Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 (4-CD)

by Various Artists

If you want to find Cameo-Parkway, don't bother looking at a street map. Instead, time warp yourself back to the late 1950s and the '60s and take a peek at the record collection of any American teenager. There you'll see them, those dazzling, ultra cool logos adorning hundreds of hits by the likes of Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Dee Dee Sharp, the Orlons, the Tymes, the Dovells, Charlie Gracie and, of course, ? and the Mysterians.

Cameo-Parkway was the name collectively bestowed upon a pair of record labels that dominated the independent music market for several years during that golden era of pop music. For more than a decade, a constant stream of exciting hit singles and albums emanated from the Philadelphia-based company. Cameo and Parkway recordings were ubiquitous, and treasured, wherever the latest sounds were heard. The reign of Cameo-Parkway - which ultimately became the leading independent record company in America of its time - began in 1956 when Bernie Lowe, a talented musician and songwriter, launched Cameo Records. Bernie and his writing partner, Kal Mann, had already enjoyed some measure of success, having placed their tunes with Nat "King" Cole and others. Their composition "Teddy Bear" would later become a smash for Elvis Presley.

But Bernie wasn't content to work for others so he set out to make his mark as an entrepreneur. It didn't take long - one of the first releases on Cameo, "Butterfly," by the whiz-kid guitarist/singer Charlie Gracie, vaulted all the way to the top of the charts. After that, there was no stopping the Cameo-Parkway team. Lowe and Mann, along with the arranger, songwriter and bandleader/musician Dave Appell, unleashed a barrage of inventive recordings that clicked with teens over the next several years. With the invaluable promotional assistance of Dick Clark, whose Philadelphia-based American Bandstand TV dance program often booked local acts, Cameo and, before long, Parkway artists became national sensations. But it took Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker to truly put Cameo-Parkway on the music industry map. Both were ambitious South Philly kids looking for a break; they found their dreams realized when they hooked up with Lowe, Mann and Appell. Rydell was a multitalented musician who had started out as a drummer before putting his rich vocal skills to work for him. The squeaky-clean Rydell's string of hit singles - "Kissin' Time," "We Got Love," "Wild One," "Wildwood Days," "Swingin' School" and "Volare" among them - established him as one of the most beloved teen idols in the country.

Chubby Checker, meanwhile, had been a poultry shop employee with a knack for impersonations when he was called upon by Lowe and Mann to cut a musical Christmas card for Dick Clark. It was Clark's wife who gave young Ernie Evans his new name, and Clark himself who suggested that Bernie Lowe have the singer re-record an obscure dance tune called "The Twist." History was made when Chubby's recording of the song rose to number one in the nation on two different occasions, first in 1960 and then again in '62, sparking a cultural phenomenon that permanently rewrote the rules of dancing. Chubby continued to assault the charts with such Parkway hits as "Pony Time," "Let's Twist Again," "The Fly," "Limbo Rock" and "Slow Twistin'," the latter a duet with the lovely Dee Dee Sharp.

Dee Dee was Cameo-Parkway's most successful female solo artist. Only 16 at the time of her first recording, she quickly rose to national prominence when she placed two records in the top 5 simultaneously in 1962. First was the collaboration with Chubby; the second was the song that would forever be associated with her name, the good-time dance smash "Mashed Potato Time." Dee Dee visited the upper reaches of the charts three subsequent times in 1962-63 alone, with "Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes),""Ride!" and "Do The Bird."

Cameo-Parkway was home to many fabulous singing groups, but three Philly based groups in particular have remained among the all-time favorites of oldies fans. The Orlons were the quartet that contributed such raucously rockin' hits as "The Wah Watusi," "South Street" and "Don't Hang Up" to the popular music lexicon. Their three wailing, soulful female voices, led by the dynamic Rosetta Hightower, were met by the deep throat of "frog-voiced" Steve Caldwell to create of the most distinctive vocal mixes around.

The Dovells were a dance floor monster. The quintet was responsible for such timeless, foot-flapping jukebox favorites as "Bristol Stomp," "Hully Gully Baby" and "You Can't Sit Down." Lead singer Len Barry took his inspiration from the great R&B shouters and together with the others in the group gave Cameo-Parkway a run of riotous showpiece releases.

Then there was the Tymes. The smooth ballad style of this quintet resulted in oneof the most fondly remembered classics of the era, the stunning "So Much In Love. "With its minimal instrumentation, authentic seashore sound effects and the silky lead vocal of George Williams, this 1963 chart-topper has remained one of the most oft-played songs on oldies radio stations for decades.

In addition to its stable of regular hitmakers, Cameo-Parkway was also the label behind a tremendous number of one-hit wonders and novelty tunes. The TV horror-show host John Zacherle, for example, frightened the heck out of the populace with his "Dinner With Drac," and the Rays' memorable doo-wop ballad "Silhouettes" was a Cameo side in the late '50s. Several years later, Candy and the Kisses' single "The 81" provided an "in" for the young producers/songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who would go on to revolutionize black music in the '70s. Cameo-Parkway was the first home to future giants like Patti Labelle, the Kinks and Bob Seger as well.

By 1964, Bernie Lowe had begun to tire of running a record company and sold the outfit. Cameo-Parkway shifted its operations away from Philadelphia at that point but continued to make its presence felt, most notably with the 1966 number one garage-band landmark "96 Tears," by the eye-poppingly hip Michigan-based group called ? and the Mysterians.

Remarkably, none of these recordings have been available in their original form for many years. But that is all about to end. ABKCO Records has mined the C-P vaults and painstakingly compiled a stunning, historical 4-CD collection that places back into circulation all of the original legendary - and never forgotten - Cameo-Parkway hits and dozens more. It would not be a stretch to say that this is one of the most eagerly awaited record label anthologies in a very long time. The Cameo-Parkway Story fills one of the most sizable gaps in many a collection and restores this innovative label to its rightful place.