The Fizz’s new single ‘Up For The Fight’ is inspired by the group’s battle to make a comeback and was written by Mike Stock in a day.
The group – made up of three original members of Bucks Fizz; Mike Nolan, Jay Aston and Cheryl Baker, and Bobby McVay – teamed up with legendary pop mastermind Stock for their new album ‘The F-Z of Pop’ and have now unveiled their second single from the LP.
The Fizz’s journey back to the album chart was not easy and involved a lengthy legal battle with fourth original member Bobby G and his wife Heidi Manton over the use of the new name, because Heidi owns the trademark to the band moniker Bucks Fizz and Stock wanted to encapsulate their struggle in a song.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Cheryl said: "Mike said, ‘I want to write a song which is about you getting back together.’ And that song is ‘Up For The Fight’, Mike wrote that specifically because we were struggling to get recognition as The Fizz, because we couldn’t use the name Bucks Fizz, and also because of all the things we’ve been through, like the coach crash when we all almost died, and ‘Up For The Fight’ is about us. Mike wrote the song in a day. It’s brilliant."
Cheryl, 65, admits she and the rest of the group loved every minute of working with Stock – who was one third of songwriting and production team Stock, Aitken and Waterman that ruled the charts in the 80s and early 90s – because he insisted that all the members were in the studio together for the recording sessions, and that approach really improved the band’s harmonies.
The ‘Making Your Mind Up’ hitmaker said: "Everything was so much quicker with Mike this time, we used to work with reel-to-reel tape, but now with modern technology it’s so much quicker. Mike wanted us in the studio together every day, which is great for our harmonies because we are a vocal harmony band. If you listen to the tracks on the new album the boys and the girls are always present, even if it sometimes sounds as though it’s just the boys or just the girls. We were completing a song a day which was unheard of in the 80s!"
The Fizz are touring the UK until mid-November and the album ‘The F-Z of Pop’ is out now.