StrangE TimeS.The Chameleons News Section.

On November, the 12th This Never Ending Now has been released on Europe. We have updated the albums section with all comments for this brand new album.

The band The Jealous Type has recorded a cover of Love Is, original from The Chameleons, previous to Script Of The Bridge, for a compilation proyect of skipping discs.

On the http://www.lesmouchesnoires.com/ web site, it is available an interview with Mark Burgess made in Montreal on the last US Tour. On this interview Mark says the band will be go into studio soon to record a new album and that in the future plans of the band are the re-release of their early works remastered, in order to solve their sound carencies. The mentioned interview is in mp3 format and it is divided into 7 different files. We have added these files on the downloads section too. The following parts are links to the files hosted in les mouches noires web site.

There is available on the Downloads section a brand new wallpaper for Windows made by Oliver Zens. We have uploaded two different versions, one with 800 x 600 resolution, and another one with 1024 X 768. Besides we have re-activate the previous wallpaper and the desktop theme whose links were dead. We are working on reactivating all the dead links, and we hope all the mp3 will be available soon. Here we include a preview of the mentioned wallpaper:

On the Europe gigs the Chameleons will be doing in November, they will sell This Never Ending Now at the price of 15 euros.

At last, Simon Lawlor, the manager of The Chameleons has confirmed the November dates for the German Tour. A show in London and another one in the NL has been added. They are waiting for final confirmation of more dates in Paris and Amsterdam. These are the confirmed dates:

13:11 London Dingwalls (Camden).
15.11. BOCHUM Zwischenfall
16.11. BIELEFELD Forum
17.11. BERLIN - Maria am Ostbahnhof
18.11. KÖLN - Prime Club
19.11. HAMBURG - Docks
20.11. BREMEN - Schlachthof
21.11. HENGELO (NL) - Metropool
22.11. HAMELN - Sumpfblume
23.11. ARNSBERG - Werk II

There are still some copies left of the The reegs cds The Return Of The Seamonkeys , Rock The Magic World and a single by the Years ( the pre-chameleons band formed by Smithies/Fielding). Those who are interested on them, you can put in contact with Pedro, the person who is distributing this material. We want to thank all of those who have helped The Reegs by buying this material. The incomes will be used for releasing an official live album.

The Chameleons appear on the soundtrack of a film named And I Lived by Ryan Dacko. The author has put a trailer of the film in which View From A Hill is being played. This download, and all the info related the film is available on:

It has been released in the UK the new acoustic album, This Never Ending Now. You can order it via Townsend Records or Eil. The new album has been co-produced by the band and it has been released on their own laberl, Paradiso Communications. There will be soon an European release and, we hope a, US one, otherwise the only way to adquire it will be via import. For those who can´t wait, the only way is to order it now in a British record store.

We have updated the albums section with all the info of the new work, This Never Ending Now, and with all the comments of Mark which are included in the inner sleeve.

15.11. BOCHUM Zwischenfall
16.11. BIELEFELD - Forum + SPOON 17.11. BERLIN - Maria am Ostbahnhof + THE CONVENT
18.11. KÖLN - Prime Club
19.11. HAMBURG - Docks + AUSSENBORDER
20.11. BREMEN - Schlachthof + PILLBOXBOYS
22.11. HAMELN - Sumpfblume
23.11. ARNSBERG - Werk II

More photos from the US Tour. The author is FS Thomas and they belong to the concert at Marxwell´s in NJ on October, the 5th.

These are the promo posters for the US Tour, Spliff, a member of the official forum has designed. The photos used were taken by Didier Winum at La Locomotive in Paris last year, and are used with kind permission.

