Chameleon : Olive Simpson recalls the making of the album
Chameleon's soprano OLIVE SIMPSON, recalls the origins of this popular, award-winning album CHAMELEON:
The One Game
Chameleon came into being in those halcyon days in the late eighties when television companies considered theme and incidental music to be an important part of creating the drama. It was a time when audiences were even allowed to watch the credits roll on 100% of the screen while enjoying the music and not being bludgeoned with a trailer for something alien.
Shona Tu
I had sung for "Nigel Hess" on the documentary 'Another Side of London' and the drama 'An Affair in Mind', and we thoroughly enjoyed working together. So when Nigel was asked to write the music for Central TV's 'The One Game', he decided he would like to incorporate a vocal group into his musical plans and approached me to recruit the group. The storyline involved mystery, echoes of Arthurian legend, and a slightly 'Celtic Twilight' feel about the extremely complex plot - so he decided that the group sound would be folk in style, close-miked, with rhythmic, synthesised backing and its own special language - to be invented by the multi-talented composer! So I chose my voices: Lindsay John, Michael Dore and David Beavan from my Swingle past, and Jeremy Taylor, ex of Harvey and the Wallbangers, and off we went.
Lulla Loel
From the start, the studio sessions were a delight, as Nigel very much enjoyed working with voices, the singers adored having such great material, and the engineer, Toby Alington, instantly created the right sound. As the group were to sing the title music, and get a credit, we needed a name. I chose 'Chameleon' as it has a suitable air of mystery about it, and implies changing colours, adaptability and variety. The title music was issued as a single, and immediately received a huge amount of airplay. I was very impressed. Our audience seemed quite untroubled by the group's name ...'How do you spell it? '... 'Are you sure that is how you pronounce it?' ... 'What language are they singing in?' and carried on demanding the Chameleon sound long after The One Game had ceased. Because of this we decided to try out another single on our fans. 'Shona Tu' proved equally popular, and Nigel and I, with the invaluable help, advice and enthusiasm of David Platz at Bucks Music, put our heads together to produce enough material for an album.
From The Top Olive Simpson, Michael Dore, Jeremy Taylor, Lindsay John and David Beavan
We already had 'Saylon Dola' and 'Unay Garm' from The One Game, and 'Shona Tu' and 'Sereg Anna' from the second single. To these we added any of our favourite tunes that we thought might fit into the Chameleon sound-world! Rosheen Du and The Meeting of the Waters from my home country Ireland; Long, Long ago, The Water is Wide and The Bell Tune from the English tradition; 'Sona Mia Han' and 'Lulla Loel' from the world of Nigel's imagination, and some Mozart and Delius - simply because we like it!! The final track on the album was again courtesy of a TV series: in this case the BBC's wonderful adaptation of John Mortimer's book 'Summer's Lease', starring Sir John Gielgud. Again, Chameleon sang the title music, and on this track we even had the luxury of live guitar and trumpet. So by the end of summer 1989, we had our album. Recording the vocals took about three days, and then the production team - Nigel, Toby and I - spent many more happy hours adding the synth and percussion tracks , and in my case, the 2nd Tenor line to the Delius, as I had forgotten it required six voices! That side of the project was, I am sure, by far the most costly, but Nigel and David did not stint on achieving a product of which we were all proud.
Chameleon was in the shops by Nov 1989, and continued to receive lots of airplay and interest. I was meanwhile continuing to earn my living as a jobbing singer, and frequently took part in BBC Radio 2's 'Friday Night is Music Night' with various different vocal groups. I gave the album to the then producer, David Rayvern-Allen, who absolutely loved it, and insisted that we make a live appearance on the Christmas FNIMN! Dilemma! We didn't actually exist as a performing group - but it seemed a shame to miss the opportunity, so Nigel set to work arranging The Water is Wide and Lulla Loel for full orchestra, and Chameleon's one and only public appearance took place on December 22nd 1989. As the evening was a vocal-groups-fest, all of our colleagues were there with some team or other, so it was quite a scary experience for the singers. Nigel also found the unpredictable nature of live radio sound balancing a little ageing, but we emerged with our lives, and quite a few new Chameleon fans.
We were, however, experiencing serious distribution problems, which came to a head when Anglia TV decided they would like to use 'Rosheen Du' as title music for their drama 'Chimera'. I was rather bemused, and pointed out that the text of the song had very little to do with mutant chimps, but that was not seen as a problem (sorry, any Gaelic speakers!) and the project went ahead. At the end of the first episode, Anglia very kindly informed interested viewers that the theme music was available on the album Chameleon. We were delighted. However, during the following week, Anglia told us that they were getting so many complaints from frustrated viewers who had not been able to find the album in their local stores, that they would have to think again if it wasn't sorted out. I watched the end of the second episode with bated breath. Instead of flagging up the album, the screen went blank for that vital few seconds. An important publicity opportunity was lost, through no fault of our own. But despite such problems, we were thrilled to win The Music Retailers Association Award for M.O.R. Vocal Record of the Year in 1991, and the album has continued to sell steadily. David's son, Simon Platz, who now runs the Bucks Music Group, decided this year to repackage the album to meet the continued popular demand, and to re-promote it to a new audience.
The Chameleon experience has been a very special one for me - not least because it brought into my life the wonderful David Platz. Despite having owned Essex Music, and established his own publishing house, Bucks Music, David was the gentlest and most unassuming of colleagues. If he believed in a project, he backed it to the hilt, even if it showed little signs of being a money-spinner. His support and enthusiasm extended well beyond the immediate project, and he rapidly became one of my most valued friends. His diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease was the cruellest of tragedies, but his courage, and even humour, in coping with the disease were a lesson and an inspiration to all his friends. When he died in 1994, I was honoured to sing at the wonderful celebration of his life at St. Martin-in-the-Fields - and I am thrilled that we are dedicating the reissue, retitled Saylon Dola, to his memory.