Raised On Radio #1 : The Fixx

One of my favorite internet-y things is DefFrog's recollection of the songs he grew up with- DeFrog on 45.

I long thought of doing a similar series but always kept it on the backburner.

However, I feel it is time to finally roll it out. My years of experience are slightly after the Def One's, though overlap is certainly possible.

I also am a bit nudged by spending quite a bit of time with Sirius XM. They have channels dedicated strictly to each decade- 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s (and a 2000 and Beyond channel as well). I find that it generally is as repetitive as you would expect- "Whip It", "Hurts so Good" "Walking on Sunshine", "Hungry like the Wolf", "Separate ways".

It certainly feeds the 'one hit wonder' image most bands end up with. For all anyone knows Loverboy only ever had "Working for the Weekend" and Rick Springfield only had "Jessie's girl".

Oh well, I suppose that is how it works, but many of the one-hit bands had a few big hits and several smaller gems.

However, if you listen to XM on the weekends, they re-run through old Casey Kasem Top 40s and you can really hear some songs you haven't heard in years.

So I am going to start with one of my first favorite groups- The Fixx.

The Fixx are now known for "One things lead to Another", although some may still hear "Saved by Zero".

They really impressed my young ears and always seemed to be on the cusp of something big. The combination of pop with "deep"er lyrics always seemed to tease that they might be the next U2 or Police.

Reach the Beach ('83) was their commercial peak, and pretty safe to say, their strongest album, but they remained a name through most of the 80s (I was still listening to Walkabout in 1986, and still seeing press as late as 87 for the half-live React and 88 for Calm Animals.

Their last album was ink in 1991 but apparently came back together and released new albums in 1998 and 1999, and again in 2003 (which Allmusic gives four stars- not bad for a reunion album). I still see the name on festivals, so I know they are still out there, and wikipedia says they are putting together a new album (with the classic lineup) for later this year as well.

They had a handful of hits and one that I particularly liked but has fallen off the radar is "Are We Ourselves?" - a #15 hit in 1984.

The 90s weren't that bad, Part 29

Awhile back I did a list of great lost 90s albums. I haven't visited that for awhile, but it was certain at some point I would add the band Spain.

1995's Blue Moods of Spain has become a bit of a lost classic.

It wasn't quite like anything else (a mix of dramatic brood a la Tindersticks and slowcore). The band didn't appear on the album cover nor in their video for "Untitled #1" giving them an extra enhancement.

They weren't complete unknowns though. Their label -Restless Records- was as ambitious as any indie label in the mid 90s.

The band's leader, Josh Haden was son of Jazz Legend Charlie Haden and brother of indie icon / thatdog.'s singer Petra Haden.

Spain made three records, and for a blip on the indie scene, their songs were covered not only by Soulsavers, but on Unchained, the Man In Black himself, Johnny Cash ("Spiritual").

Blue... has a near-five star score on Amazon, though I tended at the time to gravitate to the 3 star review given by allmusic. Individually, there were some excellent songs. "Untitled #1" was easily one of the best songs of that year.

Still, when taken at once, the album was less impressive- a collection that could not deliver on the promise of the single. Josh lacked the voice to really transcend the soundtrack-style music like a Nick Cave, Stuart Staples or John Cale.

Spain are back with a new album planned for 2012- The Soul of Spain. Once again, they have a lead single that is right up there on the list of best songs you'll hear all year.

Check out first the classic single and then the new single.