Fischer-z Best Songs
Jayme Chouinard
The first album was released in 1979: Word Salad. The song The Worker was a modest hit in The Netherlands. The song So Long off the second album Going Deaf For A Living became a genuine hit, but with Marliese off the third album Red Skies Over Paradise, Fischer-Z broke through, even in England.
It did come as a shock when Watts announced he was disbanding Fischer-Z during the summer of 1981. He felt the band had become too far removed from its initial art ideals. Watts started a solo career and released two solo albums in 1982 and 1983: One More Twist and The Iceberg Model. In 1984 he started a new band, The Cry, which released the album Quick Quick Slow.
In 1997 Watts restarted his solo career again, which was shortly interrupted in 2004 by a one-time reunion of Fischer-Z in the original line-up. In 2011 Watts released the Fischer-Z album. The album consisted of one old, never before released, recording from 1985 and new versions of Fischer-Z classics. In 2016 an album was released under the moniker Fischer-Z, as well as in 2017.
The first cd-release of the album is very rare. In 1997 Disky Communications Europe re-released it as a cd (titled The Worker), with Limbo and Marliese as bonus tracks. In 2005 it was re-released again, titled Fischer-Z.
The songs Wax Dolls, Remember Russia, The Worker and Pretty Paracetamol (titled First Impressions on the single release) were released as a single. In The Netherlands The Worker was the only single to be released. It became a modest hit and the band appeared on Dutch pop television program Toppop.
I thought the album was fantastic. It sounded fresh and original. I remember using the album a lot for testing purposes of my very first music installation, because of the direct and open sound of the album.
The music was undisputedly new wave, with punk influences. But it was more complex musically than average within the genre, With lots of tempo changes and musical sidesteps. It was more like art-pop. Great rhythm section, by the way!
In March of 1981 Fischer-Z released its third album. The opening song immediately sets the mood: These sore red eyes / explore the room again. No more happy music, like on its predecessor. This album is dark and full of politics and the (consequences of the) Cold War. Not very cheerful. The music is desolate and sparse. And yet the album was a success; many recognized the feeling. Success never reached the USA, as the album was not released there.
To me, the LP is inevitably linked to the book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo. In this book Christiane F. describes her disastrous childhood which ends with turning into a heroin addicted prostitute in Berlin, at just 14 years of age. In 1980 the book was released in a Dutch translation, titled Christiane F, Verslag van een Junkie. In 1981 the book was made into a movie (in which David Bowie played a part).
The compilation contains 4 songs from John Watts solo albums. Proportionally, the most songs are culled from the best album Going Deaf For A Living, so props to that. A good introduction to early Fischer-Z. However, should you want to acquire something by Fischer-Z, I strongly recommend the album Going Deaf For A Living.
Oosterpoort Groningen 2018 was a bit flat, and unfortunately Tivoli Utrecht this time around was VERY flat. Not a lot of energy, autopilot. John missed quite a few of his lines throughout the concert.
Concert started off with John solo on stage, only to find his guitar wasn't tuned to the song he had planned to do. He improvised and did another song but had to call the band to help out halfway through the track. If this was planned, it looked very spontaneous and unrehearsed indeed.
I'm never a fan of bandmembers clapping their hands above their head to encourage the audience to start clapping (shouldn't be necessary) but new (and old) bassplayer David Purdye frequently felt the need to do so.
Wasn't all doom and gloom. As usual there was a mixture of old and new. Some nice new songs, and with Adrien on keyboards quite a few of the old ones seem to sound better. And Sid's grimaces on the drums, beating the hell out of them just for the fun of it always brings a smile, even when the concert itself does not.
Expectations weren't too high beforehand to be honest. John Watts was my absolute hero at the end of the seventies, beginning of the eighties, and it's always a bit of a risk to see them 35 years on. No energy, on automatic pilot, going through the motions ... ?
Personal highlight probably Battalions of strangers and John solo in I know it now. Superb versions of Red skies over Paradise, Marliese, Limbo and in England. Hadn't heard Wax dolls, Room service and Berlin in ages!
One of the best gigs I've been to in a long time. Every number was well received and executed by the band. Each member added more than their fair share to the performance, each technically excellent. John Watts vitality and freshness came across throughout the whole evening.
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