Kix - "Don't Close Your Eyes"

(Debuted September 9, 1989, Peaked #11, 22 Weeks on the Chart)

Stylistically, Kix was in the right place in 1989. However, that ended up being the wrong place a couple of years later. Thus, the story of a band that began a dozen years earlier and paid its dues several times over before finally getting its just reward with an MTV-friendly song ended up becoming a One-Hit Wonder thanks to the fickle finger of changing musical tastes.

The Hagerstown, Maryland-based band formed at the height of the Disco era in 1977. At the time, they were called The Shooze and worked on their heavy rock sound. By 1980, the band had settled on the name Kix and began releasing records the following year. From there, they grew to a Baltimore-area favorite and began playing with nationally-known bands by the mid 1980s. When the band issued their LP Blow My Fuse, they were playing arenas. Even then, it still took a year for"Don't Close Your Eyes" to hit. When it did, it was a monster MTV hit, its anti-suicide message striking a chord with the teenaged audience that watched the video.

And then it was over. As Grunge and Alternative rock displaced the so-called "Hair bands" from the music charts, Kix was caught in the debris and never registered another hit single.