Lori & The Chameleons-Love On The
Ganges- Zoo 7” single
(This is "The Lonely Spy")
Lori and
the Chameleons only ever released two singles. This track was the b-side to
their first one, “Touch” in 1979, and their second single, “The Lonely Spy”,
was released in 1980. Both the singles were such things of fragile beauty that
it seems so sad that there wasn’t anything else. Just two singles and that was
it. “The Lonely Spy”, just from the title alone, conjures up a vision of a forgotten
secret agent, left to amble around a falling Communist State and stuck behind
the Iron Curtain at the end of the Cold War with not much to do. It’s akin to
one of the mythical “is-the-war-over-yet?” tales of Japanese soldiers
discovered coming out of the jungle in the Pacific sometime in the mid- 1970’s.
The music-and specifically the vocals-are sung in a Velvets/Nico era/Phil
Spector-ish Wall of Sound style, by one Lori Larty. She was spotted walking
down the street by Bill Drummond and Dave Balfe, and recruited as the singer
for their band on the spot. Not on the strength of her singing capabilities
(because they hadn’t heard her sing), but because she looked like a singer.
Based on
the sole four tracks on these singles though, Lori was more than capable of
carrying a tune. I do have a slight suspicion regarding her recruitment, simply
because it was connected to Bill Drummond. On the other hand, it’s such a good
story that I’ll suspend my disbelief and trust in the tale that after these two
singles Lori Larty jacked it all in and decided to go to art college, thus
causing the end of one of the most perfect pop groups ever. (It is not beyond
the realm of possibilities that; (a) there never was a singer named Lori Larty;
(b) that would never be anyone’s real name; (c) what would be the chance of
picking someone at random off the street and who could sing so well;(d) no
photographs of Lori Larty have ever come to light ; (e) Bill Drummond had form
for such art pranks).
“Touch”
apparently took Drummond and Balfe 18 months to write, and was based upon
Lori’s holiday in Japan. I do like the idea of a finely crafted pop song that
took so long to come to fruition; Brian Wilson/Smile style, burnished, honed
and polished until it was perfect. But we know that no art can ever be perfect;
all you can do is to try to get close to it.
Or reach perfection and then go past it, beyond it and slip slightly
away. Perfection falling through your grasp. There’s a motto that states that a
good artist knows just when to stop. Did Lori and the Chameleons stop at the
right time when they were making “Touch”? I don’t know for sure, but to me it’s
as close to perfection as any pop song could be. Was there anything else left
behind by Lori and the Chameleons, undiscovered and left behind for us? Is
there a reel-to-reel tape in the corner of a studio somewhere, unmarked but
containing the greatest lost album of all time? Maybe there’s a box of albums,
fully completed with magnificent artwork, sealed and gathering dust on a shelf of
a warehouse in an industrial estate? That’s the mystery and magic of Lori and
The Chameleons.
Get/see/read Totally Shuffled..here
.... and the rest of Amazon I suppose as well, wherever you may be worldwide!
Lori existed and that was her real name. Lovely well mannered girl who grew up in Knowsley Village with her sister Sue. Very attractive but never sought attention. Have not seen her since late seventies but believe that the storey is true.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I have also recently heard that she was a real person, Still a great track!
DeleteShe lived in Calderstones Ave, circa '79 when she was studying at Liverpool art school. Lovely lass.
ReplyDeleteI did my Foundation Course with her. She was indeed real.
ReplyDeleteIn same group doing fashion at art college with her. Nice girl with an individual style of her own.
ReplyDelete