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
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 1987-8, they had two international hit singles.

Career

Simon Climie met Rob Fisher at Abbey Road Studio, where they were both performing as session musicians.^[1] The duo is best known for the 1987 hit single "Love Changes (Everything)" which reached Number 2 in the UK^[2] and in South Africa (on re-release), Number 7 in Germany, Number 8 in Switzerland, Number 15 in Austria and Number 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^[2] 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^[2] 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.^[1] 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.^[1]

Fisher later co-wrote Rick Astley's song, "Cry for Help" single (UK #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.

Cultural References

The semi-quasi folk song 'The Ballad Of Climie Fisher' by Half Man Half Biscuit is a fictional tale of what happened to the pair post breakup.

Discography

Albums

• Everything (EMI - 1987) (#14 UK, #7 Germany, #10 Switzerland, #14 Sweden, #120 USA, #1 South Africa)
• Coming In for the Kill (EMI - 1989) (#35 UK, #36 Sweden, #6 South Africa)^[2]

Singles

• "This Is Me" - 1986
• "Love Changes (Everything)" - 1987 - #67 UK; #30 Netherlands
• "Keeping The Mystery Alive" - 1987 - #35 Germany
• "Rise To The Occasion" - 1987 - #10 UK; #1 Netherlands; #1 South Africa; #14 Germany; #17 Sweden; #19 Austria
• "Love Changes (Everything)" (re-mix) - 1988 - #2 UK; #2 South Africa; #7 Germany; #8 Switzerland; #15 Austria; #23 Australia; #23 USA
• "This Is Me" (re-release) - 1988 - #22 UK; #34 Netherlands; #60 Germany
• "I Won't Bleed For You" - 1988 - #35 UK
• "Love Like A River" - 1988 - #22 UK; #18 Austria; #54 Germany
• "Facts Of Love" - 1989 - #50 UK; #54 Germany
• "Fire On The Ocean" - 1989
• "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way" - 1990^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Sutton, Michael. "Biography of Climie Fisher". AllMusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/climie-fisher-p16546/biography. Retrieved 7 July 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 110–111. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

External links

• Entry on Discogs
• Climie Fisher songwriting credits
• Charts-Surfer homepage