Chameleon was a vocal group founded in 1989 by
Ivor Novello Award-winning composer
Nigel Hess, and featuring former
Swingle Singers
270px, The Swingles at the Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany">Kirchzarten.html" ;"title="Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten">Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany on 29 June 2019
The Swingles are a v ...
member Olive Simpson (soprano), Lindsay John (alto), Jeremy Taylor (tenor), Michael Dore (baritone) and David Beavan (bass). They were best known for performing the theme tunes to several
British television
Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...
programmes, in particular ''
Summer's Lease'', starring
John Gielgud and
Susan Fleetwood
Susan Maureen Fleetwood (21 September 1944 – 29 September 1995) was a British stage, film, and television actress, who specialized in classical theatre. She received popular attention in the television series ''Chandler & Co'' and '' The Buddh ...
, and for their cover versions of popular
folk music.
Chameleon's debut album ''Saylon Dola'' won the
Music Retailers Association award for "Best MOR Vocal Album" and was re-issued in 2005 to celebrate the group's 15th anniversary.
The title track, "Saylon Dola", was covered in 2001 on ''
The Voice'' by
Russell Watson and
Máire Brennan, although the song was performed in
Irish, translated by
Máire Brennan, instead of the original
glossolalia.
''Saylon Dola'': track listing
# "Saylon Dola"
# "
Long, Long Ago"
# "Sona Mia Han"
# "An Affair In Mind"
# "Shona Tu"
# "Unay Garm"
# "Rosheen Du"
# "Sereg Anna"
# "
The Water Is Wide"
# "Willow Song"
# "Summer Night On The Water"
# "Tu Sherrin So"
# "
She Moved Through the Fair"
# "Bell Tune"
# "Lulla Loel"
# "The Meeting of the Waters"
# "Carmina Valles"
Notes
* "Saylon Dola" was used as the theme tune to
Central TV's ''
The One Game''.
* "Willow Song" was written for the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
's production of ''
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
''.
* "Rosheen Du" was used as the theme tune to
Anglia Television's ''Chimera''.
References
English vocal groups
{{UK-band-stub