The 1981 Listening Post - Fischer Z - Red Skies Over Paradise

 Fischer-Z - Red Skies Over Paradise

#112

March 1981

Fischer-Z

Red Skies over Paradise

Genre: New Waverock

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Marliese

In England

Ultimately, it comes down to songs, right? Fischer-Z’s 1980 Going Deaf for a Living was almost revelatory. A sonic whirlwind of New Wave ideas and madness. My hopes for that in this record were dashed at the open but lifted with the near stadium ready “Marliese”. And then…the title track came on. This is The Police. This is faux white boy reggae with falsetto lead Vox and power pop chorus. I don’t want to be thinking about Sting when I’m listening to…anybody, really. So, that’s a disappointment. Even when they go for mid-tempo rock, they can’t help themselves. “Cruise Missiles” is just another take on The Police. 

It’s a shame. This is a Sine Wave record. Just when I hate it…a song comes on that makes me love it and then another comes on and I hate it again. When it doesn’t sound the police, they sound like they want to be Boomtown Rats (“Bathroom Scenario”) and I feel like it’s all so derivative and dull. 

Darn. I tried to love it. I really did. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/red-skies-over-paradise/696845750

The 1980 Listening Post - Fischer-Z - Deaf for a Living

Fischer-Z - Deaf for a Living

#4 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

January 4 1980

Fischer-Z

Going Deaf for a Living

Genre: New Wave

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Room Service

So Long

Pick Up/Slip Up

Crank

Limbo

When I was a kid I had a friend who argued with me about what, exactly, “New Wave” was. He maintained that it required three instruments, guitar, bass and drums and that was it. 

Of course, it only took “umm…The Cars?” to dispel that notion. But it did open up the debate: What is “New Wave”? I have always said it was like that other obsession…you know it when you hear it. 

I have been of the mindset that New Wave, classic New Wave, the stuff like “Ca Plane Pour Moi” and early Cars and The Buggles and early Gary Numan, is minimalist, often mid-tempo and, droll while also being exciting. Like Power Pop, it’s a genre that defies description but you know it when you hear it. 

This is that. With tinges of Reggae. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/going-deaf-for-a-living/697226984