One Hit Wondering – Sly Fox

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

Beginning in 1985, and through the summer of 1986, a duo going by the name of Sly Fox had everyone bopping along to their addictive hit, “Let’s Go All The Way.”

Despite the provocative title, “Let’s Go All The Way” wasn’t about sex, but instead was about about politics, and humanity.

Regardless of the subject matter, the undeniably infectious funk-meets-New Jack Swing sound, and excellent musical chemistry between members Gary “Mudbone” Cooper and Michael Camacho, propelled the song up the charts, with it ultimately peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April of 1986.

Many still consider it a classic, and as recently as 2021 the legendary Martha Quinn referred it as “one of the funkiest songs ever” on an episode of her radio show, Martha Quinn’s Afternoon Mixtape.

The funk of Sly Fox didn’t happen by accident. The duo was put together by producer Ted Currier, who just a few years prior had revitalized the career of George Clinton, co-producing what would become the Parliament-Funkadelic founder’s biggest hit, “Atomic Dog.”

Cooper, a member of P-Funk at the time, played drums, and contributed backing vocals on “Atomic Dog,” which would go on to be one of the most sampled songs of all-time.

In addition to playing with P-Funk, Cooper was also in Bootsy Collins’ Rubber Band, and in an interview with the website Funk-U, he revealed he was the one who gave Bootsy the idea for what would become the funk legend’s trademark star shaped glasses, saying, “… he had drawn a bass guitar in the shape of a star. I told him that was really cool, and when I went back to my room, I took a piece of paper and drew a pair of glasses in the shape of a star, and I showed it to him, and there it was.”

Currier wanted to continue to work with Cooper, and pitched him the idea of a duo. The duo, however, was originally Cooper, and fellow P-Funk member Garry Shider, and they would go by the name Gary and Garry.

A demo was cut, and shopped around.

When George Clinton found out about the project he was reportedly none too pleased. He did not want to lose two of the members of his band, especially with Shider – aka Starchild, who was known for performing in a diaper – being so integral in P-Funk.

Another reason he was upset was money. Capitol Records offered Gary and Garry a contract, and it was for more money than the label had offered Clinton.

Cooper recalled how it all went down in flames in the aforementioned Funk-U interview, saying, “When George saw the amount Capitol Records offered us for Gary and Garry, he went crazy. But behind the scenes, Nene Montes (George Clinton’s manager at the time) torpedoed the contract with Capitol, and the deal fell through.”

Currier, however, did not want to let go of the idea of a duo. Wikipedia claims his goal was to have a twosome that would be “presented as wholesome, clean-living teen idols,” but there’s little to corroborate this, and the fact that his initial teaming involved two members of P-Funk would indicate clean-living wasn’t exactly a high priority.

Needing a second member, Currier’s concept for the duo evolved.

In a 2015 interview with Red Bull Music Academy, he said, “I looked around the landscape, and I saw that, well, there’s not many duos, and there’s not many black and white duos. The white guy (Michael Camacho) was a guy who I had heard about who was (singing in) Levi’s commercials, and I checked him out, and he was down for the concept.”

At the time Camacho was doing a lot more than just singing in commercials, he was also a protégé of David Bowie.

Again, going back to the Wikipedia note, combining P-Funk and Bowie doesn’t exactly sound like the recipe for a squeaky clean image, but when Cooper and Camacho were given the name Sly Fox, and recorded and released their debut single, “Let’s Go All The Way,” in May of ’85, it was clear they had the recipe for success … at least for one song.

Sly Fox’s debut album, also titled Let’s Go All The Way, was released on Capitol Records in December of 1985, and even though they were riding high off the rise of the title track, it would turn out to be their only album.

Despite a number of follow up singles, nothing other than the title track struck a chord with listeners, and in 1988, just two years after Sly Fox had cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the group disbanded.

To this day, Let’s Go All The Way hasn’t been released on CD, although an unofficial digital remaster that included six bonus songs was made available in the U.S. via download in 2002 by World Beyond Music Inc. (best of luck trying to find it, as it doesn’t seem to be around anymore except as a bootleg CD).

