Bob Fisher
Bob Fisher began writing in the late Sixties whilst still residing in his home City of Leicester for a variety of specialist fanzines like Shout, SMG and Hot Buttered Soul.
Specialising almost exclusively on Black Music he was enrolled onto the reviewing team of Cream via Shout magazine by Charlie Gillett who later enrolled him onto the new Let It Rock team. When NME was relaunched in the early 70’s with new writers poached from magazines like Cream, Bob Woffinden invited him to freelance for the paper. Still based in Leicester he covered gigs across the Midlands and North and interviewed many touring stars.
In late 1975 he moved to London to become press officer for Motown Records at EMI. At EMI he eventually became label manager for the Fantsay/Stax group of labels and several other imprints including Salsoul, EMI International and Private Stock. In 1981 he joined the advertising agency that handled Orbis Publishing and produced the 40 double albums that accompanied the Orbis part work – The History Of Rock as well writing several features for the publication.
In 1987 he joined Charly Records alongside fellow NME alumni, Cliff White and produced scores of Blues and Soul reissues. In 1989 he founded Sequel Records for Castle Communications and in 1997 joined MCI and founded the Westside and Blueside labels.
After a short stint running Connoisseur Collection, Bob co-founded Acrobat Records, for whom he produced reissues until 2008. Since the demise of Acrobat he has returned to the world of consultancy and has produced several packages for labels like GVC, Jasmine and Blue. He is currently available for work should anyone care to offer any.
List of articles in the library by artist
J. J. Barnes: The Groovesville Masters
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, April 1975
DESPITE A couple of very successful tours of the Midlands and the North, JJ seems dogged by bad luck. ...
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, May 1975
'SUPERNATURAL Thing Pt. 1' marks the first occasion on which Ben E. King has hit the American Top twenty since 'Don't Play That Song' in ...
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, July 1975
ELVIN BISHOP'S place in the scheme of post-Beatles US Rock has been pretty much undervalued over the years. This is probably owing to his uncanny ...
Bobby 'Blue' Bland: Bobby Bland: Dreamer
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, November 1974
ONE DAY last week I tuned into Noel Edmunds and I heard it – and fell back into bed. ...
James Brown: Reality and Breakin' Bread
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, April 1975
A WORD OF advice. Never attempt to review James Brown product whilst the records are actually playing. It's impossible either to write or type when ...
Review by Bob Fisher, International Times, May 1973
A COUPLE OF years ago an excellent little gangster movie from the States was doing the circuit, called The Grissom Gang. Now rock has come ...
Chairmen Of The Board: Chairmen of the Board
Interview by Bob Fisher, NME, May 1975
IT WAS THE Chairmen of the Board's umpteenth tour of the UK, but this time round, the venues were a little classier, with week long ...
Interview by Bob Fisher, NME, February 1975
IT'S A SOMEWHAT perplexed Chi-Lites who recently embarked on their second and most extensive UK tour of Clubs and Cabaret. ...
Natalie Cole: Meet Nat Queen Cole
Profile by Bob Fisher, NME, September 1975
WITH 1975 almost certain to establish itself as a most uneventful year for soul, it's refreshing to come across a 45 by a newish singer ...
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, February 1975
THE BIGGEST MISTAKE Don Covay made with this album was in making 'It's Better To Have' track one, side one. ...
Delfonics, The: The Delfonics: Developments In The Delfonic Dilemma
Profile and Interview by Bob Fisher, NME, November 1974
MENTION THE Philly sound, and people will start thinking about The O'Jays, Billy Paul, The Intruders or The Three Degrees. ...
Bo Diddley: The London Sessions (Chess)
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, September 1973
AFTER THE release of Golden Decade and Got Another Bag Of Tricks, which really put Bo in perspective, Chess undo all their sterling work by ...
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, September 1973
THERE MUST be some crap music coming out of the States, or is it me? Can't I discern between the good, the bad and the ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind and Fire
Profile by Bob Fisher, NME, May 1975
LIKE EVERY OTHER sub genre of soul seems to do, the current blockbuster – jazz-funk, bump-funk, party street-dance, or whatever you care to tag it ...
Duane Eddy: Bailey's, Leicester
Live Review by Bob Fisher, NME, September 1975
YET ANOTHER rock 'n' roll legend is stalking the stages of the club circuit and on July 14 he trod the stage of Bailey's, Leicester. ...
Fatback Band, The: The Fatback Band: Yum Yum
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, September 1975
"MY NAME is Yum Yum, Gimme some!" ...
Four Seasons, The: The Four Seasons: Ten Years And Still Hanging On
Retrospective by Bob Fisher, Let It Rock, March 1973
IN AUGUST LAST YEAR Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons celebrated ten years as one of the most successful recording groups America has ever produced. ...
Aretha Franklin: Hey Now Hey (Atlantic)
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, September 1973
IT'S BEEN HIP for mainstream rock critics to knock Miss Franklin for some time now, in much the same way the current vogue is to ...
Al Green: Eaten Something Funny Al?
Interview by Bob Fisher, NME, April 1975
"L.O.V.E. SPELLS LOVE," says Al Green on his current NME chart rider of the same name, while according to Jimmy Witherspoon's current US hit, it's ...
