The Chameleons -

The Chameleons were an English post-punk band that released the 1983–85 albums Script of the Bridge and What Does Anything Mean? Basically on Statik Records. Their 1986 Geffen release Strange Times spawned the college radio staple “Swamp Thing.” Singer–bassist Mark Burgess and drummer John Lever carried on as The Sun and the Moon on the 1988 album Le Soleil, La Lune.

Members: Mark Burgess (vocals, bass, guitar), Reg Smithies (guitar, vocals), Dave Fielding (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Brian Schofield (drums, 1981), John Lever (drums, 1981-82, 1983-2003), Martin Jackson (drums, 1982-83)

Background

The Chameleons formed in early 1981 in Middleton in Greater Manchester when Mark Burgess teamed with two guitarists: childhood friends Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding.

Burgess (b. May 11, 1960) hailed from The Cliches, a punk trio that demoed three songs: “Rock of Ages,” “The Whole Wide World,” and “Leaving Town.” Smithies and Fielding played in Year, a post-punk trio (with Reg on bass) that cut the 1979 maxi-single “Come Dancing” (b/w “Red Chevi’” and “Don’t Leave”) on the one-off label Tuff Going Music. Fielding (b. November 11, 1959) cut an earlier cassette demo (circa 1973) with SEN, a high school quartet inspired by Yes and Genesis.

The Chameleons first used a beat box but hired drummer Brian Schofield in time for their June 8, 1981, session for BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, whose 6/17 broadcast aired four originals: two marked for an upcoming demo (“The Fan and the Bellows,” “Things I Wish I’d Said”) and two future album tracks (“Here Today,” “Looking Inwardly”).

In late 1981, Schofield cleared out for drummer John Lever, recently of The Politicians, a post-punk band that cut one single, “Moving Up” (b/w “Warrior”), on indie Jaas Records.

The Chameleons cut a demonstration album of nine songs at Cargo Studios, a converted 16-track warehouse in Rochdale. The results impressed Epic Records, which linked the band with Steve Lillywhite, a soundman on 1977–81 albums by Peter Gabriel (“Melt”), The Psychedelic Furs (Talk Talk Talk), U2 (Boy, October), Ultravox (Ultravox!, Ha!-Ha!-Ha!), and XTC (Drums and Wires, Black Sea).

“In Shreds”

On April 2, 1982, The Chameleons debuted with the Epic single “In Shreds,” backed with “Less Than Human,” both group-written numbers. Reg Smithies created the sleeve art.

A. “In Shreds” (4:08)
B. “Less Than Human” (4:33)

Steve Lillywhite produced the single amid work on 1982 titles by the Thompson Twins and Toyah. Sessions occurred at Cargo (“Less Than Human,” demoed pre-Epic) and London’s RAK studios, where they recorded “In Shreds” and a third song (“Nostalgia”) that later appeared on a 1985 12″ reissue of the single. Cure soundman Phil Thornalley engineered the RAK tracks.

After the initial 5,000-copy run, disparities on the business end caused CBS to sever ties with The Chameleons, which then signed with Statik Records, a Glasgow-based indie that issued titles by Creation Rebel, Dead Kennedys, New Age Steppers, Men Without Hats, Positive Noise, and Thomas Dolby.

Statik’s 1985 “In Shreds” reissue (12”) features revised cover art that expands the original detail: the helmeted baby-holding subject (now revealed as a mother) stands in a tub while her daughter bathes.

Script of the Bridge

The Chameleons released their debut album, Script of the Bridge, on August 8, 1983, on Statik.

Script of the Bridge features twelve group-written originals, including “View from a Hill,” “Don’t Fall,” “Second Skin,” and the singles “Up the Down Escalator,” “As High as You Can Go,” and “A Person Isn’t Safe Anywhere These Days.”

Script is the first of three Chameleons studio albums with the classic lineup of bassist/singer Mark Burgess, drummer John Lever, and guitarists Dave Fielding and Reg Smithies, who doubled as their cover artist. Keyboardist Alistair Lewthwaite augments the band on select passages.

1. “Don’t Fall” (4:06) contains a spoke-word intro from Two Sisters from Boston, a 1946 MGM musical comedy.
2. “Here Today” (3:50)
3. “Monkeyland” (5:24)
4. “Second Skin” (6:50)
5. “Up the Down Escalator” (3:57)
6. “Less Than Human” (4:12)

7. “Pleasure and Pain” (5:11)
8. “Thursday’s Child” (3:22)
9. “As High as You Can Go” (3:35)
10. “A Person Isn’t Safe Anywhere These Days” (5:43)
11. “Paper Tigers” (4:16)
12. “View from a Hill” (6:41)

The Chameleons preceded the album with “As High as You Can Go,” released as a January single with “Pleasure and Pain.” This was the final 7″ in Statik’s original series (STAT 30), between singles by The Blockheads (“Twist and Shout,” STAT 28) and Men Without Hats (“The Safety Dance,” TAK 1). “As High as You Can Go” reached No. 7 on the UK Indie Chart.

