The Fascinations

The Fascinations were an American pop vocal group most active in the mid-1960s. They are best remembered for the Curtis Mayfield-penned hit "Girls Are Out to Get You", a minor pop hit in the US in 1967 that was re-released in the UK in 1971, where it reached the top 40.

The group was formed in 1960 by Shirley Lawson 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. Fern Bledsoe joined the group right around the time they changed their name to The Fasinations (sic).

Before the group got its chance at recording, in late 1960 founding member Reeves left over disagreements with the other members. Reeves went on to re-join her previous group, The Del-Phis. This group signed to the Motown Records label, and later became Martha & The Vandellas. Bernadette Boswell would be the Fas(c)inations' lead singer from this point on.

In late 1962, The Fasinations were signed to the ABC-Paramount label. There they met Curtis Mayfield (of The Impressions) who wrote and produced their first single, "Mama Didn't Lie", a track he had previously cut with Jan Bradley. While the track was initially issued as by The Fasinations, the group quickly changed their name to the more conventionally spelled "The Fascinations", and subsequent pressings of this single (and all future singles) were accordingly credited to The Fascinations.

Bradley's version of "Mama Didn't Lie" had been a regional hit, but had not broken nationally when The Fascinations recorded their version. However, Bradley's recording of "Mama" began to take off nationally just as the Fascinations released their record. As it turned out, Bradley's recording of "Mama Didn't Lie" entered the Billboard charts in the first week of 1963, while The Fascinations version of the same song debuted in the "Bubbling Under" charts one week later. Bradley took "Mama Didn't Lie" all the way to #14; The Fascinations' version stalled at #108.

...
Wikipedia