Dale Hawkins: Oh Suzie: The Best Of Dale Hawkins
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, September 1973
YET ANOTHER priceless bargain from Phonogram. The way in which the rock and roll collectors are being catered for this year is excellent, Polydor have ...
Isaac Hayes: Live At The Sahara Tahoe
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, 1973
IGNORING the Shaft soundtrack, Isaac Hayes blew it with the Black Moses double set. This followed three good and original albums, although you could still ...
Impressions, The, Curtis Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions: Big Sixteen
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, March 1975
IT'S PLEASING to see Anchor pushing out this classic compilation, as it's been unavailable for several years. It was originally issued on the old HMV ...
Isley Brothers, The: The Isley Brothers: 3+3 (Epic)
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, February 1974
BLACK MUSIC is currently well entrenched in the process of mixing recent rock forms into the standard sound of soul, a process in which the ...
Syl Johnson: A Whole Lot Of Whiplashes And Scars…
Interview by Bob Fisher, NME, April 1975
NOT MANY artists hot on the US Soul charts have had the apprenticeship of Syl Johnson. ...
Syl Johnson: Barbarella's, Birmingham
Live Review by Bob Fisher, NME, February 1975
MOST OF the soul artists who do the one-nighter round of the UK and USAF bases have some kind of hit going for them, or ...
Report and Interview by Bob Fisher, Roger St. Pierre, NME, April 1975
From the great lost soul label of Atlantic it came, writhing with synchronized funk, its many black heads chanting and wailing. Nothing like it had ...
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, January 1975
RELUCTANTLY, ONE MUST admit that Aretha Franklin has now lost her crown as America's top female singer to Miss Knight. Gladys and her Pips have ...
Alexis Korner: Blues For Mr Korner
Obituary by Bob Fisher, NME, January 1984
BOB FISHER, who worked with Alexis Komer on a TV history of rock, pays tribute to the man who was the chief architect of British ...
Profile by Bob Fisher, NME, February 1975
"LIFE BEGINS AT forty," they say, so 1975 maybe the year in which Little Milton finally breaks out of the Chitlin circuit – that long ...
Mighty Clouds of Joy, The: Hey You, Get Onto The Mighty Clouds Of Joy…
Comment by Bob Fisher, NME, March 1975
...and discover the undiluted gospel fervour and emotional commitment you thought black music had lost. ...
Martin Mull: Martin Mull (Capricorn)
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, June 1975
SINGER/SONGWRITERS are thirteen to the dozen this year. Of the newcomers of the last eighteen months only a couple have managed completely successful albums, like ...
Ohio Players, The: Ohio Players: Fiery, Freaky and Funky
Profile by Bob Fisher, NME, February 1975
CURRENTLY THE HOTTEST item on Billboard's album chart is The Ohio Players Fire (Mercury). Phonogram must have burnt their fingers in the rush get it ...
The Platters, Johnny Otis, Jackie Wilson: Johnny Otis, Platters, Jackie Wilson Reissue Albums
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, February 1975
Johnny Otis: Pioneers of Rock: Vol. 2The Platters: The Best of the PlattersJackie Wilson: Greatest Hits ...
Smokey Robinson: Smokey's Backatcha
Profile and Interview by Bob Fisher, NME, June 1975
MOTOWN announced the retirement of William "Smokey" Robinson in January 1972. ...
Neil Sedaka: A Night With Neil
Report by Bob Fisher, Let It Rock, September 1973
IS NEIL SEDAKA for real? It really is hard to comprehend how such a nice guy could ever get involved in world of rock 'n' ...
Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker and Otis Spann: Super Black Blues
Review by Bob Fisher, Cream, June 1975
IT'S TAKEN Phillips a long time to get around to issuing this superb album, probably the only genuine spontaneous blues jam ever commited to wax. ...
Profile by Bob Fisher, NME, December 1974
Some things turn me on...like the way you might say a word or the way you wear your hair and have a certain smile on ...
Barry White - Can't Get Enough
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, November 1974
THE TITLE TRACK has just left the British and American top thirty. The album itself is resting at No. 1 on the US album charts ...
Barry White: Villa Park, Birmingham
Live Review by Bob Fisher, NME, May 1975
THERE'S BEEN some controversy about the prices on Barry White's English gigs – £5 was the top price at Birmingham. ...
Bobby Womack: I Can Understand It
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, February 1975
CALLED IN America Greatest Hits, this album simply illustrates the unsatisfactory position that Bobby Womack finds himself in in England. Hitless. ...
List of genre pieces
Review by Bob Fisher, NME, January 1975
Black is busting out all over ...
Disco-Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes, Susan Cadogan: Leicester
Live Review by Bob Fisher, NME, September 1975
APART FROM the flash of inspiration provided by the Birmingham band Muscles, the evening ranked as one of the most musically boring I have ever ...
Soul (Style): Baggy Trousers Will Not Be Admitted
Report by Bob Fisher, NME, January 1975
THE STYLISTIC rivalry between soul fans in the North and South of England has been well publicised. But what magazine odes to regional soul tend ...
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