"Back and Forth" by Cameo

Song#:  3103
Date:  04/25/1987
Debut:  86
Peak:  50
Weeks:  8
Genre:  R&B, Electro-Funk



Pop Bits:  The band's twelfth album Word Up! became their biggest seller going platinum and hitting #1 R&B and #8 Pop. It boasted two major hits that both hit #1 at R&B, "Word Up" (#3 Pop) and "Candy" (#21 Pop). To keep the ball rollin', they released this third single. It would be their twelfth Top 10 at R&B reaching #3. It would also hit #6 at Dance, but at Pop it could only crack the top half of the chart. A fourth single, "She's Mine," would be released, but it failed to chart.

ReduxReview:  This song leaned more towards R&B than the hooky dance-pop of "Word Up" and that didn't do it any favors at Pop. However, it was another solid track from the group and it really should have done better. Once again, the production was stellar and the "our love goes" line was quite memorable. It also featured a nice guitar solo. Larry Blackmon and his crew were certainly at the top of their game with the Word Up! album.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Cameo originated in New York City as a ten member unit. Following the #2 R&B success of their seventh album, 1981's Knights of the Sound Table, Blackmon reduced the band to five members and moved them to Atlanta. The new outfit recorded 1982's Alligator Woman, which was another gold record (#6 R&B). With the success came clout with the band's home label Polygram and that allowed Blackmon to start his own vanity label Atlanta Artists. The first album released under the new label was Cameo's 1983 LP Style. It wasn't a big success, but they rallied back in 1984 with the gold album She's Strange. Cameo would release four more studio albums under the Atlanta Artists name, but had to stop when they left Polygram for Reprise in the early 90s. While Atlanta Artists was mainly for Cameo recordings, Blackmon did sign two other artists to the label, R&B band Ca$hflow and singer Barbara Mitchell. Ca$hflow had some initial success with a pair of hits from their 1986 self-titled debut album including the #8 R&B single "Party Freak." A second album failed to do much and the band split. Mitchell was the former lead singer of High Inergy ("He's a Pretender," 1983, #82 Pop). She signed on with Atlanta Artists for her second solo effort High on Love. Unfortunately, the album failed to generate any charting singles and it quietly disappeared.

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