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Word Up
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Date Aired
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March 2nd, 2015
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Running Time
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13:29
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Todd plays "Word Up" on the piano.
CAMEO - WORD UP
A one-hit wonder retrospective
Todd: Welcome back to One Hit Wonderland, where we look at bands and artists known for only one song. But before we do that, I just wanted to confirm, "Uptown Funk"—still awesome.
- Clip of Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"
- Bruno: Come on!
Todd (VO): At the end of this week, "Uptown Funk" is still the #1 song in this country, which is great, and it's made me realize what a wonderful trip Bruno Mars has taken us through a neglected era of R&B.
- Clip of "Treasure"
- Bruno: Treasure
Todd (VO): Bruno Mars knows his '80s funk and soul, I'll tell you that much. Who knows what he's getting into next. Bobby Brown? El Debarge?
Todd: Man, I can't wait 'til he gets to the '90s.
- Clip of "Gorilla"
Todd (VO): But you know what, I don't actually know that much about the genre myself. Most of the funk I listen to is from the '70s. So...
Todd: ...if I wanted to know what it was like in the decade after, well, I can think of only one song I'd use to sum up the genre.
- Video for "Word Up"
- Larry Blackmon: Come on, baby, tell me what's the word
- Word Up
Todd (VO): This is Cameo. Y'all know who they are, right?
- Clip from Saturday Night Live
- Evan Bayh (Chris Parnell): I'm sorry, I don't remember you. What was your hit song?
- Larry (Tracy Morgan): "Word Up"!
- Evan: Still don't...how does it go?
- Larry: Word up!
Todd: Yeah, you know them.
- Larry: Yo pretty ladies around the world
- Got a weird thing to show you
- So tell all the boys and girls
Todd (VO): As far as I can tell, "Word Up" got a little forgotten after the '80s, but it has really, really grown in stature over the last ten years or so, as everyone suddenly seems to remember how awesome it was. [Brief clips of Target ad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin with Andy singing and dancing to it, and live performance of Korn's cover] You see it in commercials, movie, weird metal covers. And yet, the rest of the Cameo oeuvre has been forgotten over time. I mean, you'd think this band just made one brief appearance and then disappeared. [Album cover of Cameosis] They were called Cameo. That's literally what that word means.
But it turns out, there was a lot, a lot more to them than just this. I mean, people remember the song and the weird fashion—we'll get to that, trust me—but there was so much more, you guys. So much more.
Todd: And I'm gonna try and sum up all the highlights just for you because I have heard the codeword, and when you hear the call, [singing] you've got to get it underway. Word up!
- Larry: No matter where you say it
- You'll know that you'll be heard
- Now all you sucker DJs
Before the hit
Todd: Before Cameo was one of the greatest '80s funk bands, they were a pretty decent '70s funk band.
Transcript in progress