Fischer-z

Studying clinical psychology and working in a psychiatric clinic, John Watts decided to create the Fischer-Z group together with Stephen Skolnik in 1977. ^[3] The band's first performance was at one of the many punk clubs in England. The first Fischer-Z album was called Word Salad and was released in 1979 by United Artist Records along with The Buzzcocks and The Stranglers. ^{[4] The} group was successful due to the fact that John Pill repeatedly performed their first single Remember Russia, having achieved a stunning growth in popularity of the group. Thanks to this, the Fischer-Z group managed to take part in The Old Gray Whistle Test. The successful release of the second single, The Worker, brought the group fame in Europe, and also allowed them to get into Top of the Pops in 1979. ^[5] With the release of their second Going Deaf For a Living album, Watts was once again able to confirm Fischer-Z's unique ability to tackle pressing political issues, which distinguished the group from representatives of "idle" pop music. ^[6] The band's last single, called So Long, was released in 1980 on the newly created MTV channel. In 1981, Fischer-Z was able to release their third and most successful album, Red Skies Over Paradise, the main singles of which were Marliese and Berlin. ^[7] The incredible success of the albums allowed Fischer-Z to give more than 200 concerts in the UK, Europe, USA and Canada in 1980 and 1981. ^[7] In the summer of 1981, Watts dissolved the original composition of the Fischer-Z group, believing that the group had gone too far from the ideals of the punk group. ^[eight]

After that, Watts took up his own careers and released two albums, called One More Twist (1982) and The Iceberg Model (1983). ^[9] As part of these albums, the One Voice political track was released, which was performed at the No Nukes Festival 'in 1982, ^[10] as well as the track I Smelt Roses (In The Underground). In 1984, Watts created a group called The Cry. After that, he recorded a dance-style Quick Quick Slow album, which was produced by Jimmy Douglas. In 1985, inspired by political events of the 80s, in particular Margaret Thatcher's work with British unions, Watts recorded the track Dark Crowds of Englishmen ', which was dedicated to the miners' strike in 1984 and 1985, as well as the disappearance of humane politicians in the UK .

In 1987, John Watts decided to restore the Fischer-Z group in a new look. As a result of his efforts, the group was able to achieve impressive success and recorded the singles The Perfect Day (1988) and Say No (1989) as part of the albums Reveal (1988) and Fish's Head (1989). ^[eight]

In 1991, Fischer-Z recorded the album Destination Paradise, which was produced by Peter Gabriel at Real World Studios. A track entitled Further From Love, as well as the title track of the album, was dedicated to the suffering of civilians during the war. ^[8] The next two albums by Fischer-Z were named Kamikaze Shirt (1993) and Stream (1995). The albums included tracks on political events, Watts' observations, and impressions received at that time.

In 1997 and 1999, two completely new Watts albums were released, called Thirteen Stories High and Bigbeatpoetry. On the Thirteen Stories High track, Watts analyzes his life and musical career, particularly in emotional pop tracks like Brilliant Career. At the same time, on the Bigbeatpoetry track, Watts used a combination of lyrics and percussion music, collaborating with Motor records and German DJ Ingo Werner. As a result of their active work, they recorded a track called Walking The Doberman. Later, in 2000, Watts recorded Spiritual Headcase, which became a remix of Bigbeatpoetry by Peter Ely. ^[eleven]

The era of Watts multimedia projects began with Ether Music & Film in 2002. To do this, he had to travel around Europe to collect the musical works of local artists. For recording, he used only a professional mirkofon and laptop. The entire project was recorded and released as a DVD and music album.

In 2005, Watts released a two-part album, Real Life Is Good Enough, which was recorded on guitar and drums featuring Sam Walker. ^[12] As part of the concert tour, Watts met 10 people from different countries of Europe, recording a track dedicated to their life for each of them. 10 tracks formed the basis of the album It Has To Be, which was released in 2007 and included the single Adrian's Song Brothers. Watts' next album was Morethanmusic & Films, which included poems and short stories. The album included the single Head On, which was inspired by the broadcast of the murder of Saddam Hussein, which a seven-year-old child made on his phone. In the same year, Watts recorded a film called Morethanmusic & Film.

