LOS ANGELES (UMe Records) - No R&B group was classier than The Temptations; none was more successful in its era than the Commodores, and none had more style than Cameo. Now DVD compilations for each, featuring five music videos apiece - digitally remastered in audio and video, many making their U.S.
DVD debuts - join the groundbreaking UMe series 20TH CENTURY MASTERS/THE DVD COLLECTION, the video companion to 20TH CENTURY MASTERS/THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION, the most successful single artist series of albums in history.
Each DVD will be released August 3, 2004.
THE BEST OF THE TEMPTATIONS (Motown/UMe) offers the most popular male vocal and soul group in the world during an era when it could be seen with the advent of the music video and its influence could be heard via a new generation at the top of the charts. Included is the video to "Standing On The Top," the group's 1982 collaboration with funkmaster Rick James for their REUNION album that returned The Temptations to the R&B Top 10 for the first time in seven years. Along with the video for another R&B Top 10, "I Wonder Who She's Seeing Now" (1987's TOGETHER AGAIN), are a trio from the '90s: a classic remake of "Time After Time" (1995's For Lovers Only); "Stay," a #1 Urban Adult Contemporary hit (1998's PHOENIX RISING), and the Top 40 R&B "I'm Here," produced by R&B Star JOE, from the Grammy-winning 2000 album EAR-RESISTIBLE.
THE BEST OF COMMODORES (Motown/UMe) straddles the group with and without Lionel Richie. Motown's best-selling male ensemble of the day, the Commodores were pop stars with a soul funk foundation. IN THE POCKET, Richie's last album with the group, spun off the hit "Lady (You Bring Me Up)" (Top 10 pop and R&B) as well as the mellow "Saturday Night," in 1981. After he exited, replaced by J.D. Nicholas, the Commodores scored in 1985 with the Grammy-winning #1 R&B/#3 pop "Nightshift," a tribute to legendary singers Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson from the album of the same name, and the following year with "Goin' To The Bank" (#2 R&B) and "Take It From Me" (Top 40 R&B) from United.
THE BEST OF CAMEO (Mercury/UMe) finds the "bad boys of black rock and roll" tearing the roof off pop funk with their biggest hits. There was far more to Cameo than flat-top haircuts and Jean-Paul Gaultier-designed clothes, with leader Larry Blackmon's red leather codpiece. Cameo brought hardcore funk and ferocity to a party groove.
The group's DVD collection features the videos to Cameo's first R&B #1, the title track from 1984's She's Strange; the #2 R&B title track from 1985's Single Life; the highest charting hit of Cameo's career, the #1 R&B/Top 10 pop "Word Up" and, also from 1987's Word Up! album, the #1 R&B/Top 30 pop "Candy" and #3 R&B "Back And Forth."
