I must admit that until now my knowledge of the British new wave band known as Fischer-Z was limited. Having purchased, and fallen in love with ‘The Worker’ single back in 1979, mainly due to its eye-catching 7” picture disc which I spotted in the “Out Of Charts” box in my local record store (remember those?). So impressed was I that I soon picked up the accompanying studio album, Word Salad which also blew my socks off. I was also lucky enough to catch the band when they performed on the Friday afternoon at the 1980 Reading Festival where they performed between the NWOBHM of Praying Mantis and R&B of Nine Below Zero, managing to avoid the rain of beer bottles (and bodily fluids) targeted at many of the earlier bands, thanks to the humorous banter of their guitarist, singer, and creator, John Watts, which the largely heavy metal crowd seemed to appreciate. Following that encounter I lost touch with Fischer-Z, probably due to my preference for rockier tunes, which I now realise was my loss. This latest Cherry Red Records 3CD set titled, Word Paradise: The United Artists Records & Liberty Recordings brings together the bands first three studio albums, the aforementioned, Word Salad (1979), plus Going Deaf For A Living (1980), and Red Skies Over Paradise (1981), which were release on the United Artists, and Liberty labels ahead of the band being put on hold by Watts in late 1981, so that he could pursue a solo career.
As I hinted at earlier… I totally love the Word Salad album. From the opening notes of ‘Pretty Paracetamol’ to the close of ‘Lemmings’, it just about ticks every box. ‘Acrobats’ is frantic, riff filled, mayhem. 50% 80’s keyboard pop, 50% punk frenzy. ‘The Worker’ is slower in pace but sums up the drudgery of the 9 till 5 lifestyle both musically and lyrically. John Watts at his poetic best. Joined by Steve Skolnik (keyboards), David Graham (bass), and Steve Liddle (drums), Watts had found a squad which made punchy tracks like ‘Spiders’ as in your face as The Ramones at their peak, but also a team which was able to attack the white reggae style of The Clash on the mournful, ‘Remember Russia’, and ‘Billy And The Motorway Police’. Fischer-Z weren’t frightened to take on more classic rock either, and ‘The French Let Her’, and ‘Nice To Know’ display hints of late era Who with Liddle laying down a thunderous, rolling rhythm over Skolnik’s playful synth. Mental health may now be high in the social conscience, but back in the late 70’s tracks like ‘Lies’, and first single ‘Wax Dolls’ must have come across as a little disturbing to the audience of New Romantics within the countries club culture. Word Salad may identify as cheerful synth pop but every song has a much darker undercurrent which makes ‘Headlines’ (“Don’t look behind yer, you don’t know what you’ll find there”), and ‘Lemmings’ (“I’m a test case in the best place”) pure wordplay genius. Although it had a mediocre reception on its original release, time has been kind, and the album stands up very well on its own, but this 2026 version now comes with the added bonuses of the renamed, and revamped, ‘Pretty Paracetamol’ in its German single incarnation called, ‘First Impressions’, and B-sides, ‘Angry Brigade’, ‘High Wire Walker’, ‘Bigger Slice Now’, and ‘Kitten Curry’, all of which more than earn their place here. File World Salad under “why wasn’t it a massive hit?”.
By the time that Going Deaf For A Living was released the keyboards had moved back it the mix making way for a more guitar centric sound. Three of the four singles culled from the album (the fourth being ‘Limbo’), not only lead off this sophomore collection, but helped to lift Fischer-Z’s profile, especially in Australia, and mainland Europe with their mix of Reggae (‘Room Service’), trademark pop (‘So Long’), and a mixture of the two (‘Crazy Girl’). The more riff based material like ‘No aRight’, and ‘Crank’, offer up the punkier side of new wave, while the quirky titular track, and ‘Four Minutes In Durham (With You)’ add more accessible, but still hard hitting, personal lyrics to bolster the album’s more commercial edge. Going Deaf For A Living leans much more heavily on the white reggae angle than its predecessor with ‘Haters’,and love song gone wrong ‘Pick Up/Slip Up’ finding Graham’s deeply syncopated basslines doing a lot of the heavy lifting, as it does throughout the tracks on Going Death… Watch out for the 100 mph ‘Limbo’ which closed the original album with a high speed flourish. “2-3-4”. As with the previous disc we are treated to the single edits of ‘Room Service’, ‘Crazy Girl’, ‘So Long’, and ‘Limbo’ as well as B-sides, ‘Hiding’, and ‘The Rat Man’. The overall more straight forward feel of Going Deaf For A Living showed that the band were growing with their audience, a progression, and maturity which would continue on album number three.