Script sessions occurred at Cargo Studios with producer/engineer Colin Richardson, a recent soundman for Carmel and Ludus. The Chameleons placed a microphone near an in-studio television set to capture random sounds and dialogue, hence the Two Sisters bit. Between the album’s completion and release, drummer Martin Jackson (ex-Magazine, future Swing Out Sister), deputized Lever on a UK winter tour.

In June, Statik issued a second advance single: “A Person Isn’t Safe Anywhere These Days” backed with “Thursday’s Child.” This was the fifth 7″ in the label’s TAK series, between Thomas Dolby (“Urges” TAK 4) and Positive Noise (“When Lightning Strikes,” TAK 8).

Burgess wrote the back-cover liner notes, which offer irreverent “what, when, why” explanations of the band’s creative process. He applauds Richardson for engineering “miracles from a dying studio” and credits one Ken (a group friend) for uttering “the immortal words What is the script with this bridge?”

Smithies’ cover collage depicts imagery of a bridge, a distant valley, a broken castle, and a hilltop; overlaid with a floating tree trunk and a tearful heterochromatic subject with a rainbow-emitting skull crack.

In November, Statik lifted “Up the Down Escalator” as the album’s third single (b/w “Monkeyland”). In France, “Escalator” appeared as the b-side of “Don’t Fall.”

The Chameleons performed “Don’t Fall” and “Second Skin” for their second Peel session, recorded on June 8 for the DJ’s 6/14 broadcast, which also featured one earlier rarity (“Nostalgia”) and a future album track (“Perfume Garden”).

What Does Anything Mean? Basically

The Chameleons released their second album, What Does Anything Mean? Basically, on May 20, 1985, on Statik.

The album features ten group-written originals, including “Home is Where the Heart Is,” “P.S. Goodbye,” “Perfume Garden,” and the single “Singing Rule Britannia (While the Walls Close In),” which quotes Beatles lyrics. Guitarist Dave Fielding doubles on the ARP String Ensemble.

1. “Silence, Sea and Sky” (1:59)
2. “Perfume Garden” (4:36)
3. “Intrigue in Tangiers” (5:17)
4. “Return of the Roughnecks” (3:26)
5. “Singing Rule Britannia (While the Walls Close In)” (4:17)

6. “On the Beach” (4:10)
7. “Looking Inwardly” (4:29)
8. “One Flesh” (4:28)
9. “Home Is Where the Heart Is” (4:54)
10. “P.S. Goodbye” (4:02)

Sessions occurred in January 1985 at Highland, an Iverness home studio owned by Scottish soundman David W. Balfe (not the Teardrop Explodes keyboardist). Colin Richardson produced the album ahead of titles by Elysium and Shark Taboo. What Does Anything Mean? was engineered by Shriekback soundman Ian Caple, who worked concurrently with Jah Wobble and The Pale Fountains.

Artist Martin Kay created the album’s sleeve, which shows a framed, airbound, striped (white/blue) mask that winds from the nose to a pair of vinyl LPs.

One year before the album’s release, The Chameleons cut a May 1984 Peel session with rough takes of “One Flesh,” “Intrigues In Tangiers,” “P.S. Goodbye,” and “Return of the Roughnecks” (then titled “Dust to Dust”).

Statik lifted “Singing Rule Britannia” as an August 1985 single backed with a live version of the song.

Strange Times

The Chameleons released their third album, Strange Times, on September 1, 1986, on Geffen. It features ten group-written originals, including “Childhood,” “In Answer,” the two-part “Time/End of Time,” and the lengthy numbers “Caution” and “Soul in Isolation.” The LP sides were listed as A and A+.

Strange Times spawned two singles: “Tears” (different from the album mix) and “Swamp Thing,” an epic neo-psych ballad that dominated college radio. US copies contained a bonus EP with b-sides and session outtakes.

Material coalesced after a one-month rehearsal period at a shared house in England’s Lake District near Hawkshead village.

1. “Mad Jack” (3:55)
2. “Caution” (7:46)
3. “Tears” (original, 5:05)
4. “Soul in Isolation” (7:28)

5. “Swamp Thing” (5:56)
6. “Time/The End of Time” (5:41)
7. “Seriocity” (3:00)
8. “In Answer” (4:54)
9. “Childhood” (4:39)
10. “I’ll Remember” (3:39)

The Chameleons released an electric version of “Tears” an an advance June single, backed with the non-album “Paradiso.” The 12″ contains a second exclusive, “Inside Out.”

Strange Times sessions spanned five weeks at Jacob’s Studio, a Georgian farmhouse in the Surrey countryside where longtime Human League soundman David Allen produced the album between projects with The Cure (The Head On the Door) and Depeche Mode (Black Celebration).

