Kool & The Gang vs. Cameo - If you had to pick one? (I know...blasphema thread)

Kool & The Gang vs Cameo

  • Kool & The Gang

    Votes: 39 56.5%
  • Cameo

    Votes: 32 46.4%

  • Total voters
    69

arlow pear

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Oooooooh! Tough call. As many hits as both groups have, Ima go w/Cameo...but it can go either way, homie!
 

Tito_Jackson

Truth Teller
Registered
that's ALWAYS been the knock on the Kool and the Gang.....white people like Celebration and suddenly KATG are a bunch of sell-outs. :rolleyes2::rolleyes2::rolleyes2: come on... yes they got a lead singer and evolved their sound because that instrumental heavy funk sound was done by the late 70s. All the heaviest funk bands from the 70s didn't make it to the 80s hits wise. Adapt or die (or become an oldies act which is what all those other funk bands did).
Wait a minute. I am a KATG fan. I never said they were sellouts. Becoming commercial isn't a bad thing. But, by doing so you do leave your core and roots somewhat. They both are legends. They just went in different directions.
 

Dannyblueyes

Aka Illegal Danny
BGOL Investor
:smh:

You trippin bruh, you trippin!


This is shit right here??!?!????




I love rigor mortis, the chromatic walkdown is cool, but you trippin!!


funky stuff is dope, but it sounds too much like everything else that came out around then. this could almost be an AWB song.

Nothing sounds like rigor mortis, or flirt, or candy. it's like Cameo hit that perfect Sweet spot between funkadelic and the gap band.
 

Dannyblueyes

Aka Illegal Danny
BGOL Investor
Wait a minute. I am a KATG fan. I never said they were sellouts. Becoming commercial isn't a bad thing. But, by doing so you do leave your core and roots somewhat. They both are legends. They just went in different directions.

I'm a big believer in the idea that great bands only create music for their 10,000 biggest fans (AKA, the people who will spend at least $100 a year on their merch, records, and concert tickets). If everybody else jumps on the bandwagon then great! You have a hit. If everyone else hates it then great! You just made a million bucks.

Selling out IMO is when you completely abandon those 10,000 fans in order to satisfy the bandwagon. every best-selling artist does this to some extent, but Kool & the gang definitely did it more than cameo did.
 

tpotda

Rising Star
Registered
Thats $1 mil gross, after u take out all the overhead and taxes and split among band members its not much left

I'm a big believer in the idea that great bands only create music for their 10,000 biggest fans (AKA, the people who will spend at least $100 a year on their merch, records, and concert tickets). If everybody else jumps on the bandwagon then great! You have a hit. If everyone else hates it then great! You just made a million bucks.

Selling out IMO is when you completely abandon those 10,000 fans in order to satisfy the bandwagon. every best-selling artist does this to some extent, but Kool & the gang definitely did it more than cameo did.
 

Dannyblueyes

Aka Illegal Danny
BGOL Investor
Thats $1 mil gross, after u take out all the overhead and taxes and split among band members its not much left

even if that money's not in your pocket the moment you make a million dollars for someone they're going to let you eat until the next project.

Also, that one million dollars is a worst case scenario. More than likely each of those 10,000 fans will have gotten at least one or two friends halfway on board
 

TEN

Tensei - Admin
Staff member
Both bands were and still are incredible.
I'll never choose between them.
These two joints alone sent everyone back to the drawing board :

 

DWBass

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
No doubt Cameo was baddass! They had a lot of really good music. Mostly on the R&B charts though. They had a few crossover hits but KATG had way more.

 

keith6

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
:smh:

You trippin bruh, you trippin!


This is shit right here??!?!????




I love rigor mortis, the chromatic walkdown is cool, but you trippin!!


Forget Rigor Mortis but you have a long way to go for this to touch Cameo. Cameo runs circles around this shit
 

keith6

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
No doubt Cameo was baddass! They had a lot of really good music. Mostly on the R&B charts though. They had a few crossover hits but KATG had way more.


Since when does success mean white people like your music. That means you're prolly whack. R&B please and is the standard
 

keith6

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
They adapt
that's ALWAYS been the knock on the Kool and the Gang.....white people like Celebration and suddenly KATG are a bunch of sell-outs. :rolleyes2::rolleyes2::rolleyes2: come on... yes they got a lead singer and evolved their sound because that instrumental heavy funk sound was done by the late 70s. All the heaviest funk bands from the 70s didn't make it to the 80s hits wise and if they did its because they changed up too. Adapt or die (or become an oldies act which is what all those other funk bands did).