By 1981 the cold war was high on the global agenda, and although not a concept album, that theme is re-visited across Red Skies Over Paradise with the likes of ‘Berlin’ which opens the album with all the glory and gusto of a new Clash track, ‘Cruise Missiles’ and the reggae return of the title track. ‘Marliese’, is the tale of a tortured relationship, and alongside ‘In England’ they keep the high octane rock going, before ‘You’ll Never Find Brian Here’ tells a tale of youthful absence. The parting of Steve Skolnik following Going Death… enhances the continued move away from the electronic soundscapes of their earlier work, with Watts taking on any occasional keyboard duties on the likes of ‘Battalions Of Strangers’, and ‘Song And Dance Brigade’ consolidating a more straight ahead rock approach. Watts had never feared dealing with the more difficult, and controversial subjects, and on Red Skies… he tackles, giant conglomerates (‘Multinationals Bite’), contraception (‘Bathroom Scenario’), and even suicide (‘Wristcutters Lullaby’). ‘The Writer’ feels like a return to the days of Word Salad with it’s light hearted, self analytical look into the struggles of the subject character. Only one extra here, ‘Right Hand Men’ was the B-side to the albums only single, ‘Marliese’. Red Skies Over Paradise really feels like the culmination of Watts’s vision for Fischer-Z, but sadly the pressure had become to much, and in late ’81 he pulled the plug on the band, putting Fischer-Z on hold in preparation for going it alone for what turned out to be six years.
Word Salad still remains my personal favourite but I’m sure that my choice is purely driven by nostalgia, and familiarity rather than any other factors, and I think that both Going Deaf For A Living, and Red Skies Over Paradise are likely to work their way into my musical conscience with a few further plays. In 1987 Watts would resurrect Fischer-Z with a totally new line-up, and go on to release a further eleven albums, the latest being 2024’s Triptych. 2026 sees Watts and Fischer-Z heading out on their 50th Anniversary tour, firstly across Europe, and culminating in a trip to Australia in December to perform eight shows. Included in the European leg is an appearance at London’s Oslo in Hackney on 4th October, the bands first appearance in the capital for two years. Alongside the live activity, there are also hints of an album of new material hitting the stores during 2026. For now, Word Paradise acts as a timely reminder of a slightly forgotten new wave band who should be ranked up there with The Buzzcocks, The Undertones and The Police. Watts himself states, “I am very proud of all three of the albums in this box”, “I’m very grateful I got to make them”. And so he should be.
- Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
- World Paradise: The United Artists Records & Liberty Recordings is released via Cherry Red Records On 24th April 2026. Available here: Fischer-Z: Word Paradise – The United Artists Records & Liberty Recordings, 3CD Digipack
- Fischer-Z
- (1) Facebook
Track List:
Disc One: Word Salad
1. Pretty Paracetamol
2. Acrobats
3. The Worker
4. Spiders
5. Remember Russia
6. The French Let Her
7. Lies
8. Wax Dolls
9. Headlines
10. Nice To Know
11. Billy And The Motorway Police
12. Lemmings
Bonus Tracks:
13. Angry Brigade
14. High Wire Walker
15. First Impressions (German 7” Single)
16. Bigger Slice Now
17. Kitten Curry
Disc Two Going Deaf For A Living
1. Room Service
2. So Long
3. Crazy Girl
4. No aRight
5. Going Deaf For A Living
6. Pick Up / Slip Up
7. Crank
8. Haters
9. Four Minutes In Durham (With You)
10. Limbo
Bonus Tracks:
11. Room Service
12. Hiding
13. Crazy Girl
14. So Long
15. Limbo
16. The Rat Man
Disc Three: Red Skies Over Paradise
1. Berlin
2. Marliese
3. Red Skies Over Paradise
4. In England
5. You’ll Never Find Brian Here
6. Battalions Of Strangers
7. Song And Dance Brigade
8. The Writer
9. Bathroom Scenario
10. Wristcutters Lullaby
11. Cruise Missiles
12. Luton To Lisbon
13. Multinationals Bite
Bonus Track:
14. Right Hand Men
