Earnestine Pearce and Shirley Pearce sisters from Orangeburg South Carolina and Viola Billups AKA Pearly Gates from Tuskegee Alabama are The Flirtations. These Northern Soul darlings worked in the 1960’s at the Apollo and other venues where they had great success as The Gypsys with songs like “Jerk It” “It’s a Woman’s World” and other recordings. Wanting to travel they decided to try another country so the three ladies left New York in early 1967 to visit and perform in London initially because they were in love with The Beatles. Their minds were quickly changed after engaging with the audiences and feeling genuine love from the people, they had no choice but to make London, England their new home. The all girl group moved to England in 1969. 'The group signed with Deram Records in 1968 and recorded the album "Sounds Like The Flirtations" in 1972 (copied by Marginal) they signed with Polydor, where they saw more success with their cover of Marvin Gaye's "Little Darling." The group was still performing during the 1980s and beyond, and saw a new single, "Read About It," issued on the Passion label in 1986. The group has continued to perform intermittently in some form in the years since, and was included on Rhino's Beg Scream & Shout! The Big Ol' Box of '60s Soul. Viola Billups and Earnestine Pearce performed together in public during March of 2001 in England, on the occasion of their former producer Sidney Barnes' first concert tour of the U.K., joining their one-time mentor from the 1960s on-stage. Like Barnes, The Flirtations have been idolized for years by Britain's enthusiasts on the Northern Soul scene'. Their two 'Northern' dance floor hits 'Nothing But A Heartache' (10 million streams on Spotify) and 'Little Darling' are still played at Northern Soul events throughout the country every week but " Stronger Than Her Love" on Festival is still damned hard to locate and the best dancer IMHO. The band have toured with Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones, The Four Tops, The Temptations and many more. Doing Top Of The Pops (former UK Show)on two occasions. Venues played included The Palladium, Hammersmith Odeon, Wembley Stadium, Jazz Cafe and Wigan Casino numerous times with other northern soul clubs and weekenders. Albums include: Sounds Like The Flirtations, The World Of The Flirtations and Love Makes The World Go Round. Great group i,ve seen on a few occasions and so polished live. Bonus Tracks listed under back cover.
AMM
The Tasters!
Bonus Tracks
20 Mr Universe
21 Change My Darkness Into Light
22 Little Darling
23 Settle Down
24 Stronger Than Her Love
25 You Pulled A Fast One
25 comments:
Thanks AMM and bonus tracks too!
Nothing really sounds like the Flirtations ... Thanks for review, P.
This Is A Cool Review
I Have No Albums By These Girls Only A Few Trax
Cheers AMM
Great voices, great songs and great review, thanks AMM!!
I was lucky enough to interview the flirtations for a local radio station a while back , they shared some great stories with me. fantastic memories .
Thank you amm for the upgrade!
Another MARGINAL with bonus tracks! So it`s must-have!
Cheers!
Bill
@Soultime
yea i met them at Kents 25th anniversary do in london years back m8..they are cracking gals!
track 24 is a welcome bonus! Many thanks.
Great Review Thank you AMM
Please and thank you!
Thanks for the bonus tracks MM.
cheers,ELtel
Xmas time is here again! 😁
Thanks, AMM!
cant believe i aint got this AMM..c,mon sling it over m8!...and cheers
thanks much for this another uk northern legend!
Another classy compilation. Thanks AMM, it would be a heartache to miss this one.
Thanks for the review AMM I was aware of the album but not the bonus tracks appreciated
Many thanks AMM for the cd and the bonus tracks
Reb
Many thanks for the info & and the bonus tracks
big tanks to yoou i like!
saw these girls a few times over the years and love all their output
massive thanks AMM!
Really professional group seen a couple of time live great and great review AMM
Cheers Pedro
I have this CD and all the bonus tracks but it sure would be nice to have them all together, thanks for the review AMM
Many thanks for reviewing this one !
Thanks AMM for this cd. Thanks AMM.
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