Luther Vandross had written a song entitled "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)" and was serving as a backup singer to Bowie's live tour in 1974.
[6] Bowie biographer Nicholas Pegg describes the music of "Fascination" as "the most unabashed homage to Gamble and Huff's 'Philly' sound to be found on Young Americans.
"[4] Peter Doggett states that Bowie left Vandross' original "Funky Music" arrangement virtually unchanged, "as an utterly contemporary slide of funk.
"[4] Humanities professor Camille Paglia regards the lyrics as describing Bowie's "violent seizure by and enamored fascination with his own aspiring, gender-conflating mind.
"[8] Allmusic critic Ned Raggett describes "Fascination" as "a dramatic and at times seriously groovy song" that "one could imagine Nile Rodgers giving an ear to in the early days of Chic.
[7] Music professor James E. Perone praises Bowie's vocal performance as having a "great deal of emotional display" without resorting to exaggerated vibrato or having "intonation inconsistencies.