Ask your average person to briefly sum up the popular music of the 1980's, and you're bound to hear a cartoony sketch about skinny ties, synthesizers and slickly overproduced music videos. While there is inarguably some truth to that, there was obviously so much more to the music of the decade in question that simply prefabricated synth-pop. From the roiling vitriol of American hardcore punk to the burgeoning cultural force of hip-hop and all points in between, the `80s had just as much to offer -- if not more -- in the name of envelope-pushing as the oft-rhapsodized `60s and `70's before them. Don’t believe me? Go fetch yourself a copy of Michael Azerrad’s “Our Band Could Be Your Life” or Simon Reynolds’ “Rip it Up and Start Again” and find out for yourself.
While I was indeed immersed in fandom for the less celebrated (at the time) aspects of `80s rock (specifically hardcore, UK post-punk, thrash metal and proto-indie "college rock"), I cannot lie -- I liked a whole big pile of that gratuitous MTV fodder. Sure, I loved the Circle Jerks and Venom and Bauhaus, but I saw absolutely nothing wrong with Heaven 17, Duran Duran, Talk Talk and countless names on the teeming ant-hill of `80s one-hit-wonders. And why not? Many of them made incredible pop music, full stop.
One of those bands -- to my mind -- was The Fixx. Boasting a signature guitar sound just as distinctive of The Edge in U2, The Fixx's Jamie West-Oram perfected a clean, taut, dry style of playing that was (and remains) instantly recognizable. Vocalist Cy Curnin's delivery and abstract lyrics may have seemed overwrought and high-concept at the time, but certainly no less than those of their fellow culprits in myriad other, less-maligned bands. They may not have been the hippest outfit around, but I thought they were pretty cool. And I wasn't alone. Tina Turner even drafted Curnin and West-Oram into her band's ranks circa her Private Dancer tour (you can see them cavorting with the Acid Queen herself in the video for "You Better Be Good To Me," which overflows with West-Oram's chiming riffs).
In any case, The Fixx's third album, Phantoms, was released sometime in the fall of 1984, and I immediately snapped it up (largely on the strength of the impenetrable existential postulation, "Are We Ourselves?"). When I heard they were coming to town that December, I scrambled for tickets, and then spent the ensuing weeks listening to virtually nothing other than Phantoms and Reach the Beach on my walks to and from school. To this day, whenever I hear any track of either of those records, it reminds of strolling around Yorkville and the Upper East Side that are snowy and customarily bedecked in the visual trappings of pre-Christmas anticipation. The Fixx were to play at what at the time was referred to as the very-un-rock'n'roll Felt Forum (later called the equally un-rock'n'roll Paramount and now titled The Theatre at Madison Square Garden). It was a show sponsored by MTV. The masters of ceremony that evening were none other than Martha Quinn and way-pre-scandal Pee-Wee Herman, and the opening act was General Public. Prior to the concert, I remember them handing out MTV buttons with a Christmas theme. They were green and the "TV" was in a candy-cane motif. I believe I still have mine somewhere.
In any case, this remains my favorite track from the Phantoms album (although “Lose Face” isn’t bad either). What the video’s about, I have no idea, although there is a fleeting homage to “Planet of the Apes” and –suitably enough – a Christmas tree.
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