Fantasy (Earth, Wind & Fire song)

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"Fantasy"
Single by Earth, Wind & Fire
from the album All 'N All
B-side "Be Ever Wonderful"
Released January 13, 1978
Format 7", 12"
Recorded 1977
Genre R&B, Disco
Length 3:46
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Maurice White, Verdine White, Eddie del Barrio
Producer(s) Maurice White
Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology
"Serpentine Fire"
(1977)		 "Fantasy"
(1978)		 "Jupiter"
(1977)

"Fantasy" is a song written and composed by Maurice White, Verdine White, and Eddie del Barrio. It first became an international hit in 1977 by the American group Earth, Wind & Fire. A cover version in 1990 by the Eurodance band Black Box was also a successful international hit. "Fantasy" has been covered or sampled by many artists over the years.

Earth, Wind & Fire version

Background

"Fantasy" was first recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire for their studio album All 'N All, and was released as a single in 1978. The song took a period of three months to be written and composed, and it was only finally finished after Maurice White saw the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind and gained inspiration from the film.[1] "Fantasy" reached number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 12 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in the United States, and number 14 on the UK singles chart. "Fantasy" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Song.[2] After its release in Japan as a digital single to cellphones in 2009, it was certified gold for 100,000 downloads in May 2011.[3]

Track listings

7" single
  1. "Fantasy" — 3:54
  2. "Be Ever Wonderful" — 5:08

Chart performance

Chart (1978) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 25
Swedish Singles Chart[5] 8
UK Singles Chart[6] 14
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 32
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 12
Netherlands Top 40 6

Appearances in other media

"Fantasy" is featured in the film Be Cool, starring John Travolta, in the film Private Lessons, whose producers included Jack Barry and Dan Enright, and on the Everybody Hates Chris episode "Everybody Hates Keisha".[8][9] The song was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. It is also on the popular ABC sitcom The Middle in Season 5,Episode 13 "The Hungry Games", when Reverend Deveraux,(played by Keegan-Michael Key, sings it during a sermon.

It was also the main theme song for the Japanese television drama Love Shuffle,[10] and it likewise appears in another J-drama, Densha Otoko. The song was featured in an episode of The Bernie Mac Show when Bernie crashed his motorcycle.[citation needed] Dancing with the Stars Season 12 eventual winner Hines Ward and his partner Kym Johnson danced their samba in week 3 of the competition to this song. They reprised their performance on the final show of the season earning perfect scores.

The song was featured in Brazilian Movie's Bruno Barreto Amor Bandido (1979). The song appears in "Bob's Burgers" episode "Bad Tina" underscoring the friend fiction read out loud.

Black Box version

"Fantasy"
Single by Black Box
from the album Dreamland
Released 1990
Format CD maxi
7" single
12" maxi
Recorded 1989
Genre House
Length 3:44
Label Polydor. Arista
Producer(s) Groove Groove Melody
Black Box singles chronology
"Everybody Everybody"
(1990)		 "Fantasy"
(1990)		 "The Total Mix"
(1990)

Background

Black Box recorded a cover of "Fantasy" for the group's debut studio album Dreamland in 1990. Their version featured Martha Wash on lead vocals, but their music producers initially failed to credit her. The song contains samples of Grace Jones' version of "La Vie En Rose". Black Box's version of the song charted at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart,[11] number 16 in Germany, and number 3 in Australia.[12]

Track listings

CD maxi
  1. "Fantasy" (club mix) — 7:20
  2. "Get Down" (rap mix) — 6:43
  3. "Get Down" Black Box featuring "Stepz" (rappapella) — 3:00
7" single
  1. "Fantasy" — 3:44
  2. "Get Down" Black Box featuring "Stepz" (rappapella) — 3:00
12" maxi
  1. "Fantasy" (big band remix) — 5:48
  2. "Get Down" (party remix) — 3:55
  3. "Get Down" (afro mix) — 4:15

Official versions

  • "Fantasy" — 3:44
  • "Fantasy" (Original Version) - 5:12
  • "Fantasy" (Big Band Remix) — 5:48
  • "Fantasy" (Club Mix) — 7:20

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[13] Gold 35,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Silver 200,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Chart performance

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA Singles Chart)[12] 3
Austrian Singles Chart[15] 4
French SNEP Singles Chart[15] 21
German Singles Chart[15] 16
Irish IRMA Singles Chart[16] 3
Swiss Singles Chart[15] 26
UK Singles Chart[17] 5
End of year chart (1991) Position
Australia (ARIA Singles Chart)[18] 17
Austrian Singles Chart[19] 21

Other versions

  • "Fantasy" was covered by Maynard Ferguson on his 1978 album Carnival.
  • Pedro "Pete" Escovedo covered "Fantasy" on his 1997 album E-Street.[20]
  • "Fantasy" has also been recorded by The 5th Dimension.
  • It appears as the fifth track on the album "Fantasy" by the Harold Mabern Trio.
  • A Malay version of this song (titled Khayalan) has been performed by Singaporean act Black Dog Bone in the 1970s. This rendition has since been covered by Malaysian hip-hop group Ruffedge in collaboration with V.E in 2003 under the former group's album Extreme Pleasure Extra - a re-release of their début 2000 album Extreme Pleasure with a few songs added into it, including this song.

Samples

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind & Fire, Swedish Singles Chart Swedishcharts.com (Retrieved August 3, 2008)
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind & Fire, U.S. Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart allmusic.com (Retrieved March 19, 2009)
  8. ↑ Earth, Wind & Fire on imdb.com
  9. ↑ Everybody Hates Chris - episode Everybody Hates Kiesha on episode world.com
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Fantasy in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Fantasy", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved February 14, 2008)
  16. ↑ Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved February 14, 2008)
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 1991 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved August 3, 2008)
  19. ↑ 1991 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved August 3, 2008)
  20. ↑ E Street.
  21. ↑ Samples of Fantasy - samplespot.com
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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