In 2011, Watts re-recorded the 14 most famous Fischer-Z tracks with his band. Updated tracks came out under the name John Watts - Fischer-Z. In 2012, contrary to his previous release, Watts released an album with solo tracks, called Realistic Man.

In 2015, Watts decided to return the name of the group Fischer-Z and released the track This is My Universe, ^[13] which became an analysis of Watts's life, and also talked about how Watts himself and the world around him changed. The album includes the track Martha Thargill, dedicated to the miners' strike 30 years ago. ^{[14] [15]}

In 2017, Watts managed to achieve three important goals. The 40th anniversary of the band, the first Fischer-Z show and the release of the 19th original studio album Building Bridges, which was dedicated to the problems of the time. "The album is dedicated to creation, not destruction." ^[16] Damascus Disco became the title track of the album, urging listeners to abandon discrimination and forget about the differences. The album was recorded in a duet of John, who played the guitar and was responsible for vocals, and Jamie Bush on drums. Incredible success allowed Fischer-Z to sell all the tickets for the show at the infamous Paradiso in Amsterdam, 40 years after the first concert. Later they performed at De Roma in Antwerp (2000 people), and also visited France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and the UK. In addition, they performed at the Simple Minds Club in Bonn, where 6,000 guests came. Speaking of festivals, it is worth noting that Fischer-Z attended such famous events as Lokerse Feesten, Rock Zottegem, Retropop, as well as the Wacken Open Air festival in 2018. ^[17]

Albums

• Word Salad (1979)
• Going Deaf for a Living (1980)
• Red Skies Over Paradise (1981)
• Reveal (1987)
• Fish's Head (1989)
• Destination Paradise (1992)
• Kamikaze Shirt (1993)
• Stream (1995)
• Ether (2002)
• John Watts - Fischer-Z 2011 (2011)
• This Is My Univers (2016)
• Building Bridges (2017)

Singles

• "Wax Dolls" b / w "Angry Brigade" (1978)
• "Remember Russia" b / w "Bigger Slice Now" (1979)
• "The Worker" b / w "Kitten Curry" (1979) - Vbr. No. 53, the Netherlands. No. 20
• "First Impressions (Pretty Paracetamol)" b / w "High Wire Walker" (1979)
• "So Long" b / w "Hiding" (1980) - Vbr. No. 72, Australia. No. 15, the Netherlands. No. 12, Portugal No. 9
• "Room Service" (1980)
• "Crazy Girl" (1980)
• "Limbo" b / w "The Rat Man" (1980)
• "Marliese" b / w "Right Hand Men" (1981); The Netherlands No. 31; Portugal No. one
• "Wristcutters Lullaby" b / w "You'll Never Find Brian Here" (1981)
• "Berlin" (1981)
• "The Writer" ( El Escritor ) (1981)
• "The Perfect Day" (1988) - Vbr. No. 91, Australia. No. 12
• "Big Drum" (1988)
• "Say No" (1989)
• "Masquerade" (1989)
• "Sausages & Tears" (1990)
• "Destination Paradise" (1992)
• "Will You Be There?" (1992)
• Tightrope (1992)
• "Caruso" (1993)
• "The Peaches & Cream" (1993)
• "Human Beings" (1994)
• "Marlon" (1994)
• "You'll Never Cross the Same River Twice (Turn Back the Clock)" (1994)
• "Need Protection" (1995)
• "Red Skies Over Paradise" (1995)
• "Jukebox" (2002)
• "Delight" (2002)
• "Back to Berlin" (2004) ^[18]
• " Damascus Disco " (2017)
• " So Close - Underwater Version " (2017)
• " F01 " (2018)
• " Stolen " (2018)