(Keep Feeling) Fascination
| "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by The Human League | ||||
| from the album Fascination! | ||||
| B-side | "Total Panic" | |||
| Released | 15 April 1983 | |||
| Format | 7", 12", 3" CD single (re-issue) | |||
| Recorded | Genetic Studios, 1983 | |||
| Genre | Post-disco, synthpop, new wave | |||
| Length | 3:45 | |||
| Label | Virgin, A&M | |||
| Writer(s) | Jo Callis, Philip Oakey | |||
| Producer(s) | Martin Rushent | |||
| The Human League singles chronology | ||||
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"(Keep Feeling) Fascination" is a 1983 song by the British synthpop group The Human League. It was composed by Jo Callis and Philip Oakey, and produced by Martin Rushent (which would be the last song he produced for the band for seven years).
The song features vocals from four of the band members, including lead singer Philip Oakey, female co-vocalists Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, and a rare vocal role from keyboardist Jo Callis.
It was released in the UK on 15 April 1983[1] as a non-album single, and went to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. It was incorporated into the band's EP Fascination!. Released in the US a month after the UK release, the single reached number 1 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart (their first single to do so) and number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 that summer. The EP Fascination! contained two versions of "(Keep Feeling) Fascination"; the extended mix and an improvisation, both different from the single version.
The single was designated 'Red' on the Human League’s short-lived, self-imposed labeling system of 'Blue' for pop songs and 'Red' for dance tracks.[2]
Music video
The music video for "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" was filmed in a semi-derelict area of Newham, London which was due for demolition and redevelopment as part of the widescale redevelopment of Docklands and East London which took place in the early 1980s. The central theme of the video was based on an orange dot on a map, which in turn is a real orange dot on the ground. The orange dot highlights a single house on the apex of a street where the band is playing the song in the front room, which is painted entirely grey. In one memorable scene, a couple of boys are playing outside in the street during the song's break; when one of them kicks the ball towards the orange building, the other runs to get the ball, and both the ball and the retriever's clothes turn orange. After he kicks the ball back, the ball returns to its normal colour.
Filmed before the widespread use of CGI, the house (which was 1 First Avenue, London E13 8AP) and surrounding area (Junction of 1st Avenue and 3rd Avenue) encompassed by the orange dot were completely painted orange, including a nearby car. The opening scenes establish the landscape from a map before zooming through the front window of the "orange" house, as the band starts the song. The video was conceived and directed by Steve Barron, who directed most of the Human League's early 1980s music videos. The band's scenes were all filmed in a studio; Susan Ann Sulley says that the house was still occupied by a family during the painting and filming of the external scenes. The house remained orange for a couple of weeks before finally being demolished in mid-1983.
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[3] | 2 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 1 |
Popular culture
- A cover version of the song recorded by Rob Crow (of Pinback), features in the 2010 commercial for Kingsford Charcoal.[4]
- A cover version of the song recorded by the OV7 group features in the album Siete Latidos (2001). This is NOT a translation, even though OV7 are a Spanish-speaking group from Mexico.[5]
- The song is one of many comic cover versions the accordion-based comedy rock band Those Darn Accordions have performed live.
- The song appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the radio station Wave 103.
References
External links
- http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/keep_feeling_fascination.htm
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
| Preceded by | Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single 9 July 1983 |
Succeeded by "I.O.U." by Freeez |
