Fun Factory is a German eurodance group formed in 1992, originally consisting of founding members Balca Tözün, Rodney Hardison, Toni Cottura and Stephan Browarczyk. They have been nicknamed simply Balja, Rod D., Smooth T. and Steve. The group enjoyed success throughout the '90s. Band history 1992–94: Formation, Non Stop-The Album and Balca's departure The group was founded in 1992 with Balca Tözün from Turkey, Rodney Hardison from America, and Toni Cottura and Stephan Browarczyk from Germany. They released their first singles "Fun Factory's Theme" and "Groove Me" in 1992 and 1993. Fun Factory released their debut album Nonstop! The Album in 1994. Before their third single release "Close to You" in late 1993, the group reported that lead singer Balca Tözün had been replaced with Marie-Anett Mey, an entertainer from Paris, France. "Close to You" became their first chart success, peaking at number 1 on the Canadian Dance chart. Follow up singles were "Take Your Chance" and "Pain", which peaked at 18 and 24 respectively on the German Singles Chart. 1995–97: Fun-Tastic and disbandment In 1995, the band released their singles "I Wanna B with U", "Celebration" and the Manfred Mann cover version "Do Wah Diddy". They were all chart hits, peaking at nos. 11, 12 and 6 on the German Singles Charts. The same year, Fun Factory released their second Studio Album Fun-Tastic. By this time they began to become more popular throughout Europe, the United States, and Canada. The follow up single release was "Don't Go Away", becoming their last chart success. Following the release of "Don't Go Away", Cottura left the band. As a trio, the group released two more singles, "I Love You" and "Oh Yeah Yeah (I Like It)". For the single version of "I Love You", the first rap verse by Cottura was re-recorded by Browarczyk. In 1996, Cottura started releasing solo singles and founded the record label Booya Family, where he produced tracks for a variety of artists including NANA, Marky Mark, 'N Sync, and Backstreet Boys. In 1997, a Fun Factory Greatest Hits album was released. Hardison left Fun Factory in 1997; the remaining two members Mey and Browarczyk were joined by the new member Ray Horton and planned to continue with a rebranded band name "Fun Affairs", but saw little success and Fun Factory split up. 1998–08: Solo projects and Fun Factory spin-offs In 1998, a Fun Factory spin-off was introduced