Throwback Thursday: Cameo – “Candy”
In popular music, there are a some songs that just stick. And we’re not talking about the ones with specific holiday or holiday-adjacent themes. We’re talking about the songs that just become part of our lives for no particular reason.
Cameo’s 1986 hit, “Candy,” is one of such hits.
Released as the second single from their 12th album, Word Up!, “Candy” only managed to reach No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, following the release of the movie The Best Man (which became an instant classic), the song’s place in history would be forever changed.
In the closing scene of the movie, the wedding party does the Electric Slide. However, they’re not doing it to Marcia Griffiths’ “Electric” — the song for which the dance was created. They’re doing it to Candy’s “Cameo.”
Following the success of that movie, wedding parties — and parties in general — all across America started doing the same. And almost a quarter-century later, this is now standard practice. Gen Z probably doesn’t associate any other song with the Electric Slide.
In addition to becoming the new Electric Slide song, “Candy” has also become a signifier that a party is over or almost over, and we also have The Best Man to thank for that. The song plays as the credits roll.
As interesting as its trajectory from forgotten hit to party staple may be, that’s not the most fascinating thing about “Candy.” The most fascinating thing about that song is that it probably has nothing to do with what you might think. Of course, we know it’s not about candy, but if you’re like me, you assumed it was about sex. However, according to a fairly popular theory, the song is about drugs. Cocaine, to be exact.
I’ll give you a moment to pick your jaw up from the floor.
“Giving me a heart attack, it’s the kind I like” feels even less wholesome when you learn about this new possible meaning. Don’t we love songwriters?
Another interesting footnote in the history of “Candy” is that it was sampled on Mariah Carey’s “Loverboy” after the initial sample for the song was used by Jennifer Lopez — at the suggestion of Tommy Mottola, Mariah’s ex-husband and biggest hater.
“Candy” is yet another example that shows that initial chart success isn’t always the best predictor of a song’s legacy.
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