The Fixx - "Saved By Zero"

(Debuted May 28, 1983, Peaked #20, 16 Weeks on the Chart)

The first Top 40 hit for the British group The Fixx featured a memorable (and oft-repeated) guitar and bass riff and echoing reverberated backing lyrics that lent it an ethereal quality. It fit in nicely with much of the moody, dark material coming out in its day by synthesizer-based acts.

Written by the group's members, the title refers to a Buddhist philosophy where "zero" represents a point where all material possessions are gone, as well as the corresponding debt and the bills needed to maintain those things. In effect, having nothing is seen as not only having nothing to lose but also nothing owed to anybody.

The video for the song (shown below) features a frustrated artist who is torn by his childhood rejections and his fear of "selling out" by his fans. As an added bonus, there is imagery galore: a woman falls through a ceiling window, singer Cy Curnin smears paint over his body, wine spills, a pair of hands in shackles rips through a canvas and a blind man shows up at an art show. And a lot of paint gets splashed around.