Cameo-Parkway Records

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Cameo-Parkway Records
Parent companyABKCO Records
Founded1956; 68 years ago (1956)
FounderBernie Lowe
Kal Mann
Distributor(s)Universal Music Group
GenreVarious
Country of originU.S.
Official websiteOfficial site

Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American

record labels from 1956 (for Cameo) and 1958 (for Parkway) to 1967. Among the types of music released were doo-wop, dance hits, popular/rock, rockabilly, big band, garage rock, soul and novelty records
.

Until 1962, Cameo was also the parent company name for both labels, and Parkway was a subsidiary. In 1962, the parent company was renamed from Cameo to Cameo-Parkway, to give both labels equal status. In some foreign markets Cameo-Parkway was also a label name, issuing records by artists from both labels. The Cameo-Parkway catalogue is currently owned by ABKCO Records.

History

Cameo Records was founded in December 1956 in Philadelphia by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann; it has no connection to the 1920s record label Cameo Records.[1] Parkway, initially a subsidiary label, was formed in 1958.

Mann and Lowe had been a successful songwriting team prior to the start of label, with Mann writing lyrics and Lowe the music; their biggest hit prior to starting the label was

the Applejacks
functioned as Cameo's house band for the first few years of, serving as backing musicians for the label's vocalists as well as issuing a handful of instrumental singles on their own. Lowe, also a musician, played piano on many early tracks.

The first hit for Cameo was "

the Applejacks
, in the top 20.

A major factor in Cameo-Parkway's success was its relationship with the Philadelphia-based TV program American Bandstand. Being located in the same city where this popular nationally broadcast music show was produced meant that Cameo-Parkway artists were always available to perform on the show—especially in the event any other act should cancel. Host and producer Dick Clark has spoken of the "warm relationship" his program had with Cameo-Parkway, and of the label's willingness to ensure that quality musical acts were always available to the program on short notice. The label benefited tremendously from the arrangement, as the exposure many Cameo-Parkway artists received on American Bandstand helped propel them to stardom.

In 1959,

Volare", "The Cha-Cha-Cha", "Forget Him" and others.[1]

Chubby Checker had a minor novelty hit in the summer of 1959 called "The Class", which featured Checker doing comic imitations of singers Fats Domino, the Coasters, Elvis Presley, drummer Cozy Cole, and Ricky Nelson, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian Forte as The Chipmunks. In 1960, Checker's cover of Hank Ballard's "The Twist" became Parkway's first big hit. Although Ballard's version only reached No. 16 on the R&B chart in 1958, Checker's version went to No. 1 in 1960, and again in early 1962.[1] Checker had several hits, including "Pony Time" (his second No. 1), "Let's Twist Again", "The Fly", "Slow Twistin'" (with Dee Dee Sharp), "Limbo Rock", "Popeye the Hitchhiker", "Birdland" and others.

Around 1961, the Cameo and Parkway labels began developing some new stars. The vocal group the Dovells, which featured Len Barry as the lead singer, released "Bristol Stomp", which reached No. 2 in late 1961, followed by "Bristol Twistin' Annie," "(Do The New) Continental," "Hully Gully Baby" and other dance-related songs in 1962 and 1963. "You Can't Sit Down", a vocal version of the Phil Upchurch instrumental hit, was No. 35 in Cash Box magazine's year end-survey for 1963. The R&B quartet the Orlons released "The Wah-Watusi", which hit No. 2 in the summer of 1962. They had a few more top 20 hits, including "Don't Hang Up", "South Street", "Not Me" and "Crossfire!"

Fifteen-year-old Dee Dee Sharp had done a duet with Chubby Checker on "Slow Twistin'", and recorded her first solo single, "Mashed Potato Time", on the same day.[1] It went to No. 2 in the spring of 1962. More dance songs followed, including the follow-up "Gravy" and another dance song, "Ride!"

In the summer of 1963 the No. 1 hit "So Much in Love" by the smooth R&B group the Tymes marked the last hit from Cameo-Parkway's peak period.[1]

UK distribution

In the UK, Cameo and Parkway recordings were released first on EMI's

Pye International, before finally appearing on their own Pye
-distributed Cameo-Parkway label.

Decline and shutdown

In early 1964, three near-simultaneous events sent Cameo-Parkway into a sharp decline from which it would never fully recover. The first was the move of

Motown Records as other factors in Cameo-Parkway's downfall.[2] Cameo tried to keep pace by licensing a handful of early British beat group singles, including the first two singles by the Kinks,[1]
but none made the US charts.

The third and final event was that Bernie Lowe had become increasingly disenchanted with the business side of record making and, suffering from nervous exhaustion and bouts of depression, he sold his stake in the company in 1964. Mann and Appel soon followed. By mid-1965 none of Cameo-Parkway's founding trio were associated with the label, and their biggest stars (Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker) had also left. Cameo's new management was unable to replicate its success with artists like Jo Ann Campbell, Maynard Ferguson, Clark Terry, the instrumental group LeRoy & His Rockin' Fellers, and TV-stars-turned-singers such as Clint Eastwood and Merv Griffin.

In mid-1966, 23-year-old

the Ohio Express (originally on the Attack label as by The Rare Breed) (1967). Bogart also signed Bob Seger
to his first recording contract, and Cameo-Parkway issued Seger's first five singles, which were all huge regional hits in Michigan but failed to catch fire nationally.

