The Chameleons - Strange Times (1986)

Strange Times, released in 1986, is the third album released by The Chameleons. Initial American pressings of the record came with a bonus 12" with six additional tracks, two of which are covers; the American cassette also had the same bonus tracks, split up so that each side of the cassette contained half of the bonus tracks.

The record did not have a B Side. It was credited as Side A and Side A+.

The album was never released on CD in any territory until 1993. Although Geffen released it as a two-disc set with all of the bonus tracks in the United Kingdom and Germany, the decision was made to omit one of the bonus tracks ("Ever After") from the American version to facilitate its release on a single disc

Strange Times (1986) THE CHAMELEONS Limited Edition Free Bonus CD All songs written by Mark Burgess, Dave Fielding, Reg Smithies, and John Lever. DISC 1 | Download 73.6mb 1. Mad Jack 2. Caution 3. Tears(Original Arrangement Of 'Tears' - Very Different!) 4. Soul in Isolation 5. Swamp Thing 6. Time the End of Time 7. Seriocity 8. In Answer 9. Childhood 10. I'll Remember DISC 2 | Download 56mb 1. Tears 2. Paradiso 3. Inside Out 4. Ever After 5. John, I'm Only Dancing (David Bowie) 6. Tomorrow Never Knows (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)

TEARS LYRICS

TEARS It's just coincidence Well, you can talk that way But I have to say I don't believe in it It was a chill of chance, I decided to dance the days away And I wasn't worried at all Sneaking through the back door No, I wasn't worried at all Dreams are what you live for Waiting for the light to turn green Carry me home To the kindest eyes that I've ever seen Carry me home Well, can you tell me how will it be now? How will it be? Can you tell me, how will it be now? How will it be? Well we were younger then, And the days were long and slow But were we wiser then? I couldn't say, I wouldn't know But I wasn't worried at all I had someone to run to And I wasn't worried at all I knew which way the wind blew Counting out the chaos and gloom Carry me home And I watched the ceiling spin round the room Carry me home Well, can you tell me, how will it be now? How will it be? Can you tell me, how will it be now? How will it be? In the real world, how will it be? In a cold world, how will it be? In a lonely world, how will it be? Will the ghosts just stop following me? No, now drawn into the sun He was the only one In the real world, how will it be? In a cold, cold world, how will it be? Beck and call, beg and crawl, how will it be? Will the ghosts just stop following me? No, now drawn into the sun He was the only one And so I'll remember you, I'll remember the days and the thousands of ways you pulled me through, And dream of all the things you've seen, Of all the faces and all of the places you have been, Now you have no phone and you have no name and you have no number, And it comes to an end in the blink of an eye and it makes me wonder...

Alternative Lyrics from Marks songbook (Dearest dead days) It's just coincidence Well you can talk that way But I have to say I don't believe in it And with the chill of chance I decided to dance the days away And I wasn't worried at all Sneaking through the backdoor No I wasn't worried at all Dreams are what you live for Waiting for the light to turn green Carry me home To the kindest eyes that I've ever seen Carry me home Can you tell me how will it be now How will it be? Well we were younger thenAnd the days were long and slow But were we wiser then I couldn't say, I wouldn't know But I wasn't worried at all I had someone to run to No I wasn't worried at all I knew which way the wind blew Kicking out the chaos and gloom Carry me home I'll watch the ceiling spin round the room Carry me home Can you tell me how will it be now? How will it be? In the real world how will it be? In a cold world how will it be? In a lonely world (Beg and crawl) How will it be? Will the ghosts just stop! Following me Now drawn into the sun He was the only one He cries out to everyone For his only son From the window of my room now I can see the colour blue now You can't even look in my eyes now What would you see If you could look into my eyes now What would you see What would you see It's a coincidence You can talk that way I don't believe in it

The Chameleons

The Chameleons (called The Chameleons UK on some American releases) were a post-punk band that formed in Middleton, in 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).

Through Mark Burgess' vocals and dark and ironic lyrics, their songs often dealt with personal themes of childlike innocence and a reverence for nostalgia. Musically, perhaps most notable in their work was the band's innovative and distinctive use of dual guitar melodies, courtesy of Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, as opposed to the traditional rhythm-and-lead guitarist format prevalent in rock music even to this day. These arrangements were often characterized by the use of delay and chorus effects.

The band initially released three studio albums in the 1980s, following 1981 debut single "In Shreds" (the fruit of a brief signing to Epic), and several radio sessions for late legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel. The Chameleons released their first full-length studio LP, the critically-acclaimed Script of the Bridge, on the Statik label in 1983. The album features a blend of rhythmic electric guitar textures, providing a moody and intense backdrop for Mark Burgess' haunting vocals. After their third release, 1986's Strange Times and the 1987 sudden death of band manager Tony Fletcher, they abruptly disbanded. Burgess then fronted The Sun and the Moon (with Lever), who issued only 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 were, for all practical purposes, extinct for well over a decade before a small series of successful live dates in 2000 and the concurrent 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 successful reunion tour which took them across Europe and the United States, the band dissolved once again in early 2003 due to personal differences.

Although The Chameleons never attained the level of commercial success or fame enjoyed by their contemporaries (e.g. The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen), their body of work is still critically acclaimed within the music press and influenced bands as diverse as Kitchens of Distinction, Puressence, Interpol, and Editors.

Discography

Albums

• 1983 Script of the Bridge (Statik; issued 1984 on MCA in the US; reissued 2008 as 25th Anniversary 2CD edition)
• 1985 What Does Anything Mean? Basically (Statik)
• 1986 Strange Times (Geffen) # 44 UK Albums Chart | Download Here
• 2000 Strip (Paradiso)
• 2001 Why Call It Anything? (Artful)
• 2002 This Never Ending Now (Paradiso)

Live Albums

• 1992 Tripping Dogs (Glass Pyramid)
• 1992 Here Today...Gone Tomorrow (Imaginary)
• 1993 Aufführung in Berlin (Imaginary)
• 1993 Free Trade Hall Rehearsal (Imaginary)
• 1996 Live at the Gallery Club Manchester (Visionary; reissued 2001 on Cherry Red)
• 1996 Live Shreds (Cleopatra)
• 2002 Live (Paradiso)
• 2003 Live at the Academy (Paradiso)

Compilations

• 1986 The Fan and the Bellows (Hybrid)
• 1990 John Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit)
• 1992 Here Today...Gone Tomorrow (Imaginary)
• 1993 The Radio 1 Evening Show Sessions (Nighttracks)
• 1993 Dali's Picture/Live in Berlin (Imaginary)
• 1994 Northern Songs (Bone Idol)
• 1997 Return of the Roughnecks: The Best of the Chameleons (2CD) (Dead Dead Good)

Singles and EPs

• 1982 "In Shreds/Less Than Human" (Epic)
• 1983 "Up the Down Escalator" (Statik; Germany)
• 1983 "Don't Fall" (Statik; France)
• 1983 "As High As You Can Go" (Statik)
• 1983 "A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days" (Statik)
• 1985 "In Shreds"/"Nostalgia" [#11 UK Indie; Epic]
• 1985 "Singing Rule Britannia (While the Walls Close In)" [#2 UK Indie; Statik]
• 1986 The Wait Until Dark E.P.
• 1986 "Mad Jack" [Geffen]
• 1986 "Tears" [UK #85; Geffen]
• 1986 "Swamp Thing" [UK #82; Geffen]
• 1990 Tony Fletcher Walked on Water....La La La La La-La La-La-La (post-breakup EP, recorded in 1987; Glass Pyramid)