The Fascinations were an American pop vocal group most active in the mid to late 1960s. The group was formed by Shirley Walker and Martha Reeves, who originally planned on calling their group The Sabre-ettes. Sisters Joanne and Bernadine Boswell joined the group through an audition process.[1] Fern Bledsoe joined the group right around the time it made its name change to The Fascinations.[1]
Before the group got its chance at recording, founding member Reeves left over disagreements with the other members. Reeves went on to join another group called The Del-Phis that signed on the Motown Records label, and later became Martha & The Vandellas. The Fascinations were signed on the ABC-Paramount label, where they met Curtis Mayfield (of The Impressions) who produced their first single, a cover version of "Mama Didn't Lie".[1] The song eventually reached #14 in the Billboard Hot 100, but it was Jan Bradley who recorded her own version and made a hit. The group followed up with "Tears In my Eyes", which flopped, and ABC dropped the group. The members took some time off; some went to work as secretaries at Motown Records.
When Mayfield started his Mayfield Records label, he signed The Fascinations.[1] Their first single for that label was "Say It Isn't So"/"I'm So Lucky", taking its style from Motown. While the record did not make the Hot 100 chart, it was a hit on the R&B chart, eventually landing in the Top 50. Mayfield produced their next single, "Girls Are Out to Getcha," which was their most commercially successful song: it reached #92 on the Billboard Hot 100, and on the R&B chart it climbed to #13.[1] In mid 1967 their third single, "I'm In Love," produced in similar fashion to "Girls Are Out to Getcha", was the group's third Top 50 single, but the 1968 release of "Hold On"/"Such A Fool" went unnoticed. The Fascinations' final release on the Mayfield label, "Just Another Reason"/"Okay For You", did similarly poorly and The Fascinations decided to retire the group.
Their 1966 single "Girls Are Out to Getcha" became popular in England as a part of the Northern soul movement.[1] Upon re-issue on the Polydor Records subsidiary Mojo label, it reached #32 in the UK Singles Chart in 1971.[2]
Members
- Martha Reeves (1962)
- Shirley Walker
- Fern Bledsoe
- Bernadine Boswell
- Joanne Boswell
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Biography by Bruce Eder". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=THE. Retrieved on 4 January 2009.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 195. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
External links
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