Fish (singer)

This article is about the former singer for Marillion. For the sixties artist, see Country Joe and the Fish.

Fish

Derek William Dick, better known as Fish (born 25 April 1958, in Dalkeith, Midlothian), is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor.

Biography

Fish was educated at Dalkeith High School. Academically accomplished, he left at the age of 16 with 7 GCE 'O' levels - History, Chemistry, English, Maths, Biology (grade A), German and English Literature (grade B). After a working as a petrol pump attendant, gardener and forestry worker, Fish came to the public's attention in 1981 with the British group, Marillion. The band achieved chart success in the UK, attaining top-ten hits in 1985 with "Kayleigh" and "Lavender", and again in 1987 with "Incommunicado". In 1988, Fish left Marillion in order to pursue his solo career. Many of Fish's later works contain lengthy spoken word lyrics, shorter examples of which can be heard on earlier Marillion albums. Vocally, Fish has sometimes been compared to Peter Gabriel, lead singer of Genesis in the 1970s. Music journalist David Hepworth described his voice as a “conflation of Roger Daltrey and Peter Gabriel”.

According to Fish himself, his nickname originates from the amount of time he spent reading in the bath . Fish has one daughter, Tara.

On 26 August 2007, Fish performed at the 'Hobble on The Cobbles' show at the Market Square in Aylesbury, UK. He was accompanied on stage by four Marillion members, (Mark Kelly, Steve Rothery, Ian Mosley and Pete Trewavas) for one song - 'Market Square Heroes'. This was the first time they had performed together in nearly two decades. In a press interview following the event, Fish denied this would lead to a full reunion, claiming that "Hogarth does a great job with the band... We forged different paths over the 19 years."

His most recent studio album 13th Star was released on 12 September 2007 as a specially-packaged pre-release version available to order from his website. A UK tour for this album commenced in March 2008, supported by Glyder. In February 2008, Fish was confirmed to be the Friday night headline act at NEARFest X. He also appeared with BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris on GMTV to promote Childline Rocks, a charity concert.

In 2008, Fish presented a Friday evening radio show "Fish on Friday" for digital radio station Planet Rock. When the station was faced with closure, Malcolm Bluemel with the help of Fish, Tony Iommi, Ian Anderson and Gary Moore helped save Planet Rock by buying the station.

On 9 June 2008, Fish embarked on his first full North American tour in eleven years. At each stop, he hosted a pre-show 'meet and greet' with his fans. Two days prior, he was interviewed by Vince Font of the progressive rock podcast Prog'opolis, which was aired 1 week later on The Dividing Line Broadcast Network (DLBN) as "My Lunch With Fish".

In 2008, Fish revealed that he would be taking at least 6 months off from singing due to an "Irregular cell growth" in his throat which was later determined not to be cancerous.

Fish is a keen supporter of Scottish Premier League side Hibernian F.C.

Record Labels

Following a legal dispute with EMI and an unsuccessful contract with Polydor, Fish established the Dick Bros Record Company in 1993. He released a number of 'official bootleg' albums to finance the company before selling it to Roadrunner Records. Another financially unsuccessful period followed, before he re-established his own Chocolate Frog Records record label in 2001. In 2005, Fish signed with Snapper Music before returning again to the Chocolate Frog Records label. He has a loyal fan base, occasionally referred to as Fishheads or Freaks, many of whom contribute to several e-mail lists and online fan forums and travel from all over the world to attend his fan conventions.

Awards

In May 2008, Fish's Planet Rock show won the Silver award in the 'Music Broadcaster of the Year' category of the UK Sony Radio Academy Awards 2008. In June 2008, at the New York Festivals Radio Broadcasting Awards he and Gary Moore jointly received the Gold World Medal in the category "Regularly Scheduled Music Program" for their respective shows on Planet Rock.

Acting

Fish's first prominent role was in the 4-part 1991 BBC drama "Jute City", where he played the thug "Ferguson" alongside John Sessions. The drama series was based around a sinister group of Masonic ruffians. He appears in a 2000 episode of the TV series Rebus alongside John Hannah.

