Fischer-Z

"Fisher z" redirects here. For the statistical term, see Fisher's z-distribution.

Fischer-Z
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Rock
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 John Watts (vocals, guitar), David Graham (bass), Steve Skolnik (keyboards), and Steve Liddle (drums).

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.

John Watts is a self-confessed "follower of the troubadour tradition" and his 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 are about the Cold War and the song Cruise Missiles which is 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 #3 album). Fischer-Z were also very 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 the album Reveal.

Skolnik departed after their second album Going Deaf for a Living and after the following album Red Skies over Paradise John Watts decided to break the band up in the summer of 1981 as he felt his art could not evolve within the context of the band. John Watts released his first solo album One More Twist in 1982 followed by The Iceberg Model in 1983. In 1984 he formed the band The Cry with Mike Been, David Graham and Theo Thunder, this album placed an emphasis on crucial groove elements combined with his strong song writing and was produced by Jimmy Douglass. In 1988 John 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, 1989 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.

In 2007 Watts scored a radio hit in Germany with "Susanne's Song (Dance On)".

Discography

Singles

• "Wax Dolls" b/w "Angry Brigade" (1978)
• "Remember Russia" b/w "Bigger Slice Now" (1979)
• "The Worker" b/w "Kitten Curry" (1979) — UK #53, NL #20
• "First Impressions" b/w "High Wire Walker" (1979)
• "So Long" b/w "Hiding" (1980) — UK #72, AUS #15, NL #12, PT #9
• "Room Service" (1980)
• "Crazy Girl" (1980)
• "Limbo" b/w "The Rat Man" (1980)
• "Marliese" b/w "Right Hand Men" (1981); NL #31; PT #1
• "Wristcutters Lullaby" b/w "You'll Never Find Brian Here" (1981)
• "Berlin" (1981)
• "The Writer" (El Escritor) (1981)
• "The Perfect Day" (1988) — UK #91, AUS #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)

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)
• Fischer-Z The Garden Party DVD (2004)
• Fischer-Z Highlights 1979-2004 (2004)

References

• David Kent (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970 - 1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W.. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. 
• 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