Fischer-Z

Fischer-Z
John Watts in 2012 playing at the Liberation Day Festival in The Hague
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Rock, new wave
Years active	1979–2002
Members	John Watts – guitar, vocals Steve Liddle - drums David Graham – bass guitar Steve Skolnik - keyboards

Fischer-Z were a British rock band formed in 1976 by John Watts and Steve Skolnik at Brunel University. The original line-up consisted of Watts (vocals, guitar), Skolnik (keyboards), David Graham (bass) and Steve Liddle (drums).

The band's name is pronounced "fɪʃə zɛd" (fisher zed), a pun on "fish's head" with the "h" dropped, as is usual in many British regional accents. The pun also relies on leaving the "r" unpronounced as in common British non-rhotic accents.

History

Fischer-Z's first hit was "The Worker" from the album Word Salad which firmly established Watts' ability to convey worldly political issues in narrative songs against a background of quirky pop and reggae-influenced music. In an interview in Record Mirror in 1981, Watts put this down to the remix of the song from the album version, which put the emphasis on the keyboards rather than his guitar.

Watts' lyrics draw heavily on his experiences of studying clinical psychology and as a mental health care worker. Several songs on the album Red Skies Over Paradise in 1981, such as "Berlin" and "Red Skies Over Paradise" were about the Cold War and the song "Cruise Missiles" was about the nuclear arms race and the mutual threat of the superpowers with nuclear war. Fischer-Z were more popular in mainland Europe than their native UK, especially in Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Portugal (two top 10 hits and a No. 3 album). Fischer-Z were also successful in Australia, where they achieved two Top 20 hits with "So Long" from the album Going Deaf for a Living and "The Perfect Day" from Reveal.^[1]

Skolnik departed after their second album Going Deaf for a Living, leaving Watts to take over keyboards^[2] and after the following album Red Skies over Paradise Watts dissolved the band in mid-1981, deciding his art could not evolve within a band context. He released his solo debut One More Twist in 1982 followed by The Iceberg Model in 1983. Also during 1982 David Graham teamed up with guitarist Mike Francis in The Yes Men only to part company early the following year. In 1984 John Watts formed the band The Cry with Mike Been, David Graham and Theo Thunder, this album placed an emphasis on crucial groove elements and was produced by Jimmy Douglass. In 1988 Watts released the Reveal album under the name Fischer-Z, a new band with the same name in which he was the only original member, although Skolnik made a minor contribution to one track. The second album in this Fischer-Z period, Fish's Head included the "Say No" single with a politically charged black & white Nick Brandt music video which was banned by their record label on the grounds of it potentially "endangering the lives of their employees worldwide". In this period Watts performed to 167,000 people at a Peace Festival in East Berlin along with James Brown and he was interviewed about Thatcherism on German national news.

There was a 2004 reunion of the original band for one short show which featured on the Garden Party DVD which was released along with the Fischer-Z Highlights 1979-2004 25th anniversary compilation album.

April 24, 2014 John Watts Fisher-Z start a four day tour of the Netherlands in De Vorstin in Hilversum, which will then continue into Germany.^[3] This tour is leading up to the release of a new album This is my universe.^[4]

Discography

Singles

• "Wax Dolls" b/w "Angry Brigade" (1978)- United Artists UP 36458
• "Remember Russia" b/w "Bigger Slice Now" (1979) - United Artists UP 36486
• "The Worker" b/w "Kitten Curry" (1979) — UK No. 53, NL No. 20 - United Artists UP 36509
• "First Impressions (Pretty Paracetamol)" b/w "High Wire Walker" (1979) - United Artists BP 305
• "So Long" b/w "Hiding" (1980) — UK No. 72, AUS No. 15, NL No. 12, PT No. 9 - United Artists BP 360
• "Room Service" (1980)
• "Crazy Girl" (1980)
• "Limbo" b/w "The Rat Man" (1980) - Liberty BP BP 360
• "Marliese" b/w "Right Hand Men" (1981); NL No. 31; PT No. 1 - Liberty BP 360
• "(Wrist) 'cutters Lullaby" b/w "You'll Never Find Brian Here" (1981) - Liberty BP 398
• "Berlin" (1981)
• "The Writer" (El Escritor) (1981)
• "The Perfect Day" (1988) — UK No. 91, AUS No. 12
• "Big Drum" (1988)
• "Say No" (1989)
• "Masquerade" (1989)
• "Sausages & Tears" (1990)
• "Destination Paradise" (1992)
• "Will You Be There?" (1992)
• "Tightrope" (1992)
• "Caruso" (1993)
• "The Peaches & Cream" (1993)
• "Human Beings" (1994)
• "Marlon" (1994)
• "You'll Never Cross the Same River Twice (Turn Back the Clock)" (1994)
• "Need Protection" (1995)
• "Red Skies Over Paradise" (1995)
• "Jukebox" (2002)
• "Delight" (2002)
• "Back to Berlin" (2004)^[5]

Albums

Fischer-Z:

• Word Salad (1979)
• Going Deaf for a Living (1980)
• Red Skies over Paradise (1981)
• Reveal (1987)
• Fish's Head (1989)
• Destination Paradise (1992)
• Kamikaze Shirt (1993)
• Stream (1995)
• Ether (2002)
• John Watts - Fischer-Z 2011 (2011)

John Watts discography (includes work outside Fischer-Z):

• One More Twist (1982)
• The Iceberg Model (1983)
• Quick Quick Slow (1984) (Released under the moniker: "The Cry")
• Thirteen Stories High (1997) (Released under the moniker: "J.M. Watts")
• Bigbeatpoetry (1999) (Released under the moniker: "Watts")
• Spiritual Headcase (2000) (Released under the moniker: "Watts")
• Ether Music & Film (2002)
• Real Life Is Good Enough (2005)
• It Has To Be (2006)
• Morethanmusic & Films (2009)

Compilation albums

• Fischer-Z Going Red For A Salad (1990)
• The Worker (1998)
• The Perfect Album (1999)
• Fischer-Z The Garden Party DVD (2004)
• Fischer-Z Highlights 1979-2004 (2004)^[5]

References

• Official John Watts biography http://johnwatts.co.uk/MtM/Biography.php

External links

• Fischer-Z Official website
• John Watts Official Mobile Blog
• Fischer-Z on WorldMusicDatabase
• John Watts Wikipedia page