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

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based

record labels "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

from 1956 (for Cameo) and 1958 (for Parkway) to 1967. Among the types of music released were

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

, dance hits, popular/rock,

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

novelty records Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

. 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 ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. (Allen & Betty Klein Company) is an American independent record label, music publisher, and film and video production company. It owns and/or administers the rights to music by Sam Cooke, the Rolling Stones, the Animal ...

History

Cameo Records was founded in December 1956 in

by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann; it has no connection to the 1920s record label

Cameo Records Cameo Records was an American record label that flourished in the 1920s. It was owned by the Cameo Record Corporation in New York City. Cameo released a disc by Lucille Hegamin every two months from 1921 to 1926. Cameo Records are also noted f ...

. Parkway, initially a subsidiary label, was formed in 1958. Mann and Lowe had been a successful songwriting team prior to the start of the label, with Mann writing lyrics and Lowe the music; their biggest hit prior to starting the label was

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's "

(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" is a popular song first recorded by Elvis Presley in 1957 for the soundtrack of his second motion picture, '' Loving You'', during which Presley performs the song on screen. It was written by Kal Mann and Berni ...

". Dave Appell joined the label from its inception as A&R director, and the three worked together as a production team on many early Cameo releases. Mann and Lowe wrote many of the label's early singles, while Mann and Appell also became a successful songwriting team that was responsible for many of the label's hits, particularly after Lowe cut back on his songwriting around 1961, to attend to the business of running the label. In addition, Appell's group 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 "

Butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

" by

Charlie Gracie Charles Anthony Graci (May 14, 1936 – December 16, 2022), known professionally as Charlie Gracie, was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer and guitarist. His biggest hits were "Butterfly" and "Fabulous", both in 1957. Career ...

, which reached No. 1 nationally in early 1957; it was also Cameo-Parkway's first of five chart-toppers. Throughout the remainder of the decade, Cameo continued to have hits by groups like the R&B group

the Rays The Rays were an American group formed in New York City in 1955, and active into the early 1960s. They first recorded for Chess Records. Their biggest hit single was "Silhouettes", a moderately-slow doo-wop piece of pop music that reached num ...

, who had a No. 3 hit with "Silhouettes" later that year (picked up from independent XYZ Records). In 1958, the label had further hits with "'' Dinner With Drac''", a novelty record by John Zacherle in the top 10, and "Mexican Hat Rock", an instrumental by 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 ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

''. Being located in the same city where this popular nationally broadcast music show was produced meant that Cameo-Parkway artists were available to perform on the show—especially in the event any other act should cancel. Host and producer

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

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 from the arrangement, as the exposure many Cameo-Parkway artists received on ''American Bandstand'' helped propel them to stardom. In 1959,

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell (), was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s, he was considered a teen idol. ...

scored his first hits with " Kissin' Time" and " We Got Love" on Cameo. From 1960 to 1964, Rydell was the label's second largest hit maker after

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

, scoring with such hits as " Wild One" (his biggest hit, peaking at No. 2), "

Swingin' School "Swingin' School" is a song released in 1960 by Bobby Rydell. The song was from the film '' Because They're Young''. Whitburn, Joel (1987) ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 264. "Swingin' School" spent 12 week ...

", " Volare", " The Cha-Cha-Cha", " Forget Him" and others.

had a minor novelty hit in the summer of 1959 called "The Class", which featured Checker doing comic imitations of singers

Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...

the Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...

, drummer

Cozy Cole William Randolph "Cozy" Cole (October 17, 1909 – January 9, 1981) was an American jazz drummer who worked with Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong among others and led his own groups. Life and career William Randolph Cole was born in East Ora ...

, and

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard "Ricky" Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he began a ...

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...

, and

Fabian Forte Fabian Anthony Forte (born February 6, 1943), professionally known as Fabian, is an American singer and actor. Forte rose to national prominence after performing several times on ''American Bandstand''. He became a teen idol of the late 1950s ...

The Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

. In 1960, Checker's cover of

Hank Ballard Hank Ballard (born John Henry Kendricks; November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of the Midnighters and one of the first rock and roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an inte ...

'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. Checker had several hits, including "

Pony Time "Pony Time" is a song written by Don Covay and John Berry (a member of Covay's earlier vocal group, "the Rainbows"), and originally recorded in 1960 by Covay with his group "the Goodtimers". It achieved greater success when it was recorded by ...

" (his second No. 1), " Let's Twist Again", " The Fly", " Slow Twistin'" (with Dee Dee Sharp), "

Limbo Rock "Limbo Rock" is a popular song about limbo dancing written by Kal Mann (under the pseudonym Jan Sheldon) and Billy Strange. An instrumental version was first recorded by The Champs in 1961. The first vocal version was recorded in 1962 by Chubby ...

", "

Popeye the Hitchhiker "Popeye the Hitchhiker" is a song written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell and performed by Chubby Checker. In 1962, the track reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, U.S. R&B. In CHUM Cha ...

", " Birdland" and others. Around 1961, the Cameo and Parkway labels began developing some new stars. The vocal group the Dovells, which featured

Len Barry Leonard Warren Borisoff (June 12, 1942 – November 5, 2020), known professionally by the stage name Len Barry, was an American singer, songwriter, lyricist, record producer, author, and poet. Life and career Born on June 12, 1942, and raised ...

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 Phillip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American soul music, R&B, jazz and blues guitarist and bassist. Career Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfiel ...

instrumental hit, was No. 35 in ''Cash Box'' magazine's year end-survey for 1963. The R&B quartet

the Orlons The Orlons are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1960. The group won Music recording sales certification, gold discs for three of their single (music), singles. Career The quartet consisted ...

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 "Mashed Potato Time" is a 1962 single written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe, and performed by Dee Dee Sharp, with backing vocals by The Orlons, on her debut album ''It's Mashed Potato Time''. The song refers to the Mashed Potato (dance), Mashed Pota ...

", on the same day. It went to No. 2 in early 1962. More dance songs followed, including the follow-up "Gravy" and another dance song, " Ride!" In mid 1963 the No. 1 hit " So Much in Love" by

the Tymes The Tymes are an American soul vocal group who enjoyed equal success in the United Kingdom and in their homeland. They are one of the few acts to have one and only one chart-topper in both the US and UK with different songs. Early career The g ...

marked the last hit from Cameo-Parkway's peak period.

UK distribution

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

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

label, then on

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, then on

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...

, then on EMI's Columbia label, then briefly 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 ''

'' from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in February. Cameo-Parkway's primary source of national exposure and promotion was gone. Just as devastating (as it was to many other American labels) was the second event: the onslaught of the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

in 1964/1965, which dramatically changed the tastes of the American record buying public. In a 2021 retrospective, Ken Barnes, analyzing the hit acts of 1963, noted that Cameo-Parkway acts were among the hardest hit by the Invasion, with most acts associated with them suffering permanent career damage; Barnes also cited the ''Bandstand'' move and the rise of

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

as other factors in Cameo-Parkway's downfall. Cameo tried to keep pace by licensing a handful of early British beat group singles, including the first two singles by

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

, 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 such as Jo Ann Campbell,

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

, the instrumental group LeRoy & His Rockin' Fellers, and

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

and

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...

. In mid-1966, 23-year-old

Neil Bogart Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Life and career Born Neil Scott Bogatz i ...

was made the label's new head of

artists and repertoire Artists and repertoire (or A&R for short) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for scouting, financing, and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. It also acts as a l ...

(A&R). Turning to Midwestern garage bands and orchestrated soul productions (including the distribution of

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

's "Windy C" label), Bogart managed to shepherd in a brief Cameo-Parkway renaissance. The last major hits for the label were "

96 Tears "96 Tears" is a song recorded by the American garage rock band ? and the Mysterians in 1966 (''see'' 1966 in music). In October of that year, it was #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the U.S. and on the ''RPM'' 100 in Canada. ''Billboard'' ra ...