In mid-1967, Cameo-Parkway entered into a short-lived distribution pact with MGM Records and released four more albums (two on Cameo, one on Parkway and one on Vando), and three more singles (one on Parkway and two on Vando). Cameo's final single, "Billy Sunshine" by Evie Sands (KC-2002), was originally released with the red and yellow "CP" label then reissued with the new MGM-designated label. For the first time both label names appeared on the record labels, although neither the Cameo or Parkway name was emphasized, and the two series continued to use separate catalog numbering systems. That suggests that a gradual merger of the two labels was in progress, but it was never completed. By late 1967, after financial problems worsened, the Cameo-Parkway company was sold to Allen Klein,[1] and renamed ABKCO Records, with Bell Records acquiring its remaining subsidiary, Vando label. Cameo Parkway Records was shut down in September 1967.[4] Bogart landed feet first at the newly formed Buddah Records, founded by former MGM Records executive Art Kass, and brought along the former Cameo Parkway promotion staff.[5]

Label variations

Cameo

  • 1957–1960: Orange label with CAMEO and "cameo" logo, both in black, at top
  • 1960–1966: Red and black label with CAMEO and new "gold cameo locket" logo at left side
  • 1966–1967: Red label with broken orange circle and new CAMEO "CP" logo at top
  • 1967 MGM distribution label: Pink and white label with CAMEO in dark blue w/pink outline and "cameo" logo inside the "O"

Cameo albums also used the above label variations, plus:

  • Early mono albums: Black label with silver print, same CAMEO and "cameo" logo as orange label singles
  • Early stereo albums: Black label with gold print, same CAMEO and "cameo" logo as orange label singles

Parkway

  • 1958–1960: Orange label with PARKWAY in black "jumbled" letters between two lyre logos at top
  • 1960–1966: Orange and yellow label with PARKWAY RECORDS in white letters between two lyre logos at top (Some of these labels do not include the lyres)
  • 1966–1967: Yellow label with broken orange octagon and new PARKWAY "CP" logo at top
  • 1967 MGM distribution label: brown label with new "Parkway" logo at top. The logo includes a large black letter "P" with white arrow inside its perimeter, resembling a highway.

Parkway albums also used all of the above label variations

Subsidiary labels

Wyncote Records was a budget label started in 1964. It released compilation albums of material by Cameo and Parkway artists as well as new albums of soundtrack and easy listening music. These records were mainly distributed in drug, book and department stores, usually through rack jobbers.

Other related labels, mostly independently owned but distributed by Cameo-Parkway, included

  • Audio Arts!: The first two singles were released under Cameo/Parkway before the label was sold to Amy / Mala / Bell
  • Chariot: At least five singles were released under Cameo/Parkway before the label was sold to Amy / Mala / Bell
  • Cheltenham: At least four singles released from 1965–1966
  • Cotton: At least three singles released in 1962
  • Fairmount, featuring Lonnie Youngblood: At least 27 singles have been released on this label
  • Ivanhoe: At least one single was distributed under Cameo/Parkway
  • Key-Loc: At least one single was distributed under Cameo/Parkway by
    Sunny and the Sunliners
  • Lucky Eleven, based in Flint, Michigan, featuring Terry Knight and the Pack, which eventually transformed into Grand Funk Railroad
  • Sentar: Owned by the families of pop group
    the New Colony Six
    (the label's only group), four singles and one album were released under Sentar's Cameo/Parkway distribution
  • Showplace, featuring the Yellow Payges (at least two singles distributed)
  • Tomorrow: Originally distributed by Atco, then by Cameo/Parkway. At least two singles were distributed under C/P
  • Vando: Owned by Van McCoy, five singles and one album were released under the label's C/P distribution, mostly by Chris Bartley
  • Winchester: Only two singles were released under this label, one by the Tymes and the other by the Spokesmen
  • Windy C: Owned by
    the Five Stairsteps

Philadelphia connection

Several C/P labels were based on hometown suburbs, highways and landmarks, including...

Reissues

ABKCO reissued Cameo-Parkway recordings in the early 1970s, but allowed them to fall out of print after that time. Virtually all Cameo-Parkway recordings, including all of their numerous chart hits, were officially unavailable in any format for about 30 years, from 1975 to 2005. In May 2005 ABKCO revived the Cameo-Parkway name for reissues only, and released a multi-CD

Question Mark & the Mysterians
. A various artists CD titled Cameo-Parkway: The Greatest Hits was also issued, as well as two digital-only compilations: Holiday Hits From Cameo Parkway and Original Northern Soul Hits From Cameo Parkway.

ABKCO has also begun to license its repertoire out to other labels, allowing Universal Music Group to license some songs for its Complete Introduction to Northern Soul box set in 2008, and allowing Collectors' Choice Music to reissue several albums in 2010. Despite these reissues, many more obscure Cameo-Parkway recordings, and even a few of their lesser hits, remain unavailable.

See also

  • List of record labels

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-85112-939-0
    .
  2. ^ Barnes, Ken (February 9, 2021). "Did the Beatles kill America's radio stars?". Radio Insight. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "Marty Thau, Manager in Early New York Punk Scene, Dies at 75" Archived 2017-07-31 at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times, February 23, 2014. Ben Sisario
  4. ISBN 0472031902. Archived
    from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  5. ISBN 978-0879309824
    .

External links
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