The Fixx Artistfacts

The Fixx song list

The Fixx Artistfacts

1979-
Cy CurninVocals
Jamie West-OramGuitar
Rupert GreenallKeyboards
Adam WoodsDrums
Dan BrownBass
About the band name: They were originally known as The Portraits, which they thought was hopelessly old fashioned. In thinking of new names, one idea they threw out was "The Fix," which their producer Rupert Hine liked because he was an amateur pilot, and in the world of aviation, "getting a fix" on something is a good thing. The band liked it too, and added the X-tra letter in an effort to avoid the drug connotations and to make it stand out a bit. They still had to deal with inevitable rumors that the name meant getting a dose of drugs.
They formed in London, but had far more success in America, where they had 6 Top-40 hits, including the #4 "One Thing Leads to Another." They never had a UK Top-40.
Fans of The Fixx are still scratching their heads as to why they weren't more successful once the '80s ended. When we spoke with their producer Rupert Hine, he explained: "They were stuck between pop and rock music, by the time the '80s ended, it became very difficult for that non-genre to exist. There were other bands in the '80s - bands like Simple Minds - that hovered between those same schools as well, and all those bands' days became quickly numbered, partly because the record companies insisted that they became either definitely pop or definitely rock. They were no longer happy to have this sort of no man's land in between. And that, to me, was a problem. That's when they fell from the top end of the charts."
Talking about coming up with a unique sound for the band, Rupert Hine said: "I wanted them to have was for us to find, with the production side of it, a way of keeping the sound itself feeling aggressive. Finding new ways of doing an aggressive guitar sound without the guitar being in any way distorted or classically old school rock. And we came up with this very aggressive bitey but sort of shiny guitar, which was very different than any other bands at that time. And that certainly was a huge part of the band's success."

Comments: 1

Spike R. from ThailandIve always loved the Fixx since I lived in Japan from 1982. As a fan of prog rock (Rush, Yes, King Crimson, and several others) The Fixx always seemed to me to have a prog-pop style, which was really palatable to me.
One of my favorite tracks is Outside, with Jamie’s twist on prog guitar style- really unusual for that time in music when so many other bands were so bland. So thanks for that, and for all the rest!

see more comments

More Songfacts:

It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)R.E.M.

"It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" was inspired by a dream where Michael Stipe conjured up images of people with the initials L.B.: Lester Bangs, Leonid Breshnev, Lenny Bruce and Leonard Bernstein.

Piano ManBilly Joel

Billy Joel is surprised that "Piano Man" is so successful. He called it "an old, long song about a guy at a depressing piano bar."

The Air That I BreatheThe Hollies

The Hollies hit "The Air That I Breathe" was written in part as a reaction to the smog in Los Angeles.

AmenKid Rock

Kid Rock performed his song "Amen" at Barack Obama's inaugural, but claims he didn't vote for him.

Do You Want To DanceBobby Freeman

Bobby Freeman's '50s hit "Do You Want To Dance" was also a Hot 100 hit for Del Shannon, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, Bette Midler and the Ramones.