Tony Fletcher Walked on Water.... La La La La La-La La-La-La (1990)
John Peel Sessions (1990)
Tony Fletcher Walked on Water.... La La La La La-La La-La-La is an extended play (EP) by English rock band the Chameleons. It was released on 1 October 1990 through record label Glass Pyramid. It consists of the Chameleons' final recordings in 1987 prior to their breakup.
Content
The EP was named after the band's manager from 1986 to 1987, Tony Fletcher. The song "Free for All" was named after an episode of the 1960s television programme The Prisoner.[1]
Recording
In 1987, the Chameleons were ready to record their fourth studio album, to be released on Geffen.[1] The band recorded four songs which were supposed to be released prior to the full album. Fletcher died of a heart attack just two days before these songs were recorded, and the band broke up acrimoniously soon after.[2]
Release
In 1990, the band's main songwriter, Mark Burgess, formed the record label Glass Pyramid to help pay off the band's debts.[3] The still-unused tracks from the 1987 Geffen session were to be used as the first Glass Pyramid release.
Tony Fletcher Walked on Water was released on 1 October 1990. 1,100 copies were pressed for each format of CD and 12" vinyl.[4] However, due to legal threats by guitarist Dave Fielding, the EP never made it to shops.[5]
Some copies were provided for people in the music industry, and Burgess sold copies at his concerts and gave away free copies to people who donated to LiBEARty, a bear protection campaign run by World Animal Protection. Additionally, US label Pivot Records in Grand Rapids, Michigan continued to make 12" copies available.[3]
The album has since been included as a bonus disc with the compilation Return of the Roughnecks.[2]
Trouser Press wrote that the EP "[captured] the band peaking as it shattered".[6] Ned Raggett of AllMusic wrote "the sheer sense of what might have been from this four-song release amazes".[2]
^Hodgkinson, Mark (1 January 1991). "[Article on The Chameleons]". Record Collector. Retrieved 16 July 2013. The Chameleons' likeable manager, Tony Skinkiss, opted out in May 1985, and Tony Fletcher of the Manchester management company Kennedy Street Enterprises began to look after their interests. True to tradition, Fletcher became the 'fifth' band member and his untimely death was later to play a large part in the group's subsequent downfall.
