DISQUS

tvh · 1 year ago

I didn't like the Fixx (or A Flock of Seagulls w/ whom I lump them for better or worse) for the longest time either. I think with me it was because I was way more interested in hearing things like Iron Maiden at the time. But I got over it. Turns out there was a lot of WAY worse music around as illustrated here weekly.

WHarrisBullzEye · 1 year ago

Oh, man, The Fixx are SO much better than A Flock of Seagulls...if only because the Fixx still sound almost exactly the same in 2008 as they did in 1982. (If you've seen The Mike Score Seagulls Experience at any point in the last decade or so, you know what I'm talking about.)

sfenn · 1 year ago

Agreed. I saw the Fixx with the Furs and the Alarm a couple years ago and was amazed at how good the Fixx were. (No surprise for the Furs.) They sounded the same yet completely modern at the same time. I walked away from A Flock of Seagulls when they were playing Inland Invasion a few years ago.

bama · 1 year ago

Wow, is it just me, or is this a particularly bland list this time? The curse of the "F-rating," I suppose.
Thanks for your hard work on these posts, I enjoy them every time.

steed · 1 year ago

yeah, I mean - I didn't really notice that until you said it - but there really isn't that one song that stands out from the rest here.

DavidMedsker · 1 year ago

Had to listen to that Firefall song, just to know how truly bad it was...WOW, that is bad. And, per '80s law, they traded the flute for a sax solo.

Does this mean that "Red Skies" did not crack the hot 100? That's amazing to me. Oh, and welcome to fatherhood. You'll be amazed how much more succinct your writing becomes when there's a baby in the house. :)

steed · 1 year ago

Thank you. Yep, I'm finding out that when I do sit down to write a post - that I no longer listen to each song three times first - I write it and move on. No more time to do that! :)

E is correct below - "Red Skies" just missed.

E · 1 year ago

Strange, I liked the Fixx just fine - even if you could always immediately tell them by their sound, they still didn't sound quite like anything else.

I would have thought there'd have been more than three selections--there was a LOT of Fixx in the 80's IIRC--but no, there's Red Skies at #101, all three Reach the Beach singles in the Top 40, Are We Ourselves and Secret Separation in the top 20, and Less Cities, More Moving People not even charting..

Which is a shame, but I would have liked to see Red Skies even more, if only to get a copy of the original version and not the crappy re-recorded version that seems to turn up everywhere (unless Amazon's come out with an mp3 version of Shuttered Room; which I wouldn't put past 'em).

Spence · 1 year ago

Ah, Five Star. Mostly remembered in the UK for this classic bit of Saturday morning kids' tv:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UgH048XJRUM

JonCummings · 1 year ago

For me, the difficulty in developing any attachment to the Fixx was that "One Thing Leads to Another" is one of the most obnoxious songs in rock history. (Its video was supremely annoying as well.) I liked "Stand or Fall" a lot, was a big fan of "Saved by Zero," but "One Thing" was so ubiquitous in '83-'84 that it poisoned me on the band almost completely.

Elaine · 1 year ago

I always liked the Fixx. I think I was the only kid in my neighborhood that owned "Reach the Beach" when the rest of my burnout friends were listening to 2112 and this hot new band called Def Leppard.

You know, it's funny this comes up today because we (my better half and I) were just discussing that Toyota commercial last night. "Saved By Zero" has been altered and tweaked so it's recognizable but not the same song. The bass line is gone and the harmonizing chords are different. Why did they do that?

Mary in Dallas · 1 year ago

I know, that Toyota commercial is just sad...the first time I saw it, I yelled to my hubby, "Why do they keep ruining good songs in commercials?!"

I've always liked the Fixx too. About four years ago, I went to a "Totally '80s" concert that featured four or five '80s groups including Berlin, Blue Oyster Cult and the FIxx. The Fixx was the best of the bunch; they sounded great and did a very catchy set. They definitely stood the test of time.

DwDunphy · 1 year ago

I liked The Fixx because they sounded like a typical synth-pop group of the time yet had an underlying weirdness about them. Cy Curnin has a decent voice and, at the same time, it has this strange, strangulated, slightly sinusoidal quality about it. The lyrics also tended to be a lot more cerebral than the standard "boy/girl" grist of the time.

Malchus · 1 year ago

Several years ago, I bought Hipp-o's "Ultimate Fixx"" collection, mainly because it contains all of their hit songs, including "Driven Out" and a couple from the early 90's. I was amazed at how much of their music stood up against a lot of what was on the radio in early 2000. What's more, their lyrics were very topical and thoughtful. I would place them in the category of one of those rock bands that wasn't afraid to embrace dance rhythms and make their melodies fun. I still listen to that collection regularly, although I'm with Jon, I've heard "One Thing..." so many damn times I don't ever need to hear it again. It does contain the original recording of "Red Skies", too.

I loved The Firm when they came out, even though their music was vastly uneven. Still, at that time in the *0's, going to see The Firm in concert was the only way to see a couple of rock legends perform live (including a bow solo on the guitar).

breadalbane · 1 year ago

Aside from The Fixx, I'd say it's pretty slim pickin's this week. Not your fault, Steed -- just the luck of the draw.

The Fire Inc track (at least to my ears) sounds a little like Abba! Except the "no matter what it seems" bit, which sounds identical to the line "Nothin' I can do" from "Total Eclipse of The Heart".

Mary in Dallas · 1 year ago

Oh, cool, Five Star!! I lived in the UK in the late '80s and loved Five Star! I even have one of their CDs, which I found in the dollar bin at a record store in California in 1993.

Elisa Fiorillo -- what a blast from the past. I had the 12-inch single of "Who Found Who," but haven't heard the tracks you posted; I will enjoy those.

Thanks for your entries, Dave; I'm sure it's tough with a new baby. I look forward to reading your posts every Wednesday.

wags · 1 year ago

Have to agree with you Dave and a few of the comments below as well that it's a weak week. But I do want to take issue with you regarding the Firm. Ultimately I agree that they were a big disappointment considering their pedigree but I do have a soft spot for "Satisfaction Guaranteed" as I remember that one getting much airplay in my area in high school. Perhaps those stations are the very reason they even made your list here!

Steve · 1 year ago

Hearing "You are My Heaven" reminds me of listening to albums on my parents' old stereo console. Damn, Donny Hathaway could sing.

Eric S. · 1 year ago

I would've guessed "Stand or Fall" had charted higher than #76. It was all over MTV at the time. I place The Fixx much higher than Flock of Seagulls, since Flock was essentially a one-hit wonder. As for "Driven Out", I like it, but it still sounds like R.E.M. to me.

They may have had four songs chart in the 80's, but I've never heard of Five Star

:::theroux · 1 year ago

I cant recall ever hearing 5 Star on the radio, not once. MTV gave "All Fall Down" some medium rotation play. The band got much more exposure on all those MTV-knockoff shows that cluttered cable. Stuff like "Nick Rocks" and that BET video-a-thon that was on, like, 18 hours a day. Thats where most of us picked up on 5 Star.
"System Addict" has some good hooks, and there's some current Euro-mixes circling the web.

Ray · 1 year ago

I remember Five Star getting some airplay in Chicago for "If I Say Yes" and even more for "Can't Wait Another Minute". Those were pretty decent songs, certainly a huge step up from what The Jets were churning out at that time.

wardo · 1 year ago

I disagree. Even while I admit I'm too much of a champion of the Firm, "Satisfaction Guaranteed" has a hell of a hook.

:::theroux · 1 year ago

Elisa Fiorillo did a decent version of "Jackie" (the one that was improved upon and recorded by Blue Zone.) It was on the mostly-awful Summer School soundtrack, and it was also produced by Jellybean, but really sounds nothing like most of his offerings of the time.

Captainfancypants · 1 year ago

Correct me if I am wrong, but did The Firm do "star Trekkin" a comedy/parody song. Or was that just in OZ?
(Edit - spelling)