Climie Fisher

Group Members:
Simon Climie, Rob Fisher

This UK songwriting duo featured Simon Climie (b. 7 April 1960, Fulham, London, England; vocals/keyboards) and Rob Fisher (b. 5 November 1959, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, d. 25 August 1999, England; keyboards). Climie was a songwriter and Fisher had been one half of the duo Naked Eyes with Pete Byrne who had had a US Top 10 hit with a cover of "Always Something There To Remind Me" in 1983. They met in London in 1986 and signed to EMI Records as Climie Fisher. After a few flops, the ballad, "Rise To The Occasion" - featuring a beefier mix on the 12-inch single - rose to number 10 in the UK in early 1988. A remix of one of their previous misses, the white soul ballad, "Love Changes (Everything)", with Climie sounding like Rod Stewart, made UK number 2 and the US Top 30. Subsequent singles failed to make any noticeable impact. Climie later embarked on a solo career, before concentrating on songwriting. He has penned hit singles for and produced various acts including George Michael, Pat Benatar, Louise, Eternal and Eric Clapton (notably his co-songwriting credits on Pilgrim). Fisher also worked as a songwriter for other artists, including Rick Astley, but died of severe pancreatitis in August 1999.



Then: Can success find someone twice. It happened here with Rob Fisher, former keyboardist of the duo Naked Eyes. Who provided 4 - US Top 40 hits until their split in 1984 and saw Rob returning to London for session work with Billy Ocean, The Communards and The Cult. It was bumping into Simon Climie at the Abbey Road Studios that he found himself another writing partner. Simon Climie was already an established and talented vocalist/songwriter for Chrysalis (wrote Pat Benatar's "Invincible," Rod Stewart's "My Heart Can't Tell You No" and "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" for Aretha Franklin & George Michael). The duo of Climie Fisher hit the ground running UK Top 10 hit "Rise To The Occasion". They followed that with the (UK #2/US #23) hit song "Love Changes (Everything)". Their partnership ended when their follow-up album in 1989 Coming In For The Kill barely made the U.K. Top 40. They would have stayed a "one hit wonder" if a song off their album called "Room To Move" wasn't remade into a #9 hit later by a revamped Animotion for the soundtrack to My Stepmother Is An Alien.

Now: Simon Climie tried his had at a solo career in 1992 with the release of Soul Inspiration. Climie then went back to production and songwriting. He co-wrote and produced most of the latest Eric Clapton release Pilgrim. Rob Fisher had actually written for several other artists and recorded with Pete Byrne for a new Naked Eyes album. But plans for a full Naked Eyes release were dashed when Fisher died on August 25th, 1999. He had been sick for some time and was rushed into the hospital for emergency surgery.

Discography:

Discography:

Coming In For The Kill 1989
Everything