Happy Birthday to Jamie West-Oram who was born of this date in 1957. “Saved by Zero” by The Fixx off of their “Reach the Beach” album which came out in 1983 and featured Alfie Agius on bass. I’ve never been a “guitar guy”, but I’ve always liked Jamie and thought that his playing style and guitar tone is one of the most recognizable out there. I may even go as far as to say that his sound is the foundation of the band’s sound. And that’s saying a lot, considering Cy Curnin’s vocal presence. When you heard that tight, jangly guitar start playing you immediately knew it a Fixx song, even after “tight, jangly” guitar sounds took over the world. I’m more of a casual Fixx fan, being familiar with most of their hits and a few deep cuts. I never really followed them when they came out, but would not go out of my way to avoid listening to them when they turned up on MTV or the radio. They were progressive enough to keep me interested, but not proggy enough to really draw me in. Lynn and I saw them back in the early 90’s and a couple times over the last few years and they’ve always put on incredible shows. Alfie Agius left the band during the recording of this album and was replaced by, current bassist, Dan K. Brown who recorded one track on “Reach the Beach”, which was “The Sign of Fire”. As I said, I’m not a Fixx aficionado, but I’ve always been surprised at how similar those two bass player’s styles were and have wondered to myself whether it was an intentional selection on the band’s part, or just serendipitous. As I’ve also said in previous Fixx uploads, I think my playing/style has more in common with both of these fellows than with any of the other bassists who I cite as major influences. Those traits being a sense of rigidity in playing and a mathematical/formulaic approach composition. Cy Curnin has recently been putting on one-man, streaming shows on Facebook. Just him, a guitar or piano, and his voice. I’ve seen a bit of them and thought they were great. You should seek them out if you’re interested. He planned to put up a “Pay Per View” Valentine’s Day show last week, but wound up broadcasting it for free and offering refunds to those who had already paid. I left this comment in the announcement thread - “Saw your gracious gesture to offer your Valentine's Day show for free and would like to contribute, but could not easily find a way. If you could point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.” Just the other day I got an email that said - “Hi Troy, Thank you for your offer to contribute. Maybe you've already seen this info posted ,but here it is. My paypal is cycurninmusic@gmail.com and my Venmo is @Cy-Curnin . If you've already contributed, thank you for that. I hope you were able to watch the show. With all the support, I'm already planning my next! Much appreciation, Cy Cy Curnin Music” As soon as I’m done here I’m going to send him off a few bucks to make good on my inferred promise. If you’re still reading this, here are a few words of explanation from Cy Curnin on the meaning of this song: "It was about looking at your own life, not so much about amassing material things but about experiences that lend you to be blissful... The song was written from the point of view of the release you get when you have nothing left to lose. It’s sort of a meditation. It clears your head of all fears and panics and illusions and you get back to the basics, which is a Buddhist mantra, which I practiced back then, and which I still do. The idea of the song is how great it is to get back to zero." I’m playing the Spector Euro Limited Edition 1 of 8 blah, blah, blah… I must have done this video back when I first got the bass as it still has the stock Aguliar p/u’s in it. It may, or may not, have had the pre-amp replaced at this point. It now has EMG p/u’s (reverse “P” soapbar and reverse “J” soapbar) and an SNC HAZ Clone pre-amp. The Fixx - Saved By Zero (Bass Cover by TJH3113) (19 February 2021)