The Fascinations

The Fascinations was a soul and pop vocal group best known for being co-founded by pre-fame Martha Reeves and for their minor hit single “Girls Are Out to Get You” (1966). Founded in early 1960 by Martha Reeves and Shirley Lawson, the singers recruited sisters Joanne and Bernadine Boswell into the group, then known as The Sabre-ettes. They changed their name to the Fasinations (sic) when Fern Bledsoe joined, but Martha Reeves left soon after and The Fasinations became a quartet. Martha Reeves would eventually sign with Motown and front her own group called Martha Reeves & the Vandellas. Signing to ABC-Paramount Records in 1962, the Fascinations met singer, songwriter, and producer Curtis Mayfield, then a member of the Impressions. Mayfield wrote and produced the group’s first single “Mama Didn’t Lie” (1962) but shortly after it was released, they changed the group’s name from the Fasinations to the more conventional Fascinations. However, another version of the song by Jan Bradley was a Top 20 hit and the Fascinations’ version only made mild strides on the charts. Their next single, “Tears in My Eyes” (1963) was not a hit and they were dropped from their label. The group continued to perform at clubs but spent the next three years in limbo without a record deal although several members did release solo singles with little-to-no success. Curtis Mayfield started his own record label, Mayfield Records, in 1966, and he made sure that the Fascinations was one of his first signings. He wrote and produced their 1966 single “Girls Are Out to Getcha”, which reached Number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. They had better success on the R&B Singles chart, reaching Number 13. Unfortunately, their next two singles for the label failed to chart and by 1968, they decided to bring an end to the group. Surprisingly, the “Girls Are Out to Getcha” single was reissued in 1971 in the UK and became extremely popular with the Northern Soul crowd. The Fascinations briefly reunited to capitalize on the single’s success, but it was short-lived, and they split up again. While they never released an album during their career, their singles were compiled on a 1997 compilation entitled …Out to Getcha, which also featured tracks by the Mayfield Singers and the Mayfield Players.

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