by GERARD DEE

Ask Larry Blackmon, lead singer, producer and creative force behind Cameo, to explain the group's longevity, and he'll sum it up in one word: originality. In fact, through their 25-year career, Cameo (now Larry Blackmon's Cameo) has been the freaky funk band, liberally sprinkling elements of rock, jazz and blues into their music, straddling the line between effervescent party jams and social commentary, and using off-centre beats and eccentric effects to juice up their sound. Just don't call it old school.

"I remember, years ago, George Clinton told me, ‘Don't let them put that term on you,'" says Blackmon. "I thought it was just a fad term, but it just won't go away."

The group's core - Blackmon, Tomi Jenkins and Nathan Leftenant - hasn't gone away either, despite membership fluctuations that at one time saw the band's membership balloon to 11 people. There would quite possibly be no Cameo at all, however, without Blackmon's musical ambitions. A former student of New York's prestigious Julliard School of Music, his love of music was nurtured by concerts he saw in his youth. Shows by Jackie Wilson, James Brown and Sam Cooke left an indelible mark on the future frontman. "I don't know if I was taken with the excitement of it all. I dreamed a great deal and that planted the seeds."

In the early '70s, Blackmon's dreams transformed into the reality of his first band, the New York City Players, with a line-up that already included Jenkins and Leftenant. By '76, the group renamed itself Cameo and scored its first hit, the jazzed-inflected "Rigor Mortis" from their debut album Cardiac Arrest. A series of searing funk jams followed, making them one of the premier R&B bands of the '80s. The hits came fast and furious - "I Just Want to Be," "Shake Your Pants," "Keep It Hot," "Freaky Dancin'" and "Flirt," all Top 10 R&B hits.

Then, with Cameo riding high on success, Blackmon changed the game. In 1984 the band released She's Strange, an album of particular significance because of the rock-influenced political jam "Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck" and the moody, quirky and hugely successful title track. Blackmon says the cut was just different.

"It was a very unique song for the time because rap had just started to come in very strong and be accepted by a wide commercial market. ‘She's Strange' was a thinking man's rap." As big as that song was, the best was yet to come. With all of their success, Cameo's popularity was largely limited to funk enthusiasts. That all changed with "Word Up," the edgy title track from their 1986 album. The song touched a chord with audiences worldwide, giving the group the biggest hit of its career. Blackmon says it was the payoff for years of hard work. "We felt as if it was due."

These days, Larry Blackmon's Cameo is still hard on the touring trail, regularly performing in Europe and the U.S. Blackmon says an album of new material is slated for next spring. And after all these years, the message remains the same. "Funk is an artform, and Cameo is about bringing that artform front and centre."

With Majess, Wizard of Oz and Rickey D. at Dôme on Friday, Sept. 17, 10 p.m., $30, ages 25 and over, semi-formal attire required

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