Songfacts®:

• Spotted singing with a live band in her cousin's recording studio, college student Brenda Shannon Greene was invited to audition for the production team of Mark Liggett and Chris Barbosa. They introduced her to the track "Fire and Ice," which would later evolve into this song and was issued on the New York-based dance label Emergency Records as a 12" single. The record became a massive club hit then broke out into the singles charts internationally. The accompanying album, which was titled after this song, went on to sell over eight million copies worldwide. After recording several more dance hits, Shannon asked to be released from her recording contract in 1987. In the late 1990s interest in Shannon was rekindled and she was the featured artist on two UK Top 20 hits, "It's Over" by Todd Terry and "Move Mania" by Sash.
• This song is an important record in dance music history. Its combination of Latin American rhythm and melody with electro beats and a heavy syncopated drum-machine pattern produced an original sound, which became known as Freestyle. During a period when there was a backlash against disco tunes, this song brought dance music back onto the radio and into the charts. Other popular Freestyle artists include Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and Expose.
• In 1996, former Time Frequency singer Mary Kiani had a #19 hit on the UK singles chart with her cover of this song.
• Sixth Season American Idol winner Jordin Sparks sampled this song for her 2009 single "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)."