Chamaeleon Church

Psychedelic pop band Chamaeleon Church is best remembered as the launching pad for a pre-Saturday Night Live <a href="spotify:artist:3dTRE9QHOhfgDugxbwlr4b">Chevy Chase</a>. The group formed in Boston in 1967 after singer/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:40z51RvONby0bmARkpscBe">Ted Myers</a>, an alumnus of the Lost, met multi-instrumentalist Tony Schueren through mutual friends in another Bosstown Sound band, <a href="spotify:artist:38ULknnQK6G4oLJtTtPkkM">the Ultimate Spinach</a>. After recruiting another Lost alum, Kyle Garrahan, to play bass, Chamaeleon Church (so named -- and, presumably, misspelled -- in honor of the <a href="spotify:artist:40z51RvONby0bmARkpscBe">Myers</a>/Schueren composition "Camillia Is Changing") completed its lineup with <a href="spotify:artist:3dTRE9QHOhfgDugxbwlr4b">Chase</a>, whom <a href="spotify:artist:40z51RvONby0bmARkpscBe">Myers</a> met while recording in New York. At the time <a href="spotify:artist:40z51RvONby0bmARkpscBe">Myers</a> was under contract as a songwriter to N.Y.C. producer <a href="spotify:artist:6Y3afuXHwjoyELmk4MXhiM">Alan Lorber</a>, who agreed to produce the fledgling band's debut LP -- Chamaeleon Church later renounced the end result, issued on MGM in 1968, claiming <a href="spotify:artist:6Y3afuXHwjoyELmk4MXhiM">Lorber</a>'s soft psych production ethos compromised their original vision.

The band dissolved soon after a brief tour that included an appearance on the ABC television special What Gap? <a href="spotify:artist:40z51RvONby0bmARkpscBe">Myers</a> and Schueren next reunited in <a href="spotify:artist:38ULknnQK6G4oLJtTtPkkM">the Ultimate Spinach</a>, with the latter also collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:3dTRE9QHOhfgDugxbwlr4b">Chase</a> on some sketch comedy pieces for The Groove Tube. <a href="spotify:artist:40z51RvONby0bmARkpscBe">Myers</a> later worked at Rhino Records, while Schueren went on to join the staff of <a href="spotify:artist:0kC299O2ORKxDAFGXzCKSX">the National Lampoon</a>, appearing regularly on their Radio Hour as well as on the Grammy-nominated albums The Missing White House Tapes and Goodbye Pop. <a href="spotify:artist:3dTRE9QHOhfgDugxbwlr4b">Chase</a>, of course, joined the original cast of the landmark NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, becoming the program's first breakout star -- he left after one season to pursue a film career, appearing in comedy classics like Caddyshack, National Lampoon's Vacation, and Fletch before his career nosedived thanks to a series of painfully unfunny features. He also hosted his own notoriously short-lived late-night talk show. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi