"My girlfriend had to leave the room when I played the album": The 10 records that changed Fish's life

Fish headshot
(Image credit: Liam Dickson)

For Fish, the vinyl revival started after he got the builders in. “All my vinyl used to be on a very tall shelf”, he says. “And when it got to two o’clock on a Saturday morning and you were shit-faced after a couple of bottles of wine, you’d want to get the vinyl down and it was always a pain in the arse. And I never played it as much as I wanted.

“Then I renovated one of the studio rooms and put racks up for the vinyl, and I suddenly got back into playing vinyl again because it was accessible. And I’ve been finding stuff that I never duplicated on CD.”

The 2024 remixes of Fish's Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors and Internal Exile are released later this month and are available to pre-order now

Below, Fish talks about the records that changed his life.

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Tarkus

One of the first Prog albums I ever heard was Emerson Lake & Palmer’s Tarkus. Somebody brought a copy into Dalkeith High School, and I quickly got into Genesis and the whole Prog thing through that. It’s an album that’s stood the test of time for me, and every now and again I’ll play it and a small spark will kick off.

Tarkus (i. Eruption / ii. Stones of Years / iii. Iconoclast / iv. Mass / v. Manticore / vi.... - YouTube Tarkus (i. Eruption / ii. Stones of Years / iii. Iconoclast / iv. Mass / v. Manticore / vi.... - YouTube
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Pink Floyd - Meddle

I heard Meddle before I heard Dark Side Of The Moon. I remember going up to Crieff Hydro [hotel in Perthshire] with my parents, where I used to go on nature walks. I remember sitting on a rock listening to Meddle on this mono Philips cassette deck and thinking it was incredible. It got me into Floyd, and I was also getting in to Lord Of The Rings at same time. It was my Middle Earth period.

Pink Floyd - One Of These Days (Official Audio) - YouTube Pink Floyd - One Of These Days (Official Audio) - YouTube
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Genesis - Selling England By The Pound

I remember listening to this on an eight-track in the back of my dad’s Volvo, again at Crieff Hydro on the family holidays. Although I’d heard Trespass and Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound was the new album, and it’s still one of my favourites.

I’ve still got Brain Salad Surgery and Close To The Edge on eight-track, and listening to progressive rock on eight-track is a very disconcerting experience.

Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) [Official Audio] - YouTube Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) [Official Audio] - YouTube
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The Who - Quadrophenia

When I was buying eight-tracks in the little record shop in Crieff the one that was always there — and was always being reduced in price — was Quadrophenia by The Who. It was years later when I finally got the album, and it’s still my favourite by The Who. It’s got everything on it, and Pete Townsend started become a big influence, both lyrically and attitude-wise. This shows up on Incommunicado on the Clutching At Straws album.

The Who - Love, Reign O’er Me (Lyric Video) - YouTube The Who - Love, Reign O’er Me (Lyric Video) - YouTube
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Joni Mitchell - Hejira

This was something I picked up in the mid-80s. Lyrical genius, melodic genius, musical genius. It was the lyrics, and what she conveyed, and the story, and the way she used observations and turned them into songs.

Joni Mitchell - Coyote (Official Audio) - YouTube Joni Mitchell - Coyote (Official Audio) - YouTube
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Peter Hammill - Over

They say people tend to latch on music and albums — like everyone latched onto the Misplaced Childhood stuff — at a particular period in life. And I really got into this during my forestry days in Speymouth Forest up in the north of Scotland. I just loved the emotion on the album.

My girlfriend at the time had a major problem with Peter Hammill’s voice, and had to leave the room when I played the album. I dunno why, but his voice really resonated with me. John Lydon always cites Hammill as a massive influence on his singing, and I’ve deployed some of his vocal mannerisms in the past. I like the attitude.

Crying Wolf (Remastered) - YouTube Crying Wolf (Remastered) - YouTube
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Nick Drake - Pink Moon

This is just coming into focus with me at the moment, and I should have discovered it years ago. I’d known about him for years but never really listened, and earlier this year I started to listen to lots of vinyl, and the Nick Drake stuff came to me. I’m looking to do a cover of Free Ride from that album. I love the simplicity of it. The voice just stands out, and it’s emotionally very, very raw.

Free Ride - YouTube Free Ride - YouTube
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Yes - Yessongs

It’s a bit of a cheat, but it has all the classics from the first few albums, and because most of the tracks have the same musicians on it has more of a coherence to it. This was the classic lineup for me: Wakeman, Anderson, Squire, Howe, White.

I love the energy of the album. Everyone goes on about the progness and complexity of Yes, but the groove that existed between Chris Squire and Alan White was phenomenal. Everyone forgets about the groove they had. They were in the pocket all the time.

YES - 13 - STARSHIP TROOPER - YESSONGS (REMASTERED 2013) - YouTube YES - 13 - STARSHIP TROOPER - YESSONGS (REMASTERED 2013) - YouTube
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John Martyn - Solid Air

A fantastic voice. I love emotion and passion in singer-songwriters. John just had a huge soul, and May You Never as an anthem is just absolutely incredible.

May You Never - YouTube May You Never - YouTube
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The Beatles - Abbey Road

It’s quite a proggy album, if you look at the way it bounces through the sections. I think it may have been an subconscious influence on Misplaced Childhood, the way they moved all the little sections together. It’s an album that a lot of people ignore. It’s always Revolver or Sgt. Peppers or The White Album, but Abbey Road has always been my favourite.

The original version of this feature appeared on the Classic Rock website in 2017.

The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun (2019 Mix) - YouTube The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun (2019 Mix) - YouTube
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Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.