Although there has been no confirmation, it is very possible The Chameleons will perform some concerts in Germany in November, after the US tour. Actually, there are two announced dates in www.eventim.de. If there is no cancellation the dates will be like this:

Audio Rover took some photos from the gig last 5th of October atl Maxwell´s in New Jersey. Here is the link:

Tashbgosh, a member of the official forum, has published in his web site some photos of the gig in Washington DC at The Black Cat last October the first. Here is the link:

Thanks to Bullet, another member of the official forum, we can enjoy more photos of the U.S tour. The photos belong to the both gigs The Chameleons did last 28th and 29th of September in Atlanta. The mentioned photos are available on the following URL:

Creative Loafing, a local entertainment rag in Atlanta has published a review to promote the two gigs The Chameleons started the U.S. tour with. To read the mentioned review, just click on the following link:

You can enyoy more Cham photographs. This time they were taken in Manchester at the Rockworld, last September, the 25th.

Thanks to Chelseamonday, one of the members of the official forum and to Andy, one of the webmasters of the official site we can enjoy the photos of the gig The Chameleons last 23rd of September in York. Here is the link where you can find the mentioned photos:

Dave Fielding, one of the guitar players of The Chameleons has put on sale, through one of the members of the official forum, some signed promo copies of The Reegs: The Return Of The Sea Monkeys and Rock The Magic World and a vinyl single of The Years from 1979 ( pre-chameleons group formed by Fielding, Smithies and Seddon ). Dave has signed the CDs of The Reegs and all the money will be destinated to release new un-released material and an official live album by The Reegs.

If anyone is interested on adquiring some of this material, all you have to do is put in contact with Pedro, one of the members of the official forum.

On another sort of things it has been confimed a new warm up gig at The Witchwood in Ashton-Under-Lyne on September the 24th.

The Downloads Section has been updated with the very first The Chameleons Winamp Skin. The Author is Daniel Marni de la Cuesta, author too of the web site Endlessly Falling , dedicated to The Chameleons. If you want to download this skin, just click on the link below, or go to our download section or to Endlessly Falling. Here we include a preview.

New changes have appeared on the US Tour.Please check the table below to see the current status of the shows (when date is marked as Blue it means the show is confirmed, otherwise it is in the status to be confirmed):

Date	City	Venue
September 28	Atlanta	Echo Lounge
September 29	Atlanta (semi-acoustic)	Echo Lounge
October 1	Washington DC	The Black Cat
October 2	NYC (semi-acoustic)	Knitting Factory 8:00 p.m
October 2	NYC	Knitting Factory 11:00 p.m.
October 4	Brooklyn	South Paw
October 5	New Jersey	Maxwell´s
October 6	Boston	Middle East Cafe
October 7	Montreal (semi-acoustic)	Club Soda
October 8	Montreal	Club Soda
October 9	Toronto	Phoenix
October 12	Buffalo	The Continental
October 13	Rochester	Water Street Music Hall
October 14	Chicago	The Metro
October 15	Seattle	The Showbox
October 16	SF (semi-acoustic)	Great American Music Hall
October 18	SF	Great American Music Hall
October 20	Santa Ana	Galaxy
October 21	LA	The Knitting Factory
October 22	LA	The Knitting Factory
October 23	San Diego	Canes
October 24	Long Beach (semi acoustic)	Que Sera

Mark Burgess has published a new open letter dated on September the 7th. On it, he tells us about a new delay in the release of This Never Ending Now, due to a change in the layout. Mark also says that it is possible the new acoustic album will be available in the merchandise stall on the second half of the tour, so keep eyes opened. Right now, he goes to England for the rehearsals with the band and it is possible we won´t hear from him in a while.

Besides, he has prepared a power-point presentation to promote the band for the US Tour. The URL is

On this URL you will see a brief history of the band and their discography with some free mp3.Check the section for This Never Ending Now, because you will find the layout of the CD (perhaps not the definitive one) and the mp3 of Miracle And Wonders.

There is a current Chameleons Competition to win the DVD mentioned below.All you have to do is to go www.vip-24.com and click on the link "Win New Releases from Cherry Red", then you will have to find the email address associated to this chameleons release and send them an email with your full address. Good luck!

According to the official site there will be a warm up show for the US tour. This warm up show will take place in central Manchester at Rockworld on September the 25th. If you need more info about the price or how to buy the tickets for the show, please jump to the official site.

Here is the Current Status for the US Tour (when date is marked as Blue it means the show is confirmed, otherwise it is in the status to be confirmed)

Date	City	Venue
September 28th	Atlanta	Echo Lounge
September 29th	Atlanta (semi-acoustic)	Echo Lounge
October 1st	Washington DC	The Black Cat
October 2nd	NYC (semi-acoustic)	Knitting Factory 8:00 p.m
October 2nd	NYC	Knitting Factory 11:00 p.m.
October 4th	Brooklyn	South Paw
October 5th	New Jersey	Maxwell´s
October 6th	Boston	to be confirmed
October 7th	Montreal (semi-acoustic)	to be confirmed
October 8th	Montreal	Spectrum
October 9th	Ottawa	Zaphod Beeblebrox
October 10th	Toronto	Phoenix
October 12th	Buffalo	The Continental
October 14th	Chicago	The Metro
October 15th	Seattle	The Showbox
October 16th	SF (semi-acoustic)	Great American Music Hall
October 18th	SF	Great American Music Hall
October 20th	Santa Ana	Galaxy
October 21st	LA	The Knitting Factory
October 22nd	LA	The Knitting Factory
October 23rd	San Diego	Canes

It is released this month on Cherry Red Records the very first DVD of The Chameleons containing Live at The Gallery Club and Live at The Hacienda. If you need more info about this DVD or how to order, just click on http://www.cherryred.co.uk/dvd/thechameleons.htm.

This info has been updated on the downloads section. This file occupies about 6.5 MBs and it is in Real Audio format. To be able to play it you´ll need Real Player 8 which is available for free on http://www.real.com/player

Mark Burgess has added more info regarding the USA tour on the Stop Press section of the official site: The date of October, the 17th at The Knitting Factory is changed by two dates on the 21st and 22nd of the same month at the same venue.

A second open letter in this month has been published on the official site related to the US Tour. Words about a delay of the new acoustic album until September have been said. Here is the entire letter you can find on the official site since the 27th of July:

As I said I'll continue to keep you all posted on my progress regarding an October tour of the U.S. and although I'm still not in a position to confirm further dates other than those announced things are looking increasingly positive. An agent based in New York City is now involved who knows many of the bookers and venues from experience and together we've sketched out an itinerary which looks something like this:

Sept 28th - Atlanta Echo Lounge
Sept 30th - Carrboro Cat's Cradle
Oct 1st - Washington DC Black Cat
Oct 2nd - Philadelphia venue tba
Oct 3rd - NYC Mercury Lounge (semi-acoustic set)
Oct 4th - NYC The Bowery (full back line)
Oct 5th - Hoboken New Jersey Maxwell's
Oct 6th - Boston - Middle East Cafe
Oct 7 - Montreal venue tba
Oct 8 - Toronto venue tba
Oct 9 - Ottawa Zaphod Beeblebrox
Oct - 10th Detroit St Andrews
Oct - 11th Chicago Metro
Oct - 13th Seattle venue tba
Oct - 17th LA The Knitting Factory
Oct - 18th SF The Great American Music Hall

There is also the possibility of an acoustic set also in SF and two further full-on gigs in southern California, hopefully The Ventura Theatre and San Diego (venue tba) I have to stres that we are still only in discussion and that aside from the LA and SF show NOTHING HAS YET BEEN CONFIRMED, but as I say it is looking positive. I'm hopeful that I'll have made more progress in this regard by the middle of next week. Regarding the LA show, I have an unconfirmed report that as of yesterday they were down to the last seventeen tickets.

To reiterate what I said in the last open letter much of the progress I have made has been down to the brilliant response I had from many of you regarding contact information to promoters and venues. I will be contacting you personally to thank you all but with one thing and another I have been rather swamped with things to do, both related and unrelated, so my sincere apologies if you haven't heard from me already. There is still ways to go and you can still help make this happen. If you are in proximity to any of these proposed venues, contact them, tell them you've heard a rumour that The Chameleons are coming, help us create a buzz. Also, although a few professional promoters are now helping, we still need you to help spread the word to friends and local media.

Regarding the proposed dates in Germany in August. Again I apologise for not posting anything sooner but I was particularly disappointed and discouraged when, due to reasons I will not go into, these plans had to be abandoned. All I can say is that they were beyond my personal control, although I should have posted to let you know, sorry. We are now in the process of rescheduling a mainland Europe visit for late November/early December. The proposed UK dates will now probably be linked to these shows too.

Slight modifications to mixes and artwork have resulted in the delay in the proposed release date of the acoustic record 'The Never Ending Now'. I'm told though that this is back on track and providing I can find an hour in the day to finish one or two jobs of my own on this :) I'm told we can expect a release during September. TNEN is a sequel to 'Strip' and contains many acoustic treatments of songs that we just didn't have time to include when recording 'Strip' as well as a couple of treatments of songs from WCIA. We're all very pleased with the way the recording turned out and are eager to see it out there. For those who don't already know, an out-take from this session, that is a track that fell short of our expectations and that ISN'T now going to be included on the record, 'Thursday's Child', is now available as a free download from this site.

A new open letter from MArk Burgess is published on the official site on July, the 18th. Here is the letter you can find there:

I just wanted to quickly fill you in on my latest progress regarding setting up U.S dates for October. Again it seems that California has proved to be the most hassle free in this regard :) and I can confirm that The Chameleons will be appearing at:

We're also working on securing a semi-acoustic gig in SF and a date in Seattle within this time frame. I've asked Liz at the Knitting Factory for online booking info, when I have it I'll post it but in the meantime you should find all the info you need at their web site: The Knitting Factory.

With regards the east coast I've had an enormous response for my request for contact info, thanks very, very much for that and I am in touch with venues and one or two promoters along the strip and I've had a very positive response from them too. The problem is the time that it takes and the fact that east coast dates now have to fit within that 17 day time frame, as the tour will end on the west coast.

If push comes to shove it may mean that we will have to approach the east coast as a separate tour later this year, maybe Decemeber, or early next, around March. We'll just have to see how things pan out over the next few weeks. I am trying my best to make it happen though and hope very much that we can bring the band to the east coast and midwest before we finally wrap things up.

Finally I can announce that Reg and Nicki are now the very proud parents of a six pound bouncing baby boy. Chameleons:- The Next Generation, complete with bald captain..

According to Mark Burgess on the official site forum, there are already two confirmed dates for the USA West Coast gig of The Chameleons next October. They are trying to play in the East Coast but to date nothing is confirmed.These are the dates and the venues:

It´s now available for free download on the official site the new acoustic version of Thursday´s Child, which won´t appear on the new album,The Never Ending Now, whose release date is scheduled for the end of July or beginning of August. To access this mp3, just click on the following link:

Recently it has been released a new Live CD of Mark Burgess & Yves Altana called Paradyning Live In Frankfurt '96 and it contains the following songs from the previous studio work Paradyning:

1. Sin
2. Silver
3. Money Won't Save Your Soul
4. You Opened My Mind (And The Acid Kicked In)
5. Always Want
6. Home Is Where The Heart Is
7. Inhaling
8. World Without End
9. This Passionate Breed
10. Hi Joe
11. Is It Any Wonder

Home Is Where The Heart Is and Is It Any Wonder belong to The Chamelons era, and This Passionate Breed to The Sun And The Moon; the rest of the songs are from the Paradyning album from Mark Burgess & Yves Altana.

If you want more information, you can click on the following link where you can listen in real audio to all the tracks, download them at a low price or downlad a free sample, Money Won´t Save Your Soul ( after the download you will have to add the extension .mp3 to the file )

http://stage.vitaminic.co.uk/mark_burgess_and_yves_altana/albums

(Thanks Loss)

It has been released too a live CD from Invincible, the last project of Mark Burgess and Yves Altana before the Chameleons´ resurrection. The CD is called Black and Blue and you can read more information on the web site Yves Altana has got for all his projects:

http://www.chez.com/spooks/

1. venus on the rise
2. spooks
3. gethsemene
4. burning bibles
5. do it tomorrow
6. kinks
7. seventeen
8. dangerous
9. shiver
10. think (it's going to happen)
11. only you could save me
12. verboten

*************************************

On the free CD of Uncut music magazine of July you can find the live version of Indiana as a promotion of the double Live CD they recently have released. (Thanks Mr. Moto)

You can see some splendid photographs from the Chameleons taken the 26th of August of 2001 in Nottingham onthe following link:

We have redesigned the photo gallery section and more photographs have been included. Thanks to Didier Winum and to Stephie Lacroix for the fantastic photographs at La Locomotive.

It has been published on the official page another open letter of Mark dated the 9th of May, telling us very interesting things. Firstly, Mark confirms us the title of the new acoustic sessions is The Never Ending Now, and it will be edited on late July or the first days of August. Besides, he provides us with the track list, and news about his book and dates for summer gigs are given.

Sorry that an update has been so long coming but I've been away from the computer for quite a while over the last few months and when I have had access to it I've been working pretty solidly on the book I'm writing about my life and experiences as a member of The Chameleons. That's going quite well although there's quite a way to go yet..

Anyway one or two things I can tell you is that the acoustic album, which is essentially the follow up project to 'Strip', is now almost completed and slated for a late July/August release. It was something we wanted to do for quite a long time, since completing the first one a couple of years ago because there were quite a few songs we wanted to give the treatment but couldn't due to lack of time.

The session also contained a version of 'Thursday's Child' but although it sounds nice it didn't quite match up to our expectations so for the completists out there we'll probably make this track available as a free download on the site once I've consulted with Mik.

Thanks to everyone who sent us great feedback on the new live album and also to everyone who has continued to support our efforts by going out and buying one. On the live front some of the things I had hoped to see develop didn't pan out for one reason or another and I'm not in a position to confirm anything as yet but I can tell you that visits to Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow or Edinburgh, The Shetlands and possibly Dublin are in the wind. We're discussing a possible gig in Athens with a promotion company there and should be in a position to make a confirmed announcement within the next couple of weeks. The date is slated for June 16th.

We have also been offered two dates in Germany on August 2nd (Dortmund) and August 3rd (Hamburg). August 3rd is also the day Manchester City FC visit Hamburg to take on Keegan's old club HSV in a pre-season friendly. So if there are any City fans out there planning to go to this game, (I know I am), you'll have the option of a Chameleons gig the same night. Again things are still in the discussion stage but I will confirm this as soon as I can. I know I seem to say this on every open letter but I am still comitted to getting the band over to the States to play some gigs there and am in discussions with one or two people to check out the feasibility. I'm hopeful I can set something up for March this year. If there are people out there that can help put me in touch with suitable venues that would be a big help..

BIG thanks to all those that turned out for the London and Witchwood shows a couple of weeks ago.. You helped make them very memorable events, in fact the Witchwood shows in particular now rate amongst my favourite shows since getting back together. Thanks too for a couple of ace sets from 'Mentalist', if you're local and you want to check the band out they're playing central Manchester some time in early June so keep an ear out..

Here is the link of a fan page of the Chameleons with lots of photos taken by Chelsea M. from the last gig at The Witchwood on April the 29th.

Good news for all the fans of the Chameleons: They are preparing what is going to be the second part of the acoustic sessions which gave birth to Strip. This new album, whose title would be The Never Ending Now -still to be confirmed-, would be closer in sound to the acoustics gigs of last year rather than to Strip. This time John Lever is taking active part of the project.

Simon Lawlor has confirmed that some of the acoustic songs will be Intrigue In Tangiers, Second Skin, Fan And The Bellows and Tears. This album is to be released in midsummer, although a delay is possible.

It seems possible that this album includes a new acoustic version of Is It Any Wonder, as The Chameleons were considering the re-recording of it last year, altough finally it was not done.

Apart from this, The Chameleons are preparing the new songs for a brand new album to be released next year. This work will include new songs which are being now created. Mark Burgess has returned home in Germany, after some weeks of studio recording, and has taken with him 6 or 7 tracks with guitars lines Reg and Dave have been developing. The whole band is very excited with the new project. The recording sessions for this album will begin in autumm.

At last The Chameleons Live has been released, a live album which collects the best of last year gigs at The Academy in Manchester. If you want more information about this work, visit our Albums section, or just click here.

