Published on Feb 8, 2000
At first listen, one wonders if there’s even a
reason to put out a greatest hits compilation by The Fixx.
At best a second-echelon ’80s synthesizer pop band, The Fixx’s
chart impact and musical influence is at best negligible; the most
notable thing about the band was the quirky vocal stylings of lead
vocalist Cy Curnin. It hardly seems worth the effort to discuss or
review.
However, dipping into it dispels some of these stereotypes. The
Fixx is candy, but at least it’s
tasty candy, and if one has to listen to a musical footnote,
well, one could do a lot worse. The Fixx had a decent sound,
perhaps derivative but at least solid, and their songs were
punctuated by a healthy dose of percussion and funky bass that was
a breath of fresh air in the decade that turned “Tainted Love”
(*ICK*) into a “classic”.
The CD starts with “One Thing Leads To Another”, and if you’ve
heard a single song by The Fixx, you’ve heard this. Interesting
harmonies make it at least distinctive, and it doesn’t suffer from
the blight of radio overplay that makes me still wince when certain
songs from the Decade O’ Pastel come on. (If I ever hear John
Cougar Mellencamp’s “Authority Song” or Human League’s “Don’t You
Want Me” again, it’ll be too damn soon).
From there, however,
Greatest Hits – One Thing Leads To Another delves into some
even more remote territory. “Red Skies”, originally from 1987’s
React CD, has an almost U2 sound to it, with a call and
response refrain. “Less Cities, More Moving People” from 1984’s
Phantoms has an interesting syncopated percussion line
underlying simple vocals. My personal favorites on the CD are “Are
We Ourselves?”, with its driving bass, and “Sign Of Fire” from
1983’s
Reach The Beach, which is just…weird. But fun. A lot
of fun.
For you Fixx completists out there, and I’m sure there are one
or two, this CD includes two movie soundtrack songs (“Deeper And
Deeper” from 1984’s
Streets Of Fire and “A Letter To Both Sides” from 1985’s
Fletch) and a 12″ remix of “Built For The Future” from
1986’s
Walkabout CD that’s one of the best things on the CD. (It’s
called the “Rock Version,” and it does actually rock. Scary,
that.)
Overall,
Greatest Hits – One Thing Leads To Another is a decent
overview of a band whose sound fully reflects a single decade. For
fans of ’80s music, it’s a good thing to have around, and for The
Fixx fans it’s a well-laid out and well-done greatest hits album.
What more can you ask for, really?