The Chameleons are a legendary band from the 80’s post punk era. Distinctively, that means that they weren’t exactly new wave and were around before the term alternative music existed. I first became aware of them in 1989 after they had dissolved and the Sun and the Moon were fresh off of their release Le Soleil, La Lune
We listened predominately to the first two Chameleons releases, but listened to Strange Times a few times as well. This was during my first stint at a record store in Hickory, NC called Selecter records. It was a cool Mom and Pop record shop who based their name and logo indirectly from the Selecter band. I learned a lot about music from those times and if I’m to be completely honest, I still do when I have visited their new shop, Records in the RAD in Asheville, NC.
This shop, and Oasis Limited records in Marshall are currently working through renovations after Hurricane Helene. So, please support these businesses upon reopening to help them make up for the months they had without income.
The Radio Room in Greenville, SC was the location of the Chameleons gig I attended. I walked in just as the opening act, The Veldt were playing what seemed to be their opening song, “Soul in a Jar”. I can remember seeing them perform in Raleigh at a concert for the Mission Valley shopping center back to school event for NCSU. Back then, The group also performed songs from Illuminated 1989, a record that was produced by Robin Guthrie from the Cocteau Twins back from the year in the title. At the time, the band ended up scrapping the release because the record industry didn’t understand the band. I believe that although although they drew from influences such as Love and Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd, the record companies felt that bands should copy a genre whereas the Veldt were crafting their own creative sound. The band was featured on MTV’s 120 minutes when they released their subsequent recordings in the 1990’s and always have had an audience for fans of Shoegaze and 4AD. Currently, the group is performing with 4 guitars over percussion tracks.
Over the years, I have missed the opportunity to see Mark Burgess solo and Chameleons Vox tours through the US. If I’m to be completely honest, had it not been for Hurricane Helene, I probably wouldn’t have attended the concert because it wasn’t in my own town. I did, however find myself with this opportunity to go to see the band that meant more to me than any of the bands often followed by their fans. The songs performed in Greenville included the entire Strange Times record as well as songs like In Shreds, Second Skin. Don’t Fall, Monkeyland and the new song Where are you? Although Strange Times is the record I perhaps listened to the least during the 2 years where I was most focused on the band’s genius, it is also just a classic record. The band’s sound was crisp and tight. Burgess asked the audience at the end of the night if they felt this had been a memorable experience. The audience screamed with approval. Burgess, then said giving the audience a memory that might stay with them was their ultimate goal. This certainly had been achieved.
The crowd was a mixture of young and old. Many of the younger folks seemed to know the lyrics by heart for every song. In addition to frontman Mark Burgess, the group included Reg Smithies on Guitar, Stephen Rice on Guitar, Todd Demma on Drums and Danny Ashberry on Keyboards. The group has a new record they’re working on with producer Guy Massey, set to be released in 2025. Let’s hope the group is on tour prepping for a tour that will support this upcoming release in the US as well. If the group makes it to your town, you make sure you don’t miss your chance.
