Cameo - Word Up! (12'' Version) (US 12'') (1986)

Cameo - Word Up! (12'' Version) (US 12'') (1986)

"Word Up!" is a funk and R&B song originally recorded by American funk band Cameo in 1986. It was released as the first single from their twelfth album, Word Up! (1986). The song was written by band members Larry Blackmon and Tomi Jenkins. Its frequent airing on American dance, R&B, and contemporary hit radio, as well as its MTV music video (in which LeVar Burton appears as a police detective trying to arrest the band), helped the single become the band's best known hit. "Word Up!" was Cameo's first US Top 40 hit, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B chart and one week at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles chart. In the United Kingdom, "Word Up" spent ten weeks in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number three on September 21, 1986 – for the week ending date September 27, 1986. Besides being a commercial success, the track also earned critical acclaim from several publications. "Word Up!" won Cameo the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single as well as the NME Award for Best Dance Record. Like the band's previous single "Single Life", "Word Up!" features a reference to the opening notes of Ennio Morricone's theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. SIDE A: Word Up (12" Version) 5:57 Word Up (7" Version) 4:19 SIDE B: Word Up (Instrumental) 4:19 Urban Warrior 4:57 VINYL GRADE: Vinyl: Near Mint Sleeve: Near mint RELEASE INFORMATION: Label: Atlanta Artists - 884 933-1 Format: Vinyl, 12", Single, 33 ⅓ RPM, 53 - Hauppauge Pressing Country: US Released: 1986 Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul Style: Electro, Funk CREDITS: Producer – Larry Blackmon NOTES: Manufactured and marketed by PolyGram Records, Inc., 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019. Word Up : From the Atlanta Artists LP ”Word Up!” Urban Warrior : From the Atlanta Artists LP ”Single Life