[Theme] -- Intro. Because I didn't find anything much of interest for this particular week of September in 1983, I went back to August 1983 for Script of the Bridge by The Chameleons (also known as Chameleons U.K.). Both AOTY and Discogs list this record's release date as merely "August 1983," but Wikipedia has a release date of "August 8, 1983." Either way, as of this posting, I can safely claim that Script of the Bridge recently hit the 40-year-old mark.
Script of the Bridge was The Chameleons' debut album. Neither the album nor its singles charted in the US, which received only a truncated version of the album via MCA. However, this record is a critical darling and it definitely has fans, of which I am one. A retrospective review on AllMusic calls Script of the Bridge "a high-water mark of what can generally be called post-punk music." The swirling guitars and precise percussion hold the songs in what I can only call a lovely tension of pop leaning toward psychedelia. And Mark Burgess' vocals, dare I say, come across as a lighter version of Ian Curtis.
As far as I can tell, there were no official music videos, so instead of an embedded YouTube playlist, I have included a single video of the entire album (duration of 56:21). Don't worry, the video's description has the track listing and includes links to jump to individual tracks. Be certain to check out the promotional single, "Up the Down Escalator."
Flashback: Script of the Bridge (August 1983)
Anyway, that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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