36 Days of Adrenaline: Day 7 — “Word Up!”
Artist: Cameo
Why this song is an adrenaline rush: Sometimes, you just gotta rock the funk. “Word Up!” rocks the funk. Plus, how can you not love a dance number that samples spaghetti Western soundtrack music by Ennio Morricone?
Lyric line that’s fun to belt at maximum volume:
If there’s music, we can use it,
We need to dance —
We don’t have no time for psychological romance.
Fun factoids:
- Larry Blackmon originally dubbed his band the New York City Players. To avoid confusion with — and potential legal action from — another already popular funk group, the Ohio Players, he changed the name to Cameo.
- Steve Carell’s character sings “Word Up!” in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
- In what has to be considered one of the weirdest cover choices in the history of popular music, “Word Up!” was covered by the alt-metal band Korn in 2004. And you what? It works.
Other songs by Cameo that I could have chosen instead: “Candy,” “Back and Forth,” “Shake Your Pants.”
[Late to the party? Here’s an explanation of 36 Days of Adrenaline.]
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SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud 
January 29, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Other Cameo songs include “Single Life,” “Alligator Woman,” “Talking Out the Side of Your Neck,” “Sparkle,” and “She’s Strange.” That last title is one I’ve uttered quite a few times over my life.