Fischer-Z

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.

Skolnik departed after their second album Going Deaf for a Living, leaving Watts to take over keyboards.

Watts' lyrics draw heavily on his experiences of studying clinical psychology and as a mental health care worker. Several songs on their third 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.