heard began producing music in 1984 after purchasing a synthesizer and drum machine; after a few days with the gear, he had recorded three tracks that would later be regarded as landmarks of house music: "can you feel it?", "mystery of love", and "washing machine." despite initially not having a connection to chicago's club scene, he eventually met singer and dj robert owens at a party and the two formed the group fingers inc. along with ron wilson. the group would release the first full-length house lp "another side" in 1988. around this time, heard also began releasing solo singles as mr. fingers on trax records and dj international. at the end of the decade, trax released "amnesia", which compiled heard's early tracks; it was released without heard's permission.