Climie Fisher

Climie Fisher
Rob Fisher (left) and Simon Climie at the Montreux Pop Festival in Switzerland, 1988.
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Pop[1]
Years active 1986–1990
Labels EMI
Capitol Records (US)
Associated acts Naked Eyes
Past members Simon Climie
Rob Fisher

Climie Fisher were a UK pop duo formed by vocalist Simon Climie (born 7 April 1957) and former Naked Eyes keyboardist Rob Fisher (5 November 1956 – 25 August 1999). In 1987–88, they had two international hit singles: "Rise to the Occasion" and "Love Changes (Everything)".

Career

Simon Climie and Rob Fisher met at Abbey Road Studio, where they were both performing as session musicians.[2] The duo is best known for the 1987 hit single "Love Changes (Everything)" which won an Ivor Novello Award.[3][4] It reached number 2 in the UK[5] and, on re-release, in South Africa, 7 in Germany, 8 in Switzerland, 15 in Austria and 23 in the US, all in 1988. The hip hop-styled remix of "Rise to the Occasion" had also previously reached Number 10 in the UK Singles Chart[5] and reached later Number 1 in South Africa, Number 14 in Germany, Number 17 in Sweden and Number 19 in Austria. Their last hit single was "Love Like A River" in 1989, which reached Number 18 in Austria, Number 22 in the UK[5] and Number 54 in Germany. They wrote most of their own material together with Dennis Morgan, who Climie had previously worked with; and hired Steve Lillywhite and Stephen Hague as producers.[2] Although their first album Everything charted in both the UK (#14) and US (#120), their second album Coming In for the Kill (UK #45) was less successful and they split up shortly after its release.[2]

Fisher later co-wrote Rick Astley's song "Cry for Help" (UK Singles Chart No. 7 in 1991). He also contributed as songwriter to Astley's albums Free (1991) and Body & Soul (1993). He died on 25 August 1999 during surgery for bowel cancer. Simon Climie had, before the success of Climie Fisher, co-written (with Dennis Morgan) the George Michael/Aretha Franklin single "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" in 1986. He worked as a producer for recording artists such as Louise, MN8 and Five Star and as a co-songwriter and musician for Eric Clapton, including the album with J.J. Cale (featuring Derek Trucks and Billy Preston) The Road to Escondido. Climie released a solo album and single, both titled "Soul Inspiration" in 1992. He also worked with former Doobie Brothers member Michael McDonald on his Motown albums. He produced the 2009 album by the American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, titled The Distance.

The folk pastiche Ballad of Climie Fisher by the band Half Man Half Biscuit on their album Trouble Over Bridgwater is a fictional tale of what happened to the pair post break-up.

Discography

Studio albums

Title Release Peak chart positions
UK GER SA SWE SWI US
Everything 14711410120
Coming In for the Kill
  • Released: 1989
  • Label: EMI
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
 35—636——
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

  • Keep It Special EP (1988)
  • Twice as Much (1992)
  • The Best of Climie Fisher (1996)
  • Premium Gold Collection (2000)

Singles

  • "This Is Me" – 1986
  • "Love Changes (Everything)" (1987) – no. 67 UK; no. 30 Netherlands; no. 4 Portugal
  • "Keeping the Mystery Alive" (1987) – no. 35 Germany
  • "Rise to the Occasion" (1987) – no. 10 UK; no. 1 Netherlands; no. 1 South Africa; no. 14 Germany; no. 17 Sweden; no. 19 Austria
  • "Love Changes (Everything)"(re-mix) (1988) – no. 2 UK; no. 2 South Africa; no. 7 Germany; no. 8 Switzerland; no. 15 Austria; no. 23 Australia; no.10 New Zealand; no. 23 USA
  • "This Is Me" (re-release) (1988) – no. 22 UK; no. 34 Netherlands; no. 60 Germany; no. 15 New Zealand; no. 10 Portugal
  • "I Won't Bleed For You" (1988) – no. 35 UK
  • "Love Like a River" (1988) – no. 22 UK; no. 18 Austria; no. 54 Germany
  • "Facts of Love" (1989) – no. 50 UK; no. 54 Germany
  • "Fire on the Ocean" (1989) – no. 89 UK
  • "It's Not Supposed to Be That Way" (1990)[5] – no. 77 UK

References

  1. ↑ Sutton, Michael. "Climie Fisher – Everything". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Sutton, Michael. "Biography of Climie Fisher". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Lister, David (28 May 1994). "Pop Ballads Bite Back". London: The Independent Newspaper. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Climie, Simon. "Simon Climie Pocket Bio" (PDF). Simon Climie Songs.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 110–111. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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