energy
10. I Just Want to Be
11. Find My Way
12. Macho
13. The Rock
14. Sparkle
15. New York

Tracks 1-8 from Ugly Ego, Chocolate City CCLP 2006, 1978
Tracks 9-15 from Secret Omen, Chocolate City CCLP 2008, 1979

Cameo, Cameosis/Feel Me (Robinsongs CDMRED652, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

1. Cameosis
2. Shake Your Pants
3. Please You
4. We’re Goin’ Out Tonight
5. I Care for You
6. On the One
7. Why Have I Lost You
8. Shake Your Pants (Bonus Track – 7” Version)
9. Throw It Down
10. Your Love Takes Me Out
11. Keep It Hot
12. Feel Me
13. Is This the Way
14. Roller Skates
15. Better Days

Tracks 1-7 from Cameosis, Chocolate City CCLP 2011, 1980
Track 8 from Chocolate City single 3210, 1980
Track 9 from Feel Me, Chocolate City 2016, 1980