Episode 30: Egyptian Lover on Cameo’s “Cameosis” (1980)

Episode notes

The album: Cameo: Cameosis (1980)

Egyptian Lover is one of the pivotal figures in shaping the sound of Los Angeles funk and hip-hop beginning in the 1980s. As a teen, he became a core member of the all-powerful Uncle Jamm’s Army party crew and by the mid-80s, he was an artist in his own right, releasing a series of key electro albums that would help pave the way for the emergence of other L.A. groups like the Dream Team and N.W.A.

For our episode, Egyptian Lover wanted to take us back to the formative moment before all that had happened, when he was still in high school, hustling pause tapes of the latest funk jams to his classmates. Cameo’s Cameosis was the group’s fourth album in three years, the first to finally hit #1 on the charts, and the source of the monster hit, “Shake Your Pants.”

During our discussion, we got into everything from the genius of Cameo’s Larry Blackmon to what made the group different from other funk outfits (hint: the horns) to how one properly programs a slow jam within a mix of party funk songs.

More on Cameosis

• Craig Lyles review of the album (AllMusic.com)
• Interview with group co-founder Tomi Jenkins and engineer Henry Falco (Wax Poetics)

More on Egyptian Lover

• “7 Things You Should Know About Egyptian Lover” (Red Bull Music Academy)
• Ned Raggett’s interview and profile of Egyptian Lover (The Guardian)
• Facebook | Twitter

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Cameosis unless indicated otherwise):

• “Cameosis”
• Egyptian Lover: On the Nile “Egypt, Egypt”
• “Why Have I Lost You”
• Rick James: Come Get It! “Mary Jane”
• “Shake Your Pants”
• “We’re Goin’ Out Tonight”
• Diana Ross: Diana “Upside Down”
• George Benson: Give Me the Night “Give Me the Night”
• Zapp & Roger: Zapp “More Bounce to the Ounce”
• One Way: Who’s Foolin’ Who “Cutie Pie”
• Cameo: Secret Omen “I Just Want to Be”
• “Shake Your Pants”
• Cameo: Secret Omen “I Just Want to Be”
• “On the One”
• Parliament: Mothership Connection “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)”
• “Why Have I Lost You”
• “I Care for You”
• The Sugarhill Gang: Sugarhill Gang “Rapper’s Delight”
• Cameo: Word Up! “Word Up”
• “Please You”
• Egyptian Lover: Back from the Tomb “I Need a Freak”

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