Engineer Mark Saunders worked on Strange Times between the Absolute Beginners soundtrack and the 1986 Madness swan song “(Waiting for) the Ghost Train.” His assistants, Paul Crocket and Beki, played piano on select passages.

Geffen accompanied the album’s release with a second single, “Swamp Thing,” backed with a cover of the 1972 David Bowie classic “John, I’m Only Dancing.”

In the US, Geffen issued Strange Times with a six-sing bonus EP that gathered the electric single version of “Tears” and the three non-album b-sides, plus one session outtake (“Ever After”) and the Beatles cover “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

11. “Tears” (full, 5:09)
12. “Paradiso” (4:35)
13. “Inside Out” (3:34)
14. “Ever After” (3:59)
15. “John, I’m Only Dancing” (2:30
16. “Tomorrow Never Knows” (6:08)

Reg Smithies’ Strange Times cover art depicts a man accompanied by twisty human/serpent hybrids, one of whom reappears in water on the “Swamp Thing” sleeve. The back cover features dark monochrome imagery with the Smithies, John Lever, and Dave Fielding identified by their forenames and Mark Burgess credited as “Birdy.”

As “Swamp Thing” rotated on US modern rock stations, The Chameleons launched a spring 1987 tour that hit Canada, California, New York, and the Midwest. They cut Boston from the tour schedule, despite heavy airplay of “Swamp Thing” on WFNX (101.7 FM), a leading new music station based in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Tony Fletcher Walked on Water…. La La La La La-La La-La-La

In 1987, The Chameleons recorded four songs for a proposed EP, set for release in advance of their second Geffen album. Chameleons manager Tony Fletcher died two days prior to the sessions, which precipitated the band’s collapse. In 1990, Mark Burgess released the EP as Tony Fletcher Walked on Water…. La La La La La-La La-La-La on Glass Pyramid.

1. “Is It Any Wonder” (5:46)
2. “Free for All” (4:25)

3. “The Healer” (7:07)
4. “Denims and Curls” (4:23)

Fletcher’s death exacerbated group tensions that split the Chameleons in half. Dave Fielding and Reg Smithies teamed with singer/keyboardist Gary Lavery in The Reegs, which recorded a Kinks cover (“See My Friends”) and two albums for Imaginary Records.

Mark Burgess and John Lever formed The Sun and the Moon with guitarists Andy Clegg and Andy Whitaker, both of the trio Music for Aborigines.

The Sun and the Moon – Le Soleil, La Lune.

The Sun and the Moon released their singular album, Le Soleil, La Lune, in July 1988 on Geffen. The album’s title is the French translation of the band name.

Le Soleil, La Lune features ten songs group-credited to Mark Burgess, John Lever, Andy Clegg, and Andy Whitaker, including “House on Fire,” “A Picture of England,” and the singles “Peace in Our Time” and “The Speed of Life.”

1. “The Speed of Life” (4:07)
2. “Death of Imagination” (3:49)
3. “A Matter of Conscience” (5:30)
4. “Peace in Our Time” (4:25)
5. “Dolphin” (4:20)
6. “House on Fire” (5:25)
7. “The Price of Grain” (6:06)
8. “Limbo-Land” (3:27)
9. “A Picture of England” (5:24)
10. “This Passionate Breed” (4:42)

Sessions occurred at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, and Suite 16 in Rochdale, Lancashire. “Peace in Our Time” preceded the album as a spring 1988 single, followed by “The Speed of Life” (both backed with “Death of Imagination”). WFNX placed “Peace in Our Time” in high rotation.

The Sun and the Moon co-produced the album with engineer Chris Jones (CJ), a recent soundman for The Colourfield, Durutti Column, and The Fall. CJ co-engineered Le Soleil, La Lune with Paul Cobbold, a prior soundman for Blanket of Secrecy, Clannad, Echo & The Bunnymen (Porcupine), Hawkwind, and Passion Puppets. Cobbold assisted Le Soleil in sequence with 1988 titles by Fields of the Nephilim and The Waterboys.

Chameleons artist Martin Kay (What Does Anything Mean?) created the sunface art for Le Soleil and its corresponding singles.

Dali’s Picture

In 1999, Imaginary Records issued Dali’s Picture, a collection of nine Chameleon’s demos from late 1981, recorded at Cargo Studios before their Epic deal. It features early versions of the 1982 b-side “Less Than Human” and the 1985 12″ track “Nostalgia.”

1. “Everyday and Crucified” (3:28)
2. “Monkeyland” (5:11)
3. “Dreams In Celluloid” (6:45) prototype of “Second Skin”
4. “Love Is” (3:59)
5. “The Fan, the Bellows” (3:33)
6. “Looking Inwardly” (4:25)
7. “Dali’s Picture” (4:06)
8. “Nostalgia” (5:30)
9. “Less Than Human” (2:31)
10. “Things I Wish I’d Said” (5:16)

Discography: