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The Chameleons UK is a post-punk band formed in 1981 in Middleton, six miles north of Manchester. The founding members had previously been involved in various musical projects, with Dave being part of a school band called Sen. The band initially started without a drummer but soon caught the attention of legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel. After recruiting drummer John Lever from the band The Bowerbirds, they released their first single "In Shreds" on CBS, which reached number 42 on John Peel's Festive Fifty in 1982. Despite encouraging sales, CBS dropped them after this single due to creative differences. The band then signed with Statik, but since Statik was distributed by Virgin, they were unable to qualify for the independent charts and were overlooked by the music press. Their debut album, "Script of the Bridge," was recorded in Rochdale over six weeks, but the band was unhappy with a reduced version released by MCA in the US. Following dissatisfaction with Statik and contractual obligations, they released their second album, "What Does Anything Mean? Basically," before signing with Geffen. While with Geffen, they released their last album for fifteen years, "Strange Times," but the band fell apart acrimoniously after the sudden death of their manager Tony Fletcher in 1987. In 2000, the band reunited and released an unplugged album titled "Strip" along with other live recordings. John Lever passed away in 2017,

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