💿 When Miami Met the Machines: The Story of Company B’s “Fascinated”

The Twelve Inch 185 : Fascinated (Company B)

I don’t know about you, but with some records I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard them. They’re always the ones that made a lasting impression, songs that seemed to “speak” to me from the very first moment. Company B’s “Fascinated” is one of those. I first heard it in 1987 on a Dutch radio dance program, the kind where songs were seamlessly beat-mixed three or four at a time. The second those keyboards hit, I was hooked. I had to own it.

So naturally, “Fascinated” had to be on my shortlist of tracks to cover in the newsletter. No question about it. Going in, I didn’t know much about it beyond the obvious, that it was a big club hit, brushed the pop charts, and came from a three-girl group shaped by the late-’80s trend of producer-led female outfits. I also knew there was a link to Foxy, the disco act behind “Get Off”, which topped charts in the Benelux back in 1978.

But I’d always had a few questions about it. Should we really call it Freestyle?