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Climie Fisher

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Climie Fisher
Rob Fisher (left) and Simon Climie at the Montreux Pop Festival in Switzerland, 1988
Rob Fisher (left) and Simon Climie at the Montreux Pop Festival in Switzerland, 1988
Background information
OriginLondon, England
GenresPop[1]
Years active1986–1990
Labels
Past members

Climie Fisher were a British pop duo formed by vocalist Simon Climie and former Naked Eyes keyboardist Rob Fisher. In 1987–88, they had two international hit singles: "Rise to the Occasion" and "Love Changes (Everything)".

Career

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Simon Climie and Rob Fisher met at Abbey Road Studios, where they were both performing as session musicians.[2] The duo is best known for the 1987 hit single "Love Changes (Everything)" which won an Ivor Novello Award.[3][4] It reached number 67 in the UK[5] and, after a remix and re-released, number 2 in the UK, 12 in New Zealand, 24 in Australia, 7 in Germany, 8 in Switzerland, 15 in Austria and 23 in the US, all in 1988.

The hip hop-styled remix of "Rise to the Occasion" was originally conceived as a niche dance version by remixers Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, but was chosen by the band's record company as the main single mix.[6] "The style of it comes from a rap track," explained Harding. "We never thought the record company would put it out as the main record — we never really found out what Climie Fisher thought of their main version being ditched."[6] The track reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart,[5] and later reached number 1 in South Africa, number 6 in Belgium, number 14 in Germany, number 17 in Sweden and number 19 in Austria.

Their last major hit single was "Love Like a River" in 1989, which reached number 18 in Austria, number 22 in the UK[5] and number 54 in Germany. They wrote most of their own material together with Dennis Morgan, who Climie had previously worked with; and hired Steve Lillywhite and Stephen Hague as producers.[2] Although their first album Everything charted in both the UK (number 14) and US (number 120), their second album Coming In for the Kill (UK number 35) was less successful and they split up shortly after its release.[2]

Fisher later co-wrote Rick Astley's song "Cry for Help" (UK Singles Chart number 7 in 1991). He also contributed as songwriter to Astley's albums Free (1991) and Body & Soul (1993). Fisher died on 25 August 1999 during surgery for bowel cancer.

Climie had, before the success of Climie Fisher, co-written (with Dennis Morgan) the George Michael/Aretha Franklin single "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" in 1986. He worked as a producer for recording artists such as Louise, MN8 and Five Star and as a co-songwriter and musician for Eric Clapton, including the album with J. J. Cale (featuring Derek Trucks and Billy Preston), The Road to Escondido. Climie released a solo album and single, both titled "Soul Inspiration" in 1992. He also worked with former Doobie Brothers member Michael McDonald on his Motown albums. He produced the 2009 album The Distance by Taylor Hicks an American Idol winner.

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The folk pastiche Ballad of Climie Fisher by the band Half Man Half Biscuit on their album Trouble Over Bridgwater is a fictional tale of what happened to the pair post break-up.

Discography

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Studio albums

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Title Release Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[7] 		GER SA SWE SWI US
Everything 14 7 1 14 10 120
Coming In for the Kill
  • Released: 9 October 1989
  • Label: EMI
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
 35 — 6 36 — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

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  • Keep It Special EP (1988)
  • Twice as Much (1992)
  • The Best of Climie Fisher (1996)
  • Premium Gold Collection (2000)
  • Love Changes Everything (2020)

Singles

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Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[7] 		AUS
[9][10] 		AUT
[11] 		BE
[12] 		GER
[13] 		IRE
[14] 		NL
[15] 		NZ
[16] 		SA
[17] 		US
[18]
"This Is Me" 1986 106[19] – – – – – – – – –
"Keeping the Mystery Alive" 1987 183[20] – – 29 35 – 30 – – –
"Love Changes (Everything)" 67 – – – 35 – – – – –
"Rise to the Occasion" 10 – 19 6 14 9 1 – 1 –
"Love Changes (Everything)"
(remix) 		1988 2 23 15 – 7 4 – 12 2 23
"This Is Me"
(reissue) 		22 128 – 26 60 12 34 43 – –
"I Won't Bleed for You" 35 124 – – – – – – – –
"Love Like a River" 22 – 18 – 54 16 – – – –
"Facts of Love" 1989 50 – – – 54 – – – – –
"Fire on the Ocean" 89 – – – – – – – – –
"It's Not Supposed to Be That Way" 1990 77 – – – – – – – – –
"–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

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  1. ^ Sutton, Michael. "Climie Fisher – Everything". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Sutton, Michael. "Biography of Climie Fisher". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  3. ^ Lister, David (28 May 1994). "Pop Ballads Bite Back". The Independent. London. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  4. ^ Climie, Simon. "Simon Climie Pocket Bio" (PDF). Simon Climie Songs.
  5. ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 110–111. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ^ a b "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 20: A Detour With Harding & Curnow Part 1 on Apple Podcasts". podcasts.apple.com. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b "CLIMIE FISHER - full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com.
  8. ^ a b "British certifications – Climie Fisher". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 27 June 2023. Type Climie Fisher in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  9. ^ "Climie Fisher - Love Changes (Everything)". Australian-charts.com.
  10. ^ "1989 - the chart year in review". bubblingdownunder.com. January 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at.
  12. ^ "ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". Ultratop.be.
  13. ^ "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Offiziellecharts.de.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Dutch Charts". Dutchcharts.nl.
  16. ^ "charts.nz - New Zealand charts portal". Charts.nz.
  17. ^ "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Acts (C)". rock.co.za. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Climie Fisher". Billboard. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Gallup Top 200 Singles". Gallup. 27 September 1986. Retrieved 6 December 2022 – via ukmix.org.
  20. ^ "UK Singles Charts: 1987 (including chart panel sales)". UKMIX Forums. Retrieved 28 February 2023.

Further reading

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