--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Now how does all that stack up to The Fixx, who I
> know you tout as being underappreciated 80's
> artists?
Oh I see ... first get Rowe going and then see how
tightly you can wind him up! ;-)
Since you ask ... I find Rupert Greenall's keyboard
sensibilities VERY closely aligned to Joni's. the
Fixx managed to avoid a trap a lot of 80s bands fell
into ... namely that they didn't let the keyboards
"eat the sound."
In fact, if we were to start artifically constructing
parallels, I'd have to say "Phantoms" is the Fixx's
"Hejira" ... and "Walkabout" their DJRD respectively.
Unfortunately, I'm trapped in the grey world where the
jmdl might not appreciate the comparisons any more
than the Lighthouse (Fixx mailing list).
In a lot of the same ways that Joni & Larry play off
each other (bass-to-keyboards), Rupert and Jamie
West-Oram set up a guitar-to-keyboard dialog that's at
the heart of the Fixx sound. Songs like "Phantom
Living", "Secret Seapration", "Chasing the Wind" all
have those same DED/CMIARS dynamic echoes ... and
employ a lot of the same 'wrong-note' chord
progressions and melodic counterpoint phrasing.
Lyrically of course, I think the Fixx was following a
somewhat different Canadian piper ... so it should
come as no surprise that the #2 Fave band on the
Lighthouse is ... you guessed it ... RUSH. Although
at their heights of obscurity, the Fixx doesn't even
begin to approach Geddy and Co.'s baroque arrangement.
Interestingly enough, if you appreciate the Fixx, you
should pick up their "unplugged" collection: 1011
Woodlands. It features acoustic arrangements of their
big hits, and released singles from the classic
period. Some are my favorite versions of those songs,
despite the fact that the heavier synth and guitar
processing production's been stripped off. Go figure.
In a way that collection kind of makes me wish Joni
would take a similar approach with some of the cuts
from DED & CMIARS ... like the solo piano treatment of
The Three Great Stimulants. I think that, more than
anything, would go a long way towards helping those
who can't get past the oscillators appreciate the
material. But Lindsey Buckingham will release 7
albums before we ever see THAT happening ... which
should give you an idea how remote I consider the
possibility! ;-)
Don Rowe
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