Cooper and Camacho briefly flirted with a reunion in 1989, but apparently the duo had artistic differences that dated back a number of years, and they ultimately decided a re-teaming wasn’t going to work.

Going their separate ways, Cooper returned to tour with George Clinton, and has played with a litany of artists, including Prince.

In 2006 he released a collaborative album with the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart titled Fresh Mud.

Bob Dylan, yes that Bob Dylan, makes a guest appearance on the album, playing the piano on the song “Home.”

Even more recently, in the summer of 2025 Cooper announced a teaming with Timothy Moore to form a new duo named Unlimited Access, with music reportedly on the way.

Camacho has has stayed active, as well. He released a jazz album titled Just for You in 2006, and was a proprietor of Rue-B, a jazz lounge in NYC. Rue-B has a unique place in history, as it was one of the first venues in the city to bring back live music after COVID. Sadly, it closed in the Fall of 2021 due to issues with the landlord.

In December of 2025, Camacho released his latest single, titled “Just Your Love.”

Currier, who’s career saw him work with a plethora of artists, including Melba Moore, and Sweet Sensation, passed away in 2023.

He did, however, live long enough to hear Sly Fox’s big hit find a new, slightly unconventional, life in 2000 when another duo, the Insane Clown Posse, released a remake of “Let’s Go All The Way.”

As legend has it, Violent J reportedly discovered the song on an ‘80s mixtape he bought at a gas station, and he liked the tune so much he wanted to do something with it.

The result wound up being a remarkably socially conscious song that stayed true to the original message. It also stands as the most commercial song ICP has ever released. The video even received airplay on MTV, albeit just once, and late at night. It was a decision that wound up having some pretty wild ramifications for the network.

After seeing the video receive airplay, ICP did one of the things they’ve always done well – they organized.

The duo chose a day, December 8th, 2000, to have fans flood TRL with requests for the video in hopes of making the Top 10.

To coincide with this, ICP, along with employees of their label, Psychopathic Records, and some friends, made the drive to NYC, where they were met by nearly 400 Juggalos who were outside the TRL studios in Times Square to show their support.

MTV wasn’t thrilled seeing all those painted faces where teen girls usually congregated in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite boy band, and around half an hour before TRL was set to go on air, a combination of Viacom security and the NYPD removed as many of the Juggalos as possible.

The incident, the song, and ICP were never mentioned on air, and all the requests for “Let’s Go All The Way” were ignored.

A group of Juggalos had a much better reaction in Canada when they appeared outside of MuchMusic during a taping of Much on Demand (the Canadian music network’s version of TRL). Not only were they invited up, MuchMusic let them take over part of the show, including painting the face of one of the hosts!

Someone put all the segments together in one video for YouTube, and based on the Kittie, and Bif Naked songs being voted on, my guess is this took place in 2002.

Getting back to the originators of “Let’s Go All The Way,” I gave Sly Fox’s sole album a spin, and found three songs, other then the title track, that your should hear.

“Don’t Play With Fire”

In addition to probably being Smokey the Bear’s favorite song, and also just being really solid advice, “Don’t Play With Fire” is some pure ‘80s goodness.

Much like “Let’s Go All The Way,” “Don’t Play With Fire” deals with social issues, but everything is presented in such a funky way that the message comes with a heaping dose of body movement.

I think we’d all prefer if news reports sounded like this … kick ass guitar solo included!

“I Still Remember”

A pop gem that with a synth groove that’s undeniable, the fact that of all the singles that were released from Let’s Go All The Way “I Still Remember” wasn’t one of them is an absolute crime.

This is a great tune, and it deserved to be heard at a high volume coming out of every car in 1986.

“If Push Comes to a Shove”

On “If Push Comes to a Shove” Cooper and Camacho tried their hand at something a little more soulful, and the result was pretty dang good.

You can hear a doo-wop influence on this one, and while some might say it wouldn’t have made it as a single, I think great harmonies are always in season.

Perhaps, with its old school influence, “If Push Comes to a Shove” was actually a bit ahead of its time, as these types of songs didn’t have their renaissance until a handful of years later.

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!