Jon Auer, leader of The Posies, has performed in his last work, 6 1/2, a cover of Chameleons´ classic Tears. In this covers album we can find tunes from Psychedelic Furs, Ween, The Chameleons or even Madonna.

If you want to listen to the cover Auer has done of Tears in mp3 format or you need more information about this artist, you can visit this link:

Simon Lawlor, the manager of The Chameleons, has announced the dates for the Spanish gigs have been cancelled due to a lack of agreement with the promoters. The dates hadn´t been confirmed but it seemed very sure they were coming on May. They will try to come to Spain by the end of the year, but it can´t be assure. As May gigs are off, The Chameleons have added a new date at The Witchwood, the 28th of April, Sunday, and another one at The Garage in London the 26th. The tickets for the concert of 29th are sold out. It seems the band will try hard to perform some gigs in the UK by the end of April. If more dates are added, we will let you know.

Mark Burgess was interviewed last 11th by Paul Baskerville in NDR4, a German radio. In this interview, Mark said the band was working on what it is going to be their next studio album, and although there are still no final release date, what it seems a fact is the positive feelings all they have about it. It seems this work will be in a more consistent style and it can surely surpass what it is considered up to now their master work, Script Of The Bridge. In fact, Mark said The Chameleons still have a lot of things to say and their best work is yet to come.

It seems the mood inside the band is very good, and they want to take time, avoiding quick recording sessions as in Why Call It Anything.

Mark said the best song of The Chameleons for him is Is It Any Wonder, included on the Tony Fletcher Walked On Water EP before their split up in 1987. It seems the band were considering the possibility of re-recording this song again last year, but they prefered to take a break. Who knows if a second version of this song will be included in the next album.

Its has been announced a warm-up for the Spanish Tour at The Witchwood in Ashton-Under-Lyne on April, the 29th. Tickets will be cost £10, and they are available from: TICKET LINE 0161 832 1111 & VENUE 0161 344 0321

More news related to the new live album. It has been confirmed by Simon Lawlor, the manager of The Chameleons, that the release date for the new album will be the 25th of March.It will be called simply The Chameleons Live and it will have more than 100 minutes of music with the following track list:

01-A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere 02-Pleasure and Pain 03-Perfumed Garden 04-Anyone Alive? 05-Indiana 06-Caution 08-Up The Down Escalator 09-Lufthansa

01- Dangerous Land 02-Second Skin 03-Miracles and Wonders 04-Shades 05-Swamp Thing 06-Monkeyland 07-Splitting In Two

The first copies will have at the end of the second CD three bonus tracks recorded live in Munster:

This work will be distributed by Universal, so it is likely it will be easily available. The catalog number is Paradiso CD002. Here is the cover design made by Reg Smithies.

According to Mark Burgess, the new live album could be delayed until April or May.

There are already available on the official site the CD covers taking part on the CD Cover competition. You can vote for your favourite on:

The winner will be the most voted CD cover until the 28th of February, and the cover will be available on the official site as a high resolution pdf ready for download. Strange Times has taken part on the competition with the following design:

New CD cover competition on the official site. It has been edited a bootleg of the Resurrection Tour at The Witchwood on May of 2000. The CD has been released with no cover and it contains the following songs:

01-Swamp Thing 02-A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days 03-Return Of The Roughnecks 04-Mad Jack 05-Less Than Human 06-Paradiso 07-Soul In Isolation 08-Caution 09-Second Skin 10-In Shreds 11-Indian 12-One Flesh

Everyone who is interested in adquiring this CD must put in contact with Pod via e-mail or in the following address: 105 Welbeck House, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancs. OL6 7TB. The price of this album is 10 £.

To take part in the CD Cover competition you must send your layouts in the following formats TIF, PNG, PSD, JPG, GIF , ... to Mik, one of the webmasters of the official site, before the end of January. The Covers will be shown on the official site in order to let the fans vote for the best one. More details and templates on the official site of The Chameleons.

The Reegs: The Return Of The Sea Monkeys	The Reegs:Rock The Magic World	The Years