Fixx Me with Your Secret Reformation

(On the Return of The Fixx)

by aLfie vera mella

The Fixx is a British band that became popular during the peak of New Wave music in the 1980s for the singles "Red Skies," "Secret Separation," and "One Thing Leads to Another."

The band disappeared from the commercial radar as the 1990s loomed, just like many other New Wave bands before and after them; but unbeknownst to many, The Fixx has released albums in the ensuing decades.

Now, The Fixx is back with an album of new materials—with the classic lineup of Cy Curnin (lead vocals), Rupert Greenall (keyboards), Jamie West-Oram (guitar), Adam Woods (drums), and Dan K. Brown (bass). Entitled Beautiful Friction, this 10th album is their first since 2003.

The Fixx has so far released 10 studio albums.

The first single off Beautiful Friction is “Anyone Else,” which sounds unmistakably New Wave—owing to the repetitive staccato guitar melody in the intro, the slow buildup of the rest of the instruments, the synth sound in the background, and the distinct vocals that conjure a nostalgic image of familiar red skies. Other songs from the album that I personally liked are “Just before Dawn,” “What God?”, “Second Time Around,” and “Follow That Cab.” The overall music of The Fixx shares a similar feel with that of fellow New Wave bands like U2, Simple Minds, and Babybird.

"Anyone Else" is the first single off the latest album of The Fixx ( Beautiful Friction, 2012).

The complete studio-album discography of The Fixx is as follows: Shuttered Room (1982), Reach the Beach (1983), Phantoms (1984), Walkabout (1986), Calm Animals (1988), Ink (1991), Elemental (1998), 1011 Woodland (1999), Want That Life (2003), and Beautiful Friction (2012).

The Fixx in 1982, with their music video of the single "Red Skies"

Final Note

The college friends Curnin and Woods formed The Portraits in 1979. After recruiting additional members, they changed their name to The Fix; then became The Fixx through the suggestion of the recording company that signed them—to dissociate the band’s name from the drug innuendo of the word fix.