Concerts

Get your fix of The FIXX in Medford

The 1980s new wave staple comes to Chevalier Theatre Nov. 6.

The FIXX (Jamie West-Oram, Adam Woods, Rupert Greenall, Cy Curnin, Dan K. Brown). Evan McGlinn for The Boston Globe

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The FIXX was a staple of my early-80s, MTV-saturated childhood thanks to their videos for the top 20 hits “Secret Separation,” “Saved by Zero” (which appeared in a 2008 Toyota commercial, an episode of “Breaking Bad” in 2011, and a Fidelity Investments ad in 2019), “Are We Ourselves?”, and “One Thing Leads to Another,” along with the equally memorable “Red Skies,” “Stand or Fall,” and “The Sign of Fire.” (And I vividly recall their return to the US top 40 after a seven-year absence with the superb “How Much Is Enough?” in 1991.)

The London-formed quintet was originally paired with a fellow — but unmistakably distinct — British new wave act, The English Beat, for a tour that included a Nov. 6 visit to Medford. However, English Beat leader Dave Wakeling recently announced via Twitter that the band was postponing its October-November dates due to concerns pertaining to higher-than-expected COVID rates in certain areas.

In The Beat’s stead will be the Austin, Texas trio Fastball, who scored a handful of alternative rock hits in the late ’90s with “Out of My Head,” “Fire Escape,” “You’re An Ocean,” and — most notably — “The Way,” a punchy, powerful, and poignant midtempo pop song whose lyrics are based on a somewhat perplexing actual event.

I am not about to pretend that this coupling is as inspired as the original one. Furthermore, the overlap of FIXX and Fastball fans is surely less significant than that of FIXX and English Beat ones. However, Fastball is sure to be a pleasant surprise to those who aren’t familiar with them and a delight to those who are.