| The Chameleons | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Middleton, Greater Manchester, England |
| Genres | Post-punk |
| Years active | 1981–1987, 2000–2003 |
| Associated acts | Magazine Black Swan Lane |
| Past members | |
| Mark Burgess Reg Smithies Dave Fielding John Lever Brian Schofield Martin Jackson Alistair Lewthwaite Andy Clegg Kwasi Asante |
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The Chameleons (called The Chameleons UK on some American releases) were an English post-punk band that formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 1981. They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever (replacing original drummer Brian Schofield). The core quartet were sometimes augmented live by keyboardists Alistair Lewthwaite and Andy Clegg in the 1980s, and percussionist/vocalist Kwasi Asante during their reunion period (ex-Magazine drummer Martin Jackson also briefly replaced Lever during 1982-83 while the latter was on sabbatical).
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The band initially released three studio albums in the 1980s, following 1982 debut single "In Shreds" (the fruit of a brief signing to Epic, latterly reissued on the Statik label), and several radio sessions for the BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. The Chameleons released their first album, Script of the Bridge, on the Statik label in 1983. After their third release, 1986's Strange Times and the 1987 sudden death of band manager Tony Fletcher, they disbanded. Burgess then fronted The Sun and the Moon (with Lever), who issued one eponymous album on Geffen in 1988, followed by an array of solo projects. Guitarists Fielding and Smithies formed The Reegs, who released two albums: Return of the Sea Monkeys (1991) and Rock the Magic Rock (1993). John Lever later joined Bushart, who released the album Yesterday is History (2008).
The Chameleons had been broken up for well over a decade, before playing a small series of live dates in 2000, and the release of the album Strip (which reworked older material in an acoustic format). After a final studio album, 2001's Why Call It Anything?, another unplugged album (This Never Ending Now), and a reunion tour which took them across Europe and the United States, the band dissolved once again in early 2003.
In 2009, Mark Burgess and John Lever reformed to play Chameleons back catalogue material, under the name Chameleons Vox.