Word Up! (album)

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".

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
Single Life (1985) Word Up! (1986) Machismo (1988)

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^^ ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^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

1. AllMusic review
2. Christgau, Robert (December 30, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
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.
6. David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
7. https://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.
11. "Word Up! - Cameo". Billboard. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
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.
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.