Birth of a Wave
In the year 1981, three musicians from Middleton formed a band. Their influences were early U2 and Genesis among others, and after their search for a drummer was successful at second attempt, they began to gain attention. In the year of their formation, the band called The Chameleons has already performed for BBC Radio DJ John Peel several times, and a year later, their first single In Shreds was published. It took only took another year until their first longplayer Script of the Bridge got released via Statik Records – a record that started a wave which has never broken since then.
Foothold in Hazy Airs
Script of the Bridge is a groundbreaking release as it presented the genres New Wave and Post Punk in a whole new way. Driven by powerful drumming and built on eclectic guitar themes, The Chameleons created their very own sound here. Not as dark as Joy Division and yet melancholic on the one hand, and heavier than Fischer-Z on the other, The Chameleons‚ Post Punk combined movement and mood, passion and action. You can hear that each of the band members have contributed to the soundscape as both guitars, the bass, the drums, the vocals, and the keyboards play their significant roles here.
In contemporary days, 40 years after the release of Script of the Bridge, this sound still dominates major parts of Indie, Shoegaze, New Wave and Post Punk. Let us therefore celebrate this pioneering work.
Help to save and protect lives in Israel and Gaza
Click here to make a donation to Magen David Adom
