The Chameleons

The Chameleons are an English rock band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 1981. The band's classic line-up consisted of bassist and vocalist Mark Burgess, guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever. The band released their debut studio album, Script of the Bridge, in 1983. They followed it with What Does Anything Mean? Basically and Strange Times in 1985 and 1986, respectively, before abruptly breaking-up in 1987 due to the sudden death of the band's manager. After the break-up, Burgess and Lever formed the Sun and the Moon, while Fielding and Smithies formed the Reegs. Burgess also had a short solo career with backing band the Sons of God. The Chameleons reformed in 2000, releasing their fourth studio album Why Call It Anything (2001) as well as the acoustic albums Strip (2000) and This Never Ending Now (2002). Renewed tensions caused the group to break-up again in 2003. Burgess and Lever continued to play Chameleons songs live with their new project ChameleonsVox, although Lever later left that group and died in 2017. Burgess and Smithies reformed the Chameleons in 2021 with two members of Burgess' ChameleonsVox group. Known for their atmospheric, guitar-based sound, the Chameleons are regarded as one of the most underrated Manchester bands of the 1980s. They did not attain the commercial success of other groups from the Manchester scene but developed a cult following.