"Let Me Be Your Fantasy" is a song by the Britishmusical groupBaby D. Originally released by Production House Records in 1992, it became a number-one UK hit in November 1994 when re-released by London Records subsidiary Systematic. On the Eurochart Hot 100, the single peaked at number five. A partially black-and-white music video was made to accompany the song. The track, which originated in 1992 at the height of the rave scene is widely regarded as a classic of its genre. It was written and produced by band member Floyd Dyce and the vocals were sung by Dorothy Fearon. Dyce has said "My idea for Fantasy was to try to develop an original song on top of hard beats: something you could sing along to as you were raving." In 1996, Mixmag ranked the song No. 42 in their ranking of the "100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time".
Critical reception
from Billboard wrote, "Now here is a melting pot of street vibes. Hip-hop-induced break beats percolate beneath aggressive, rave-ish keyboards while Baby D purrs and pouts like a peppy pop ingenue. The end result is a gem of a single with a left-of-center quality that endears after repeated listens. Could become a sleeper smash with the right amount of promotional TLC." Tom Ewing from Freaky Trigger noted the song as "uplifting, always ready to drop in a big hook, keeping the rushy spirit of UK house alive." He added that "its breakbeat undercarriage gives "Let Me Be" a rough, robust chunkiness which plays well off Baby D's powerful vocals." Jake Barnes from Muzik described it as "jungle-lite" in his review of Deliverance.
Impact and legacy
Mixmag ranked the song No. 42 in its "100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time" list in 1996, adding:
"It took almost three years for Let Me Be Your Fantasy to worm its way into the British public's affections, to shift from hardcore anthem to chart topping smash. In retrospect, the only thing that's surprising is that it took so long. Let Me Be Your Fantasy - a sneaky paen to ecstasy's "warm embrace" disguised as a love song - was perhaps the most commercial tune that the hardcore scene ever produced. Massive pianos, crunching breaks and a ravealong chorus meant its appeal spread wider than white gloved Vicks sniffers. Far enough, in fact, to get it voted the Kiss listeners' favourite tune of all time in a recent poll."
MTV Dance placed the song at #13 in their list of "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time" in November 2011. Sam Richards from The Guardian in 2015 wrote that "Let Me Be Your Fantasy was the biggest crossover hit of the rave era." In 2018, Mixmag listed "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" as one of "The 30 best vocal house anthems ever", and The Vinyl Factory included the song in their list of "10 essential piano-driven UK rave records from 1990-1994". In 2020, The Guardian ranked the song at number 76 in their list of "The 100 greatest UK No 1s".
Chart performance
"Let Me Be Your Fantasy" only reached No. 76 when first released in 1992 by Production House Records. It remained popular however, and the single was reissued in the UK on 7 November 1994 by London Records subsidiary Systematic Records. It entered the chart at No. 3 before climbing to No. 1 the following week, where it remained for two weeks. It was the 18th best-selling single of 1994 in the UK. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" peaked at number 5 in December 1994. It was also a top 20 hit in Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. The song was released for a third time in 2000 as a UK garage remix by Trick or Treat. This version, featuring MC Tails, peaked at No. 16.
Music video
The music video for "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" is mostly made in black-and-white, but some scenes are shown in colours. In many scenes, singer Dorothy Fearon is seen in the middle of three lit candles on each side. Other scenes show the two male members of Baby D or several dancers performing. Sometimes these are also seen in the middle of the six lit candles. A woman with a long head scarf and a couple with both bald heads also appear in the video. Some scenes are made to look like billowing water, with Fearon wearing black sunglasses in the background.
