Fun Factory

The German Eurodance act Fun Factory came together in Hamburg in 1992. Foursome Stephan Browarczyk (Steve), Toni Cottura (Smooth T.), Rodney Hardison (Rod D.), and Balca Tözün, specialized in poppy, dance-friendly songs. They issued their debut single, “Fun Factory’s Theme” in 1992, and followed it with “Groove Me” in 1993. Late that year, Marie-Anett Mey replaced Tözün, the group’s most prominent vocalist. With Mey, the group enjoyed their most successful single to that point, “Close to You”, a number 1 dance track in Canada. They issued their first LP, Nonstop! The Album, in 1994, and had a pair of top 30 hits in their home country with “Pain” and “Take Your Chance”. They released a string os hit singles in 1995, including a cover of “Do Wah Diddy” that climbed to number 6. Their sophomore album Fun-Tastic dropped that year, and the group enjoyed one more charting single, “Don’t Go Away”, before Cottura exited the band. The trio recorded a smattering of singles, but disbanded in 1997. The four original members released “Shut Up”, a new song, in 2009. That led to Browarczyk, Cottura, and Tözün to perform together in public playing the group’s hits, with American rapper Ski, in 2013. The group officially began again in 2014, releasing new singles in 2015 and 2016 before the August 2016 release of their third album, Back to the Factory.