When it comes to worker safety, fall prevention remains a high priority. Despite our best efforts, slips, trips, and falls continue to be one of the leading causes of occupational injuries and deaths. The Song of the Week keeps that in mind with a new wave gem from the early ’80s, “Stand or Fall” by the Fixx.
The London-based band had been together for a few years before releasing its debut in 1982, Shuttered Room. Led by singer Cy Curnin, the group’s first hit was “Stand or Fall,” which featured the chiming guitar work of Jamie West-Oram.
The song was written when Cold War tensions were high and nuclear war seemed to be an inevitability.
“Is this the value of our existence/Should we proclaim with such persistence/Our destiny relies on conscience/Red or blue, what’s the difference?/Stand or fall, state your peace tonight/Stand or fall, state your peace tonight/It’s the Euro theatre.”
“Stand or Fall” was the Fixx’s first song to chart in the U.S., hitting #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Top Rock Tracks chart. The band’s follow-up single, “Red Skies,” also had an anti-war theme and also became a hit.
The Fixx broke through in a big way with their next album, 1983’s Reach the Beach, which had two top 40 hits in “Saved by Zero” and “One Thing Leads to Another” (the latter went all the way to #4 on the Hot 100). The band had several more hits throughout the ’80s, but none since 1991’s “How Much is Enough?” Still, the Fixx has released six albums over the last 30 years and tours every so often.