They adapted and died souless
 

DWBass

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Ain't neither of those bands died. They are both still gigging heavily! And what the fuck does this mean?
Since when does success mean white people like your music. That means you're prolly whack. R&B please and is the standard
I never said anything of the sort. Just stating facts. Both bands were and still are successful. Both still touring. Seen them both more times than I can count.

I'm a professional musician. I know full well about bands that change up from their roots to a more successful route. Do you think these mufuckas game plan is to be broke their whole career? Yes, they adapted. Disco and Funk is no longer on the radio. Died soulless? I seriously doubt that. All the original bandmembers are millionaires. They play their bread and butter music including the old shit. How about E,W&F? They delved right into the Pop/Top40. Nothing like what they originally played. Still touring furiously today. Musicians evolve. They learn and get better. Go from raw to refined. A lot of fans hate it but it's 'their' art. Not yours. You either grow with them or abandon them.
 

respiration

/ˌrespəˈrāSH(ə)n/
BGOL Patreon Investor
I'd HAVE to go KATG becuz if discographies was Uno and hits were the reverse/wild/pick cards...IMO Kool would have more of those than cameo

Cameo hits (that I know of and think the most about)
Word Up
Single Life
Candy
Back And Forth


Kool and the Gang hits (that I know of and think the most about)
Fresh
Get Down On it
Cherish
Ladies Night

(not done yet....)
Summer Madness
Jungle Boogie
Too Hot
Joanna

(still not done yet....)
Take My Heart
Lets Go Dancing
Misled
Funky Stuff



If we were playing Uno that and I was playing for Kool and the Gang that shit would be like TAKE 4, REVERSE, TAKE 2, WILD, REVERSE, TAKE 4, WILD....BAM BAM BAM!! :giggle: :giggle: :giggle:

at least thats MY take on it...
Fresh, Cherish, Joanna, Misled = Garbage
Lets Go Dancing = stale bread


These here along with similar excruciating crossover songs by R&B acts of that time (85'ish) are what made me turn off R&B radio for a few years until the Black came back.

also as KATG goes...
I'll just add on "Celebration" to that stack of 80s doo-doo. "Yahoo!" :roflmao:

For real though, I appreciate your two cents, family.

From my ears? Quality cuts that I think about?

Kool and the Gang
Summer Madness
Hollywood Swinging
Who's Gonna Take the Weight
Spirit of the Boogie
Open Sesame
Funky Stuff
Rhyme Time People
Let the Music Take Your Mind
Music Is the Message
Ladies Night
Big Fun
Too Hot
Get Down On It
Take It To the Top


Cameo
Rigor Mortis
I Just Want to Be
Shake Your Pants
Why Have I Lost You
Sparkle
Keep it Hot
Feel Me
Freaky Dancin
I Like It
Just Be Yourself
Flirt
She's Strange
Hangin Downtown
Attack Me With Your Love
Word Up
Candy
Back and Forth


I know I got 17 cuts on Cameo's list vs 14 on Kool and the Gang, but those 1st two KATG cuts are LEGENDARY.
Love the music of both of these iconic groups.
 

DWBass

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Fresh, Cherish, Joanna, Misled = Garbage
Lets Go Dancing = stale bread


These here along with similar excruciating crossover songs by R&B acts of that time (85'ish) are what made me turn off R&B radio for a few years until the Black came back.

also as KATG goes...
I'll just add on "Celebration" to that stack of 80s doo-doo. "Yahoo!" :roflmao:

For real though, I appreciate your two cents, family.

From my ears? Quality cuts that I think about?

Kool and the Gang
Summer Madness
Hollywood Swinging
Who's Gonna Take the Weight
Spirit of the Boogie
Open Sesame
Funky Stuff
Rhyme Time People
Let the Music Take Your Mind
Music Is the Message
Ladies Night
Big Fun
Too Hot
Get Down On It
Take It To the Top


Cameo
Rigor Mortis
I Just Want to Be
Shake Your Pants
Why Have I Lost You
Sparkle
Keep it Hot
Feel Me
Freaky Dancin
I Like It
Just Be Yourself
Flirt
She's Strange
Hangin Downtown
Attack Me With Your Love
Word Up
Candy
Back and Forth


I know I got 17 cuts on Cameo's list vs 14 on Kool and the Gang, but those 1st two KATG cuts are LEGENDARY.
Love the music of both of these iconic groups.
Fresh, Cherish, Joanna, Misled
Lets Go Dancing

You may think they are garbage tunes but for the band, they were hits. That's all that counts. Personal opinions mean nothing. It's what the masses think. There's plenty of music out there that I think is horrible but the millions of consumers who bought it think otherwise.
 

knightmelodic

American fruit, Afrikan root.
BGOL Investor
Fresh, Cherish, Joanna, Misled
Lets Go Dancing

You may think they are garbage tunes but for the band, they were hits. That's all that counts. Personal opinions mean nothing. It's what the masses think. There's plenty of music out there that I think is horrible but the millions of consumers who bought it think otherwise.


