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.

Biography

After a working as a gardener and forestry worker, Fish came to the public's attention in 1981 with the British group, Marillion. The band had some chart success in the UK, achieving top-ten hits in 1985 with "Kayleigh" and "Lavender", and again in 1987 with "Incommunicado". Fish departed Marillion in 1988 in order to pursue his solo career.

He has sometimes been compared to Peter Gabriel, lead singer of Genesis in the 1970s. Many of Fish's later works contain lengthy spoken word lyrics; shorter examples of such lyrics can be found on earlier Marillion albums.

Fish presented a Friday evening radio show "Fish on Friday" for digital radio station Planet Rock. When the station was faced with closure, Malcolm Bluemel with the help of Fish, Tony Iommi, Ian Anderson and Gary Moore helped save Planet Rock by buying the station.

Fish's latest studio album 13th Star was released on 12 September 2007 as a specially-packaged pre-release version which could be ordered directly from his website. A UK tour for this album commenced in March 2008, supported by Glyder.

On 9 June 2008, Fish embarked on his first full North American tour in eleven years (although he did 6 East Coast dates in 2000). At each stop, he will host a pre-show 'meet and greet' with his fans.

According to Fish himself, his nickname originates from the amount of time he spent reading in the bath . Fish has one daughter, Tara.

Record Labels

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 before selling it to Roadrunner Records. Another financially unsuccessful period followed, before he re-established his own Chocolate Frog Records record label in 2001. In 2005 Fish signed with Snapper Music before returning again to the Chocolate Frog Records label. He has a loyal fan base, occasionally referred to as Fishheads or Freaks, many of whom contribute to several Email Lists and online fan forums and travel from all over the world to attend his annualish fan club conventions.

Awards

In May 2008, Fish's Planet Rock show won the Silver award in the 'Music Broadcaster of the Year' category of the UK Sony Radio Academy Awards 2008. In June 2008, at the New York Festivals Radio Broadcasting Awards he and Gary Moore jointly received the Gold World Medal in the category "Regularly Scheduled Music Program" for their respective shows on Planet Rock.

Miscellanea

On 26 August 2007, Fish performed at the 'Hobble on The Cobbles' show at the Market Square in Aylesbury, UK. He was accompanied on stage by four Marillion members, (Mark Kelly, Steve Rothery, Ian Mosley and Pete Trewavas) for one song - 'Market Square Heroes'. This was the first time they had performed together 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."

In February 2008, Fish was confirmed to be the Friday night headline act at NEARFest X. He also appeared with BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris on GMTV to promote Childline Rocks, a charity concert.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1990 Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
• 1991 Internal Exile
• 1993 Songs from the Mirror (Covers album)
• 1994 Suits
• 1997 Sunsets on Empire
• 1999 Raingods with Zippos
• 2001 Fellini Days
• 2004 Field of Crows
• 2007 13th Star (limited edition, retail 2008)

Live albums

Some of these live albums were first released as "official bootlegs" sold via mail-order and on tour. Several of these have later been released to retail.

• 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

• 1995 Yin
• 1995 Yang
• 1998 Kettle of Fish (88-98)
• 2005 Bouillabaisse

Singles

• 1986 Shortcut To Somewhere (Fish & Tony Banks)
• 1989 State of Mind
• 1989 Big Wedge
• 1990 A Gentleman's Excuse Me
• 1990 The Company (Germany only)
• 1991 Internal Exile
• 1991 Credo
• 1992 Something In The Air
• 1992 Never Mind The Bullocks feat. Hold Your Head Up
• 1994 Lady Let It Lie
• 1994 Fortunes of War
• 1995 Just Good Friends (feat. Sam Brown)
• 1997 Brother 52
• 1997 Change of Heart
• 1999 Incomplete (feat. Liz Antwi)
• 2008 Arc of the Curve

Collaborations

• 1986 "Shortcut To Somewhere" on the album Soundtracks by Tony Banks, lead vocals by Fish, produced by Richard James Burgess
• 1991 "Angel Face" and "Another Murder Of A Day" on the album Still by Tony Banks, lead vocals by Fish.
• 1992 Sang the part of "Crixus the Gaul" on the album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus.
• 1998 Sang the part of the "Highlander" character on the album Into the Electric Castle by Ayreon.
• 1998 Played a cameo role in the TV series The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star as the character Derek Trout.
• 2003 Sang on the track "Caledonia" on the Frankie Miller tribute album A Tribute To Frankie Miller

References

External links

• Fish's website
• Fish's MySpace page
• provides information on Fish and his acting career.
• Marillion's website