As they did with their ”HR-HM 1,000” series reissuing long time out of print albums from their Hard Rock / Heavy Metal catalog at the price of 1000 Yen = about 8 USD, Universal Music Japan did the same with a few rock&pop albums released between 1976-1985 which have been hard to find on CD for decades.
Titled ”Golden Era Of Rock 1,000“, the Vol.2 / second batch from the series covering 1976-1985 appeared at the end of 2021 includes this Eighties classic; THE FIXX‘s second album 1983’s ”Reach The Beach”, in its remastered version, expanded with bonus tracks.
At the time ”Reach The Beach” appeared I was in full with Journey, Styx, Kansas, and a friend of mine passed me a copy of the album saying ‘give it a try, but it’s bland new wave music’. For sure it was a different stuff, but dude, the songs were energetic, dynamic, and blew me away.
The Fixx’s meteoric breakthrough didn’t arrive courtesy of some sweeping overhaul. They had basically the same lineup, save for a switch at bass. Producer Rupert Hine was back on board for this second MCA studio project too.
Debut album cuts like the No. 72 Billboard hit “Stand or Fall” or the No. 101 finisher “Red Skies” possessed the same New Wave DNA as their new songs. Cy Curnin’s seductive vocal style offset against Jamie West-Oram’s riffy-then-ethereal guitar and Rupert Greenall’s synth washes, with drummer Adam Woods as the engine.
And yet ”Reach The Beach”, The Fixx’s sophomore release, soared to No. 8 on the Billboard chart after its release on May 15, 1983. They got there on the power of three consecutive Top 40 hits, including the smash “One Thing Leads to Another.”
What changed? Only everything, in the form a new network called MTV. All of sudden, The Fixx were must-see television, then out on tour with The Police.
Then, selling platinum records.
The arrival of ”Reach for the Beach”, just before summer got underway, synced up perfectly with its title.
A smart, topical focus also remained, as The Fixx – who’d memorably meditated on the fallout after a nuclear holocaust on “Red Skies” – continued to mix in the personal with the political.
“We were a little bit beyond the ‘party-on’ crowd,” Curnin told. “What was going on in the headlines was interesting to us. The band was formed when Reagan and Thatcher were having their political marriage, the Cold War was coming to a head, deregulation was in, and credit cards were being thrown at people.”
“One Thing Leads to Another,” a biting critique of flip-flopping career politicians, was issued that August. In some ways, it was simple. Great guitar hook. One-chord song. Enigmatic words that ring as true today as they did then: lies and politics don’t mix, but we always have to suffer these fools.
Of course, your average MTV viewer might not have picked up on any of this, between Curnin’s elliptical approach with the lyric and the way it was all tucked into The Fixx’s canny blending of of-the-moment sounds. That’s a credit to the meticulous approach they’ve always taken in the studio.
They came up with a very aggressive bite-y but sort of shiny guitar, which was very different than any other bands of this ilk. And that certainly was a big part of the band’s success. The amount of interest that went into the guitar was huge. Also, the whole production technique used for ”Reach The Beach” was very new at that time – and still, in a way, sounds unique.
By then, “Saved by Zero” – a song built off zen teachings – had already become The Fixx’s first Top 20 hit in the U.S. In times of worry and strife, its calming theme was in many ways just as important.
“The Sign of Fire” later went to No. 32, completing a run of charting songs that will always define ”Reach The Beach”, despite the presence of underrated deep cuts like the spry “Liner” and their darkly ambient closing track “Outside.”
The album ended up selling two million copies in the U.S. alone.
This Japanese reissue uses the remastered version of the album, and the sound quality is excellent, 100% better than the first CD edition of it. There’s good bonus track for collectors, like the cool ”Saved By Zero (Extended Version)” which is much more than a remix because some lyrics are different.
A guilty pleasure? No, ”Reach The Beach” is a great ’80s album, no matter the genres.
01 – One Thing Leads To Another
02 – The Sign Of Fire
03 – Running
04 – Saved By Zero
05 – Opinions
06 – Reach The Beach
07 – Changing
08 – Liner
09 – Priviledge
10 – Outside
BONUS TRACKS:
11 – Saved By Zero (Extended Version)
12 – One Thing Leads To Another (Extended Version)
13 – Deeper And Deeper (Long Version)
14 – Going Overboard (B-side)
Cy Curnin – lead vocals
Rupert Greenall – keyboards, backing vocals
Jamie West-Oram – guitars, backing vocals
Dan K. Brown, Alfie Agius – bass, backing vocals
Adam Woods – drums, percussion
turbo real?
THE FIXX – Reach The Beach [Japan Expanded Edition remastered +4 bonus] (2021)
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