"Saved by Zero" | ||||
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Single by the Fixx | ||||
from the album Reach the Beach | ||||
B-side | "Going Overboard" | |||
Released | April 1983 (UK) 10 May 1983 (US) | |||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:23 (Single Edit); 3:40 (Album Version) | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Rupert Hine | |||
The Fixx singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Saved by Zero" on YouTube |
"Saved by Zero" is a song by English new wave band the Fixx. Released in 1983, it was the lead single off their second studio album, Reach the Beach , and is one of the group's best known hits. Their signature song is the follow-up single "One Thing Leads to Another".
An extended 4:24 version of "Saved by Zero" is included as a bonus track on the 2003 reissue of Reach the Beach. The song was featured in the fourth season of TV series Breaking Bad . [1]
"Saved by Zero" features a repetitive, jittery staccato guitar riff and corresponding bass. It features a soothing yet haunting presentation with its ghostly vocals and dark atmosphere. Lyrically, "Saved by Zero" is a reference to the Buddhist mantra Śūnyatā . Fixx lead vocalist Cy Curnin reflected on its meaning in a 2008 interview:
Brian Grant had been chosen by MCA to direct the music video for "Saved by Zero". While the label had previously been financially apprehensive with the Fixx, upon the rising commercial significance of music videos, a large budget was granted for "Saved by Zero", allegedly providing "lunches, massages, and fourteen stylists". The heavy price tag, however, ultimately persuaded MCA to financially lighten up in future endeavors. [3]
The beginning of the video pays homage to the Orson Welles film classic Citizen Kane (1941). The premise sees Cy Curnin playing a painter who creates the artwork for Reach the Beach. He is stranded at a flat, and he reminisces about his childhood. Another scene features Curnin painting his naked torso with white and red acrylic paint tubes.[ citation needed ]
"Saved by Zero" would become one of the Fixx's most popular songs and a concert staple. It has been described as having "acutely captured the paranoia of the Cold War in fearful lyrics." [4] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine named it an AMG Track Pick and called the song a "cool, robotic slice of synth pop." [5] The song entered the charts on May 28, 1983 at No. 80 and peaked at No. 20 on August 13 of that year. [6]
This song is featured in the seventh episode of the fourth season of TV series Breaking Bad .
The Fixx
Additional musicians
Chart (1983–1984) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada RPM Top Singles | 45 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 20 |
RT Singles Chart (RT Singles Official Charts Company) | 2 |
US Top Rock Tracks | 9 |
Chart (1999) | Peak position |
---|---|
RT Singles Chart (RT Singles Official Charts Company) | 1 |
In 2008, a re-recorded version of the song was used in an American national advertising campaign for Toyota, touting a 0% annual percentage rate promotion. The ad was played at a high rotation during sporting events, and aired 42,000 times by October 26. [7] This resulted in criticism online that the song was being overplayed, prompting the creation of a Facebook group, "Stop Playing Toyota's 'Saved By Zero' Commercial", and "Toyota: Saved by Mitsubishi?" The overwhelming distaste for the campaign was also noted by Time [8] and Esquire . [7] Despite the complaints, Toyota said that the ad was successful and that they would not cut short its scheduled run in November that year. [9]
Cy Curnin noted his amusement at the irony of Toyota's using the song to boast 0% car financing. He enjoyed the royalty checks and renewed attention the song gave the Fixx, both good and bad, but disliked the rerecording, stating, "I would prefer to have been the one singing it...It’s a bit cheesy." [2]
Shuttered Room is the debut studio album by British new wave band the Fixx, released on 14 May 1982.
Reach the Beach is the second studio album by English new wave band the Fixx, released in May 1983 by MCA Records. It was the group's most successful studio album, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard albums chart and eventually selling two million copies in the United States alone. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA. It was certified platinum in Canada in November 1983. The album's cover art was provided by George Underwood, who went on to illustrate future Fixx releases including Phantoms (1984), Calm Animals (1989), and Beautiful Friction (2012).
Phantoms is the third studio album by the English new wave band the Fixx, released in 1984 by MCA Records.
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Calm Animals is the fifth studio album by British new wave band the Fixx, released on February 7, 1989. The single "Driven Out" gave them a #1 song on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in early 1989, and reached #55 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, the single "Precious Stone" reached the top 25 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart later that year. Calm Animals was also the Fixx's only album to be released on RCA Records.
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The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include "One Thing Leads to Another", "Saved by Zero", "Are We Ourselves?", and "Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, as well as mainstream rock chart hits "Red Skies", "Stand or Fall", "Driven Out" and "Deeper and Deeper", which was featured on the soundtrack of the 1984 film Streets of Fire.
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"One Thing Leads to Another" is a song by English new wave band the Fixx, from their album Reach the Beach. It is one of the band's most successful singles, reaching number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November 1983. It also peaked at number two on the Billboard Rock Top Tracks chart and became a number-one hit in Canada. Vocalist Cy Curnin has described the song as an indictment of dishonest politicians.
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This is the discography of the English new wave band The Fixx.