Fischer-Z -

Fischer-Z was an English new wave band that made the 1979–81 UA/Liberty albums Word Salad, Going Deaf for a Living, and Red Skies over Paradise. They scored Continental hits with “The Worker,” “So Long,” and “Marliese.”

Frontman John Watts broke for two solo albums and a second group venture, The Cry. Fischer-Z resumed with the 1987–89 albums Reveal and Fish’s Head.

Members: John Watts (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), David Graham (bass, vocals, 1976-81, 2004), Steve Liddle (drums, 1976-81, 2004), Steve Skolnik (keyboards, 1976-80, 2004), Steve Kellner (drums, 1987-94), Ian Porter (bass, keyboards, percussion, 1987-91), Jennie Cruse (vocals, 1987-91), Alan Morrison (guitar, 1987-88), Denis Haines (keyboards, 1987-88)

Background

Fischer-Z formed in 1977 at Brunel University where musician/songwriter John Watts teamed with keyboardist Stephen Skolnik. Watts (b. December 27, 1954; Frimley) worked in clinical psychology at the time of his career switch.

The pair soon linked with bassist David Graham and drummer Steve Liddle. After gigs in the Uxbridge area of Greater London, they signed to United Artists. By now, the initial punk boom spawned a new wave that encompassed electro-rock (Ultravox), reggae-rock (The Police), and neo-Sixties organ rock (Yachts); elements that coalesced in the Fischer-Z sound.

“Wax Dolls”

On September 15, 1978, Fischer-Z released their first single: the frenetic “Wax Dolls” backed with the exclusive “Angry Brigade,” both Watts originals produced by Blondie/Voidoids soundman Richard Gottehrer, who worked concurrently with Robert Gordon, Yachts, and Alice Spring‘s Darling.

B. “Angry Brigade” (2:14)

Wessex Studios soundman Gary Edwards engineered “Wax Dolls” in sequence with titles by Dr. Feelgood, The Shirts, Keith Tippett’s Ark, and ex-Rabbitt mastermind Trevor Rabin.

“Wax Dolls” and all subsequent releases sport the Fischer-Z logo, designed under UA art director John Pasche, who created the Rolling Stones ‘lips” logo and oversaw visuals on Seventies classics by Budgie (In for the Kill), Judas Priest (Sad Wings of Destiny), Hummingbird (We Can’t Go On Meeting Like This), Patrick Moraz (The Story of i), Van der Graaf Generator (Godbluff, The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome), and Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.

Word Salad

Fischer-Z released their debut album, Word Salad, on May 4, 1979, on United Artists.

Word Salad features a reworked “Wax Dolls” and six more John Watts originals, including the singles “Remember Russia,” “The Worker,” and “Pretty Paracetamol” (lifted as “First Impressions”).

Watts co-wrote two songs with bassist David Graham (“Acrobats,” “Billy and the Motorway Police”) and three with keyboardist Steve Skolnik (“Spiders,” “The French Let Her,” “Lemmings”).

1. “Pretty Paracetamol” (aka “First Impressions,” 3:57)
2. “Acrobats” (2:42)
3. “The Worker” (3:36)
4. “Spiders” (1:42)
5. “Remember Russia” (3:29)
6. “The French Let Her” (3:21)

7. “Lies” (3:57)
8. “Wax Dolls” (2:46)
9. “Headlines” (3:21)
10. “Nice to Know” (2:52)
11. “Billy and the Motorway Police” (2:11)
12. “Lemmings” (3:02)

Fischer-Z sampled Word Salad with their advance second single, “Remember Russia,” recorded with Gary Edwards and released in February 1979 with “Bigger Slice Now,” an exclusive b-side.

B. “Bigger Slice Now” ()

Sessions took place at Wessex Sound (Highbury) and Eden Studios (Chiswick) with erstwhile Gong bassist Mike Howlett, who produced Word Salad in sequence with 1978/79 titles by Penetration (Moving Targets), Punishment of Luxury, and Martha + The Muffins.

PUNILUX soundman Aldo Bocca engineered Word Salad between Joe Jackson‘s first two albums (Look Sharp!, I’m the Man) and ahead of Lizard, a Japanese post-punk band produced by Stranglers bassist JJ Burnell.

Fischer-Z released the album just ahead of its third single, “The Worker,” released on May 18 with “Kitten Curry,” an exclusive Watts/Skolnik b-side. UA also issued “The Worker” as a picture disc.

B. “Kitten Curry” ()

Fischer-Z mimed “The Worker” on the May 31 broadcast of the BBC music program Top of the Pops, which also featured in-studio appearances by Quantum Jump (“The Lone Ranger”), Sparks (“The Number One Song In Heaven”), Squeeze (“Up the Junction”), and Voyager (“Halfway Hotel”). “The Worker” reached No. 23 in Belgium, No. 26 in the Netherlands, and No. 53 in the UK.

On the Word Salad cover, each member appears in several grid panels connected by horizontal and diagonal bars that form the letter Z. The cover features graphics by George Hardie and photography by James Wedge.

Hardie’s graphics appeared on recent covers for Brand X, Robin Trower, and Wings, plus earlier classics by 10cc (Sheet Music), Al Stewart (Year of the Cat), Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway), Led Zeppelin (Houses of the Holy), and Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here). Wedge’s skewed, angled subjects also appear on covers to 1978–79 albums by The Kinks (Misfits) and The Police (Reggatta de Blanc).

On August 10, UA lifted “First Impressions” as the fourth Word Salad single backed “High Wire Walker,” a Watts exclusive.

