“One Thing Leads To Another” by The Fixx

"One Thing Leads to Another" came off Reach the Beach, the Fixx's second album, in 1983, and it's the English new wave band at their most wound-up and nervy: a jittery, clipped guitar figure from Jamie West-Oram, Rupert Greenall's cool synth washes and Adam Woods pushing the beat like a man late for a train, with Cy Curnin's clenched vocal riding on top.

Behind the glossy surface is a sharp little barb. Curnin has explained the song as an attack on dishonest politicians, and that suspicion runs through the whole track, all taut paranoia and sideways glances. Rupert Hine produced it with Stephen W. Tayler engineering, giving it the sleek, airless polish that made the Fixx sound so modern, and the whole band shares the writing credit with Alfie Agius.

It was the second of three singles from the album, following "Saved by Zero", and it turned into one of their biggest: it went to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1983, reached number two on Billboard's rock tracks chart, and topped the charts in Canada.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.