Word Up! (album)

Word Up!
Studio album by Cameo
Released	September 9, 1986
Recorded	1985–1986; Quad Recording Studio; Counter Point Studio; Power Station Studio; Sound Ideas Studio; (all in New York City)
Genre	Funk, R&B
Length	34:46
Label	Atlanta Artists
Producer	Larry Blackmon
Cameo chronology

Word Up! is an album by American funk/R&B group Cameo, released in 1986.[3] The album made Cameo one of the most successful bands of the 1980s[4] and includes two of their biggest hit singles, "Word Up!" and "Candy".

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Village Voice	B[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Word Up"	Larry Blackmon, Tomi Jenkins	4:21
2.	"Candy"	Blackmon, Jenkins	5:39
3.	"Back and Forth"	Kevin Kendrick, Nathan Leftenant, Blackmon, Jenkins	6:33
4.	"Don't Be Lonely"	Blackmon, Jenkins, Kendrick, Willlie Morris	5:19
5.	"She's Mine"	Blackmon, Leftenant, Antonio Matthews, Ray Malloy	4:37
6.	"Fast, Fierce & Funny"	Blackmon, Jenkins, Leftenant	4:09
7.	"You Can Have the World"	Blackmon, Jenkins, Leftenant	4:38

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.

Personnel

Cameo

Larry Blackmon – lead vocals, bass guitar, drums, percussion, backing vocals
Tomi Jenkins – lead vocals, backing vocals
Nathan Leftenant – backing vocals

Other players

Charlie Singleton – guitar, backing vocals
Aaron Mills – bass guitar
Michael Burnett – bass guitar, backing vocals
Bernard Wright, Eric Rehl, Kenni Hairston, Kevin Kendrick, Merv de Peyer – keyboards
Duduka Fonseca, Giovanni Hidalgo, Steve Thornton – percussion
Melvin Wells – saxophone, backing vocals
Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone (solo on "Candy", "Don't Be Lonely" and "She's Mine")
Randy Brecker – trumpet
Arno Hecht – tenor saxophone
Crispin Cioe – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
Robert Funk – trombone
Paul Litteral – trumpet
Sammy Merendino – drum programming
Pat Buchanan – guitars
Peter Scherer – Synclavier programming
Willie Morris – backing vocals

Critical reception

Accolades

Word Up! was ranked number 5 among the "Albums of the Year" by NME.[5]

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart[6]	75
Canadian Albums Chart	72
Dutch Albums Chart[7]	48
German Albums Chart	34
New Zealand Albums Chart[8]	13
Switzerland Albums Chart[9]	30
UK Albums Chart[10]	7
US Billboard 200[11]	8
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[11]	1

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[12]	Gold	100,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)[13]	Platinum	1,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles

"Word Up" – released May 27, 1986
"Candy" – released October 21, 1986
"Back and Forth" – released February 24, 1987

References

AllMusic review
Christgau, Robert (December 30, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
Henderson, Alex. "Cameo: Word Up! > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
O'Donnell, David (11 December 2008). "One of the most successful bands of the 80s". BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
"Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
https://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Cameo
"charts.nz - Discography Cameo". charts.nz. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
"Cameo - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
"CAMEO - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
"Word Up! - Cameo". Billboard. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
"British album certifications – Cameo – Word Up". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2018-12-25. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Word Up in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
"American album certifications – Cameo – Word Up". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2018-12-26. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.

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[1] AllMusic review

[2] Christgau, Robert (December 30, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 12, 2016.

[AMG-3] Henderson, Alex. "Cameo: Word Up! > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 28 March 2010.

[4] O'Donnell, David (11 December 2008). "One of the most successful bands of the 80s". BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2010.

[5] "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2018.

[kent-6] David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[7] ttps://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Cameo

[8] "charts.nz - Discography Cameo". charts.nz. Retrieved 26 December 2018.

[9] "Cameo - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 26 December 2018.

[10] "CAMEO - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 25 December 2018.

[chart-11] "Word Up! - Cameo". Billboard. Retrieved 28 March 2010.

[United_KingdomCameoWord_UpalbumCertRef-12] "British album certifications – Cameo – Word Up". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2018-12-25. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Word Up in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

[United_StatesCameoWord_UpalbumCertRef-13] "American album certifications – Cameo – Word Up". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2018-12-26. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.

Cameo
Larry Blackmon Anthony Lockett Aaron Mills Tomi Jenkins Charlie Singleton Jeryl Bright Michael Burnett Thomas Campbell Wayne Cooper Merve de Peyer Gary Dow Eric Durham Gregory Johnson Kurt Jeter John Kellogg Kevin Kendrick Arnett Leftenant Nathan Leftenant Damon Mendes Stephen Moore William Morris Eric Nelson Jeff Nelson William Revis Charles Sampson Robert L. Smith Billy Allen Jr Melvin Wells Gregory B. Johnson
Studio albums	Cardiac Arrest (1977) We All Know Who We Are (1978) Ugly Ego (1978) Secret Omen (1979) Cameosis (1980) Feel Me (1980) Knights of the Sound Table (1981) Alligator Woman (1982) Style (1983) She's Strange (1984) Single Life (1985) Word Up! (1986) Machismo (1988) Real Men... Wear Black (1990) Emotional Violence (1991) In the Face of Funk (1994) Sexy Sweet Thing (2000)
Live albums	Nasty (1996) Live: Word Up (1998) Original Artist Hit List (2003) Nasty, Live & Funky (2007) Word Up! Greatest Hits – Live (2007) Keep It Hot (2007)
Compilation albums	Shake Your Pants (1992) The Best of Cameo (1993) The Best of Cameo, Volume 2 (1996) Best of Cameo (1998) The Ballads Collection (1998) Greatest Hits (1998) 12" Collection and More (1999) The Hits Collection (2000) Anthology/Gold (2002/2005) Classic Cameo (2003) The Best of Cameo (2004) The Definitive Collection (2006)
Singles	"Rigor Mortis" "Shake Your Pants" "She's Strange" "Attack Me With Your Love" "Word Up!" "Candy" "Back and Forth" "I Want It Now" "Loverboy"
Related	Discography