And he missed their first 5 lps entirely. We bought them and played the shit out of them although they probably didn't sell well overall, they've been sampled to death and those royalty checks keep on coming.
 

respiration

/ˌrespəˈrāSH(ə)n/
BGOL Patreon Investor
Fresh, Cherish, Joanna, Misled
Lets Go Dancing

You may think they are garbage tunes but for the band, they were hits. That's all that counts. Personal opinions mean nothing. It's what the masses think. There's plenty of music out there that I think is horrible but the millions of consumers who bought it think otherwise.
That's what this thread and forum is, good brother @DWBass , opinion. The masses ain't in here lol. We the BGOL experts on everything that exists are. :lol:

But yeah I definitely think those songs were crappy reminiscent of other lukewarm crossover songs out at the same time by R&B artists going for crossover (white) recognition and dollars (other examples: Dancing on the Ceiling/Lionel Richie, Freeway of Love/Aretha, Jump For Your Love/Pointer Sisters).

Sales are not necessarily indicative of musical/artistic quality.

I remember in the 80s, Lionel Richie saying in Ebony magazine that just because Black people aided in his success he felt no musical obligation to us and that he was willing to take some of the bass and funk out of his music to sell to whites.

I remember Frankie Beverly in a different interview shortly after saying that he owed his success to Black folks and that Maze's music would always be for us.

I lost a bit of respect for one and gained more for the other.
 

respiration

/ˌrespəˈrāSH(ə)n/
BGOL Patreon Investor
And he missed their first 5 lps entirely. We bought them and played the shit out of them although they probably didn't sell well overall, they've been sampled to death and those royalty checks keep on coming.
I wasn't going for a chronological anthology of KATG's catalog or Cameo's. I mentioned songs by both groups that I found to be iconic that Geechie neglected to mention.

I'd be interested in hearing what other songs you would add to what I listed, especially since you appear to be of the generation before mine.
 

DWBass

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Sales are not necessarily indicative of musical/artistic quality.
Facts. Listen to the shit on the radio today!! I will say that the majority of the music listening folks out there just don't have a discerning ear and just eat up the wack bullshit! I'm a musician so my ear is different. I analyze every aspect of a song. At least back in the day, record labels didn't put out bullshit. Not everybody liked every song but at least they were still good songs. In my opinion, at least.
 

respiration

/ˌrespəˈrāSH(ə)n/
BGOL Patreon Investor
Facts. Listen to the shit on the radio today!! I will say that the majority of the music listening folks out there just don't have a discerning ear and just eat up the wack bullshit! I'm a musician so my ear is different. I analyze every aspect of a song. At least back in the day, record labels didn't put out bullshit. Not everybody liked every song but at least they were still good songs. In my opinion, at least.
Yep! I'm a musician myself. We do listen in a more detailed way. You're right, even though I never was a fan of a lot of the crossover Black stuff of the mid 80s, at least it was played with actual instruments and had more than 2 chords. And the vocals weren't ruined by autotune like today's popular music.

To specify: Michael Jackson and Prince in 82-84 led the pack as crossing over in the mid 80s went. Except Prince was just naturally musically eclectic and moved between genres and was being himself on records and Michael was just too huge a talent to only be appreciated by us anymore. Neither artist abandoned the funky.

Many other traditionally R&B artists wanted that same massive crossover success. But there's a difference between being naturally eclectic and jumping on a bandwagon.
 

Paul1970

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Both groups were almost like two sides of the same coin.

Kool & The Gang started in 1969/1970 with James Brown styled funk fused with Jazz.

Cameo came out right before J.T. Taylor joined Kool & The Gang.

Kool & The Gang had a song on a Disco movie soundtrack.



Cameo had a song on a Disco movie soundtrack.



Kool & The Gang went in a Pop direction in the 1980's.



Cameo went in a Rock/New Wave direction in the 1980's.




Both groups were trying to crossover to different(mainly White) markets.

Kool & The Gang wanted AC/Pop/Top 40 hits.

Cameo wanted Rock/MTV/Top 40 hits.
 
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