Derek William Dick, better known as Fish (born 25 April 1958, in Dalkeith, Midlothian), is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyric writer and occasional actor.
Career
After a career as a gardener and forestry worker, he came to public attention in 1981 with the British group Marillion, which he left in 1988 following top ten hits in 1985 with Kayleigh and Lavender and in 1987 with Incommunicado. It is widely believed that the name Fish arose from his drinking habits, however, according to Fish himself, the name originates from the amount of time he spent reading in the bath. There are also conflicting stories - that he picked the name up because of a strange fish-shaped earring he once had, and that he chose the nickname as a homage to his hero Chris Squire, bass player for Yes, who was known at one time as "The Fish" (hence his solo album Fish Out of Water). Fish has one daughter, Tara. He is sometimes compared to Peter Gabriel, lead singer of Genesis in the 1970s. Many of his later works contain lengthy spoken word passages with the music acting as background. Shorter examples of such passages can be found in his Marillion works. Following a legal dispute with EMI and an unsuccessful contract with Polydor, Fish established the Dick Bros Record Company in 1993. He released a number of 'official bootleg' albums to finance the company. After selling the company to Roadrunner Records, another unsuccessful period followed before he re-established his own Chocolate Frog record label in 2001. In 2005 Fish signed with Snapper. He has a small but loyal fan base, commonly referred to as Fishheads, many of whom contribute to several online fan forums and travel from all over the world to attend his bi-annual fan club conventions. Fish has also contributed to Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Ayreon project, singing the part of the Highlander in Into the Electric Castle. Recently Fish has been presenting a Friday evening radio show "Fish on Friday" for digital radio station Planet Rock. On August 26, 2007, Fish performed a show in Aylesbury, UK at the Market Square. He was accompanied on stage by four of the members of Marillion, Mark Kelly, Steve Rothery, Ian Mosley and Pete Trewavas, for one song - 'Market Square Heroes', with whom he had not performed in nearly two decades. In a press interview following the event, Fish denied this would lead to a full reunion, claiming that "Hogarth does a great job with the band... We forged different paths over the 19 years."[1] Fish's new album 13th Star was released on September 12, 2007.
Solo discography
Studio albums
Live albums
- 1993 Pigpen's Birthday
- 1993 Derek Dick and his Amazing Electric Bear
- 1993 Uncle Fish and the Crypt Creepers
- 1993 For Whom the Bells Toll
- 1993 Toiling in the Reeperbahn
- 1994 Sushi
- 1996 Fish Head Curry (limited edition live album, 5000 copies only)
- 1996 Krakow
- 1998 Tales from the Big Bus
- 1999 The Complete BBC Sessions
- 2000 Candlelight in Fog (limited edition live album, 3000 copies only)
- 2001 Sashimi
- 2002 Fellini Nights
- 2002 Mixed Company
- 2005 Scattering Crows
- 2006 Return to Childhood
- 2007 Communion
Compilations
Other collaborations
External links
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