Fantastique (from French: fantasy) was a pop music duo from the Netherlands in 1981-1983, consisting of Dick van Dam and Astrid Leuwener.
All of their songs were produced and written by Catapult musicians Aart Mol, Cees Bergman, Elmer Veerhoff, Erwin van Prehn and Geertjan Hessing, and recorded at Cat Music.
[2][3][1][4][5][6] In the 1980s, the members wrote songs for Leidsche rock band Tower and André Hazes (three of which were recorded for his album Gewoon André, including his number 1 hit "Een Beetje Verliefd"), and specialised in writing and producing breakdance, hip hop and Italo disco music, with 1983 and 1984 becoming their most productive years.
[2][7][3][1][4][5] In August 1981, Cat Music wrote and produced "Mama Told Me", a 4-minute electronic dance song for their studio project inspired by Ottawan, Fantastique.
[1][9][10][11] After the song was produced, Cat Music hired Dick Van Dam and Astrid Leuwener to be the faces of the project.
They were deliberately chosen to fit the stereotype of the Dutch everyman, Van Dam with the mane of fair hair and Noel Edmonds beard, Lewener statuesque and permed.
With its brassy-laden march rhythm, vocodered vocals by Van der Hoogt, keyboard riff, and singalong chants, it topped the charts in many countries in the early 1980s.
In 1985, Cat Music produced a house remix of "Mama Told Me" under their "Adams & Fleisner" pseudonym, which was released by ARS Records.
[24] In 2004, Cat Music licensed the "Adams & Fleisner" remix of "Mama Told Me" to Weton-Wesgram for inclusion in their compilation album Club Hits of the 80's.
The reissued album was produced by Daniel Maslovsky, Max Kondrashow and Kirill Taltaev, and included artwork recreated from the original art and restored by them.
"Maria No Mas" and "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" were covered by other artists throughout history, including Meiju Suvas and Merja Ranta as "Tää Onnea On" in 1982,[36][37] Kolor as "Złota plaża" in 1997,[38] and Queens in their album Made for Dancing in 2006.