" by

Question Mark and the Mysterians ? and the Mysterians (or Question Mark and the Mysterians) are an American garage rock band from Bay City, Michigan, Bay City and Saginaw, Michigan, Saginaw in Michigan, initially active between 1962 and 1969. Much of the band's music consiste ...

(picked up from independent Pa-Go-Go Records), which went to No. 1 in late 1966, a novelty remake of "Wild Thing" by comedian

Bill Minkin William "Bill" Minkin (born October 17, 1941) is an American comedian, singer, and recording artist who performed political satire, under the names Senator Bobby and Senator Everett McKinley. In 1967, Parkway Records released a 45 rpm single of ...

imitating

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

under the name Senator Bobby (1966), and "Beg, Borrow and Steal" by the Ohio Express (originally on the Attack label as by The Rare Breed) (1967). Bogart also signed

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...

to his first recording contract, and Cameo-Parkway issued Seger's first five singles, which were all regional hits in Michigan but failed nationally. In mid-1967, Cameo-Parkway entered into a short-lived distribution pact with

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

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 Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 – July 4, 2009) was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased pr ...

, and renamed

, with

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

acquiring its remaining subsidiary, Vando label. Cameo Parkway Records was shut down in September 1967. Bogart went to the newly formed

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

, founded by former MGM Records executive Art Kass, and brought along the former Cameo Parkway promotion staff.

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 A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

*Chariot: At least five singles were released under Cameo/Parkway before the label was sold to Amy / Mala /

*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 Terry Knight and the Pack (also known as The Pack and The Fabulous Pack) was an American garage rock band formed in Flint, Michigan in 1965. The band was signed to the Lucky Eleven label through most of its brief recording career. They produced ...

, which eventually transformed into

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in Flint, Michigan, in 1969 by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Don Brewer (drums, vocals) and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved pea ...

*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 Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit " The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his c ...

, 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

and the other by the Spokesmen *Windy C: Owned by

, eight singles and one album were released on this label, mostly by the Five Stairsteps

Philadelphia connection

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

Benjamin Franklin Parkway Benjamin Franklin Parkway, commonly abbreviated to Ben Franklin Parkway and colloquially called the Parkway, is a boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city as of 2020. The parkway is named ...

* Fairmount:

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...

; there is also a Fairmount Ave. north of the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

* Wyncote: Northern suburb of Philadelphia where C/P founder Bernie Lowe resided and set up office for C/P *

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

Cheltenham Avenue Cheltenham Avenue is a major east-west road in Philadelphia and its suburbs. It is served by SEPTA bus routes, trolleys, regional rail, and subway. Cheltenham Avenue is an unsigned quadrant route in Montgomery County. It serves as the border b ...

; there is also a

Cheltenham High School Cheltenham High School is a public high school in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, located from the border of the city of Philadelphia and from Center City. Serving grades 9 through 12, Chel ...

in suburban Wyncote

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

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

of the labels' most notable output: ''Cameo-Parkway: 1957-1967''. In October 2005 it began to issue various single-artist "best of" CD compilations, including

, Dee Dee Sharp, the Dovells,

and 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 Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

to license some songs for its ''Complete Introduction to Northern Soul'' box set in 2008, and allowing

Collectors' Choice Music Collectors' Choice Music (CCM) is an Itasca, Illinois-based record label and retailer of music on CD. Originally the company was primarily in two businesses, but since 2010 only in the second. CCM was best known for reissuing albums originally re ...

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.

References

External links

Official website from ABKCO Records

Cameo Parkway history, pictures, lists
{{Authority control American record labels Companies based in Philadelphia Record labels established in 1956 Record labels disestablished in 1967 Record labels established in 2005 Re-established companies Pop record labels