He also appeared in the movie "The Jacket" (2005 Warner Bros.) with Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley as a patient in a mental institution.

Current Live Band

• Fish - Lead Vocals
• Frank Usher - Lead/Rhythm Guitars
• Chris Johnson - Rhythm/Lead Guitars; Backing Vocals
• Gavin Dickie - Bass Guitars; Backing Vocals
• Foss Patterson - Keyboards; Backing Vocals
• Gavin Griffiths - Drums

Discography

Studio albums

• 1990 Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
• 1991 Internal Exile
• 1993 Songs from the Mirror (Covers album)
• 1994 Suits
• 1997 Sunsets on Empire
• 1999 Raingods with Zippos
• 2001 Fellini Days
• 2004 Field of Crows
• 2007 13th Star
• 2010 A Feast of Consequences (Working title)

Live albums

Some of these live albums were first released as "official bootlegs" sold via mail-order and on tour. Several of these have later been released to retail.

• 1993 Pigpen's Birthday
• 1993 Derek Dick and his Amazing Electric Bear
• 1993 Uncle Fish and the Crypt Creepers
• 1993 For Whom the Bells Toll
• 1993 Toiling in the Reeperbahn
• 1994 Sushi
• 1996 Fish Head Curry (limited edition live album, 5000 copies only)
• 1996 Krakow
• 1998 Tales from the Big Bus
• 1999 The Haddington Tapes (From the 1998 Haddington Convention)
• 1999 The Complete BBC Sessions
• 2000 Issue 30 CD (From the 1999 Haddington Convention)
• 2000 Candlelight in Fog (limited edition live album, 3000 copies only)
• 2000 Acoustic Sessions
• 2001 Sashimi
• 2002 Fellini Nights
• 2002 Mixed Company
• 2005 Scattering Crows Live In Europe 2004
• 2005 Scattering Crows Live At The Robin 2, Bilston Feb. 18th 2004
• 2006 Return to Childhood
• 2007 Communion

Compilations

• 1995 Yin and Yang
• 1998 Kettle of Fish (88-98)
• 2005 Bouillabaisse

Singles

• 1986 Shortcut To Somewhere (Fish & Tony Banks)
• 1989 State of Mind
• 1989 Big Wedge
• 1990 A Gentleman's Excuse Me
• 1990 The Company (Germany only)
• 1991 Internal Exile
• 1991 Credo
• 1992 Something In The Air
• 1992 Never Mind The Bullocks feat. Hold Your Head Up
• 1994 Lady Let It Lie
• 1994 Fortunes of War
• 1995 Just Good Friends (feat. Sam Brown)
• 1997 Brother 52
• 1997 Change of Heart
• 1999 Incomplete (feat. Liz Antwi)
• 2008 Arc of the Curve
• 2008 Zoë 25

Collaborations

• 1981-1988 Sang for Marillion.
• 1986 "Shortcut To Somewhere" on the album Soundtracks by Tony Banks, lead vocals by Fish, produced by Richard James Burgess
• 1991 "Angel Face" and "Another Murder Of A Day" on the album Still by Tony Banks, lead vocals by Fish.
• 1992 Sang the part of "Crixus the Gaul" on the album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus.
• 1993 "Out Of My Life (Acoustic)", "The Seeker" and "Time And A Word" on the album Outpatients '93.
• 1994 "Spirit Of The Forest"on the album Earthrise.
• 1998 Sang the part of the "Highlander" character on the album Into the Electric Castle by Ayreon.
• 1998 Played a cameo role in the TV series The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star as the character Derek Trout.
• 2000 Sang on the CD-single Scotland By Our Side credited by Scotia Nostra.
• 2003 Sang on the track "Caledonia" on the Frankie Miller tribute album A Tribute To Frankie Miller

External links

• Fish's website
• Fish's MySpace page
• Fish at IMDb provides information on Fish and his acting career.
• Marillion's website

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