Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Fixx - Ultimate Collection (1999)


"COLLECTION" WEEK (JUNE 4-10, 2012)

Looking back, I should have liked this band more than I did. I never owned a Fixx album back in the '80s. They were always more of a singles band than album band anyway. They sounded a lot like Duran Duran/Roxy Music/David Bowie except they rocked in a more traditional way which led to chart success (7 US Top 40 singles in the years 1982-1991). The songs here are presented in chronological order, so all the hits are in the first 10 tracks. Good liner notes. To an eighties guy like myself, this is just a fun listen and certainly the only Fixx album I'd ever need. They release a new album next month - I doubt I'll buy it, but I'll at least preview some of the tracks.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:
SongAlbumYearHot 100Rock
Stand Or FallShuttered Room1982767
Red SkiesShuttered Room1982-13
Lost PlanesShuttered Room1982--
Some PeopleShuttered Room1982--
Saved By ZeroReach The Beach1983209
One Thing Leads To AnotherReach The Beach198342
The Sign Of FireReach The Beach19833220
Going Overboardb-side of track 51983--
Deeper And Deeper (Long version)Streets Of Fire ST1984-3
Are We Ourselves?Phantoms1984151
Sunshine In The ShadePhantoms1984697
Less Cities, More Moving PeoplePhantoms1984--
A Letter To Both SidesFletch ST1985--
Secret SeparationWalkabout1986191
Built For The FutureWalkabout1986--
Driven OutCalm Animals1989551
How Much Is EnoughInk19913511
No One Has To CryInk1991--
Two Different ViewsHappy Landings1997--

I like most of the hits: Stand Or Fall, Red Skies, Saved By Zero, One Thing Leads To Another, Deeper And Deeper, and Are We Ourselves?. Of the songs I'd never heard before buying this CD, the better tracks are Sunshine In The Shade and A Letter To Both Sides (from the Fletch movie soundtrack?!?). Not as good: Less Cities More Moving People and Driven Out.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In July of 1984, I won tickets from a Houston radio station to see The Fixx play at Astroworld on their Phantoms tour. I only won one pair, but did some fast talking at the station and scammed my way into another pair. I gave the other pair to my friend Roy so he and a date could join me and my date. My date's name was DeeAnn (a co-worker at Burger King); I have no idea who Roy brought. The concert was good, but not great. I bought a sleeveless concert tee which I wore a lot during my freshman year in college.



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