  cameo-parkway records was the parent company of cameo records and parkway records, which were major american philadelphia-based 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. today the cameo-parkway catalogue is 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 a 1920s record label also called cameo records). 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 elvis presley's "(let me be your) teddy bear". 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 (c.1961/62) to attend to the business of running the label. in addition, appell's group the applejacks functioned as the de facto cameo house band for the first few years of the company's existence, 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" by charlie gracie, which reached #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, who had a #3 hit with "silhouettes" later that year. 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"
American_record_labels Pop_record_labels Re-established_companies Record_labels_disestablished_in_1967 Record_labels_established_in_1956 Record_labels_established_in_2005