My cousin was playing this song in his car when we went out for lunch last weekend. I was like, "Blast From The Past Radio!"
I.I.N.M., even at this late date Manhattan Cable TV in NYC still had only 14 'lettered' channels (A through N) on their boxes: Don't even remember at what point they added BET . . . but I do seem to remember there were huge fights over what cable channels would get what slots. Of course, HBO, then owned by the same company that ran Manhattan Cable, was on their system . . . Then they evolved to this: Can anyone spot BET on this unit?
We were very fortunate in my tiny town to have BET from the very beginning on our independent cable company. It could be because it is a military town, and that the owner of the company was Black.
I remember seeing copies of this 45 when it was out, and of this, the chorus is the main thing I remember of the song itself.
Looks like a vague composite of other people's experiences. Oran "Juice" Jones: 'In The Rain' 30 Years Later | BlackDoctor.org - Where Wellness & Culture Connect It might be the best one-hit-wonder R&B song of the 80's.
And here's the label for the 45: That box, regardless of whether left or right depending on how label layouts were arranged, sure ruined many label designs, didn't it?
Ho-kay, then, let's see what the reaction to this'll be (and believe me, I understand the balance of keeping to the timeline and figuring out how many #1's on what charts were in a given year - and besides . . . ): "Word Up" by Cameo (#1 for 3 weeks - October 4-18, 1986) Hearing this certainly brings back memories . . . the whistling from the theme from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly . . . and a lead vocal from Larry Blackmon which reminded me a bit of the late Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner of the Ohio Players . . . I'll stand back now . . .
Loved this one. Tons of fun, funk that definitely nodded toward rap & hip-hop. Cameo had been charting on the R&B side for a decade without any pop success. "Word Up!" changed all that, at least briefly.
I'm curious...what was the reason for adding bar codes to 45s anyway? Why didn't all labels do it - Arista and Capitol never bar-coded their singles - at least not on the labels anyway.
One of the definitive singles of the decade. Despite being positively 80’s it still sounds fresh today. Love it!
Yeah, right? But with CBS it was worse in a way, since their center labels' diameter was 3.5" as opposed to 3.625" for the rest of the industry. (And Capitol's plants ceased vinyl production in early 1986, which threw their 3.3125" center label diameter standard out the window.)
Oh, and as far as that box . . . it seemed a bit bigger and higher than on Columbia pressings of A&M 45's up to the early '70's, such as . . .
New #1: Shake You Down - Gregory Abbott Week ending October 25, 1986. 2 weeks Another monster hit. He wasn't a one-hit wonder here on the R&B side, though. He would rack up at least three more top 10 singles. His voice annoys me, though.
“GIRRRRRRL, I’ve been watchin’ youuuuu”. A monster indeed. Still hear it on grocery store radio quite a bit
That's not the only thing about this that's grating on the nerves. I noticed at least two songs which had snippets lifted for this in its melody and chord structure. Namely, the chorus of "Caravan Of Love" by Isley Jasper Isley, and the bridge of "You Are My Lady" by Freddie Jackson.
Meanwhile, over on Soul Train, there was another milestone, yet one not as nearly publicized or well-regarded as Elton John's and David Bowie's appearances in the mid-1970's. Around this period the program was witness to the only appearance on the show by a white country artist, Earl Thomas Conley, by dint of his duet with Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters, "Too Many Times," which (to my knowledge) didn't even make a dent on the R&B charts, but peaked at #2 on the country chart for the week ending Nov. 1, 1986, as also noted in: EVERY Billboard #1 country hit discussion thread 1985-1989 As their Soul Train appearance doesn't seem to be online, their video'll have to do:
That's it! This song is so derivative! The ladies loved this song, but I never understood how with his voice.
It could be argued that the only thing "country" about this record was Mr. Conley's voice and delivery. Yet . . .
Monster hit. You still hear this one occasionally. Didn't "You Are My Lady" already come up on this thread? And wasn't it noted then that "Shake You Down" totally ripped off that beat as well as the bridge? Nobody ever went broke making derivative pop. Or R&B.
