The Chameleons are:
Mark "Birdy" Burgess - Vocals, Bass
Reg Smithies - Electric & Acoustic Guitar
Dave Fielding - Electric & Acoustic Guitar, and
John Lever - Drums
Dave does some keyboards (and didgeridoo!), as did Alastair Lewthwaite and
then Andy Clegg. Brian Schofield was their original drummer. Martin Jackson
replaced Lever when he took a year off in 82-83. They were managed by Tony
Skinkiss until May 1985, and thereafter by Tony Fletcher until his death in
1987.
The band formed in 1981 in Middleton, six miles north of Manchester. Before
this, Mark had been in the Clichés while Reg and Dave were in Years. Dave
was in a school band called Sen. The three started without a drummer and got
the attention of the legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel.
Their first single, "In Shreds" on CBS, made number 42 on John Peel's
Festive Fifty in 1982. They originally signed with CBS, but they disagreed
with how they should sound. CBS dropped them after the one single, despite
encouraging sales. They soon signed with Statik. However, Statik was
distributed by Virgin, so they couldn't qualify for the independent charts
and were thus overlooked by the music press.
The debut album, "Script of the Bridge", was recorded in Rochdale during a
six-week period. The band was really pissed when they found out about the
reduced version which was released by MCA in the US. They then became
unhappy with Statik and tried to get away from them, but were bound by
contractual obligations. After their second album, "What Does Anything Mean?
Basically", they signed with Geffen. While signed to Geffen, the band
released what was to be their last album together for fifteen years,
"Strange Times" as the band literally fell apart, acrimoniously, with grief
after Tony's death.
The dawning of a new millenium saw an ending to the 'hostilities' as the
band buried hatchets, kissed and made friends once more, culminating in a
reforming of the group, and a new 'unplugged' album entitled 'Strip'. A
triumphant, sold out, 5 day residency at their old stomping ground 'The
Witchwood' in Ashton confirmed their old reputation for being one of the
tightest live outfits ever. Quite simply, the Roughnecks have returned, and
they're on fire!
Bio written by: anon |
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