B. “High Wire Walker” ()

Fischer-Z performed “First Impressions” (billed by its original title “Pretty Paracetamol) and the yet-unreleased “Crank” for the BBC on a 1979 broadcast of The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Going Deaf for a Living

Fischer-Z released their second album, Going Deaf for a Living, in May 1980 on UA. It features ten John Watts originals, including the live staple “Crank” and the singles “So Long,” “Limbo,” and “Room Service.”

Going Deaf for a Living is the second of two Fischer-Z albums made by Watts and the classic lineup with bassist David Graham, drummer Steve Liddle, and keyboardist Steve Skolnik, who left after this release.

1. “Room Service” (3:41)
2. “So Long” (4:59)
3. “Crazy Girl” (4:26)
4. “No Right” (2:36)
5. “Going Deaf for a Living” (3:31)

6. “Pick Up/Slip Up” (2:37)
7. “Crank” (3:06)
8. “Haters” (4:07)
9. “Four Minutes in Durham (With You)” (4:00)
10. “Limbo” (2:14)

Fischer-Z preceded the album with “So Long,” released in March as their fifth single with “Hiding,” an exclusive b-side. In the video, Watts portrays a sharp-dressed romantic who narrates his plight with a Fischer-Z studio performance while a Humphrey Bogart-lookalike sleuth investigates the elusive damsel.

B. “Hiding” ()

Sessions occurred in early 1980 at the Manor, an Oxfordshire mansion studio owned by Virgin co-founder Richard Branson. Mike Howlett produced the album in sequence with titles by Athletico Spizz 80, Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark (Organisation), The Revillos, and Teardrop Explodes. Manor staffer Richard Manwaring engineered Word Salad along with the second albums The Human League and Judie Tzuke.

On September 26, Fischer-Z lifted “Limbo” as their sixth single backed with “The Rat Man,” an exclusive b-side co-written by Watts and David Graham.

B. “The Rat Man” ()

Photographer Phil Jude to the Word Salad cover images, which show a jackhammer cracking down on a concrete 2’x3′ ear (front) and heart (back). Jude’s imagery also appears on mid-Seventies releases from the Gull stable (Isotope, Neil Ardley, Seventh Wave) and 1980/81 titles by The Vapors and The Stranglers (La Folie).

The lyrical inner-sleeve features monochrome live and studio pics by Trevor Rogers, whose photography graces earlier releases by 999, Camel (Rain Dances), Michael Chapman, Simple Minds (Real To Real Cacophony), and The Stranglers (Rattus Norvegicus).

In Germany, UA lifted “Room Service” as a third Word Salad single backed with the album track “Pick Up / Slip Up.” In the Netherlands, both “Limbo” and “Room Service” placed just outside the Ditch Top 40.

Meanwhile, “So Long” reached No. 5 in Portugal and went Top 20 in the Netherlands (No. 12), Belgium (No. 14), and Australia (No. 15). Fischer-Z performed it on the Dutch music show Countdown.

On August 1, 1981, “So Long” became the 113th video aired by MTV on the American cable music channel’s first day of broadcast. “So Long” aired once between videos by Styx (“The Best of Times”) and Phil Collins (“In the Air Tonight”), both aired multiple times that day.

Red Skies over Paradise

Fischer-Z released their third album, Red Skies over Paradise, in March 1981 on Liberty.

Red Skies over Paradise features thirteen John Watts originals, including the single sides “Marliese,” “Wristcutter’s Lullaby,” and “You’ll Never Find Brian Here” and the epic deep-cuts “Battalions of Strangers” and “Multinationals Bite.”

Watts plays guitar and keyboards on Red Skies, which features a trio lineup with bassist David Graham and drummer Steve Liddle.

1. “Berlin” (4:32)
2. “Marliese” (3:52)
3. “Red Skies over Paradise (A Brighton Dream)” (4:32)
4. “In England” (2:43)
5. “You’ll Never Find Brian Here” (2:08)
6. “Battalions of Strangers” (5:03)

7. “Song and Dance Brigade” (3:02)
8. “The Writer” (3:20)
9. “Bathroom Scenario” (3:47)
10. “Wristcutter’s Lullaby” (2:46)
11. “Cruise Missiles” (4:15)
12. “Luton to Lisbon” (1:56)
13. “Multinationals Bite” (5:34)

Fischer-Z dropped “Marliese” in advance of Red Skies as their seventh proper single, backed with “Right Hand Men,” an exclusive b-side.

B. “Right Hand Men” ()

“Marliese” reached No. 1 in Portugal, No. 4 in the Netherlands, and No. 14 in Spain. It also went Top 30 in Belgium and Germany.

Sessions spanned December 5–15, 1980, at the Manor, where Watts co-produced the album with Richard Manwaring, who also worked on 1981 titles by the Original Mirrors and ex-Cowboys International singer Ken Lockie. Red Skies was mixed at Scorpio Sound by Steve Parker, a soundman on 1981 titles by the Berlin Blondes (self-titled), Colin Newman (A–Z), and Linx (Go Ahead).

Artist Philip Dunn painted the Red Skies over Paradise cover: a grainy upward view of a sparsely active township under a cloudy, ominous crimson dawn. Pasche’s packaging carries the red-spectrum theme with bold song titles on magenta (back) and a lyrical inner-sleeve with peach text on black (Side One) and black on bright red (Side Two).

On May 22, US lifted a second Red Skies single: “‘Cutter’s Lullaby” (a title-modified “Wristcutter’s Lullaby”) backed with “You’ll Never Find Brian Here.”

Fischer-Z greeted the album’s release with a European tour. To coincide with their March-April German dates, UA issued Fischer-Z Over Germany, a maxi-single with two Red Skies tracks (“Battalions of Strangers,” “Berlin”) and one cut each from Word Salad (“Remember Russia”) and Going Deaf for a Living (“So Long”).