We proudly bring you, here on You-Tube, the premiere of a totally brand new song, from our brand new album, "Soul Steppers" - released in late February 2009. A delectable new album of "Modern-Room" style Northern Soul. Classic retro soul, owing more homage to Gamble and Huff and the sound of Philadelphia and the mid 1970s rhythms, than to the usual Sixties style. Midtempo and Uptempo soulful sizzlers to warm the embers of your heart, and take your feet totally out of control. Just as the legendary Blackpool Mecca building gets pulled down, the "Soul Steppers" album shows that they can pull down the building but they can never take away our music. And in this recession, in times of darkness and uncertainty, as the opening track gloriously proclaims - "I know there's better times ahead for us". Onward to a brighter day. Music can lift us and make us forget what the world has to throw at us, and this album is designed to do just that. The new album has songs by Rosetta Hightower, Noel McKoy, Odette Adams, Tahira Jumah, Jay Harvey, Pearly Gates, The Flirtations, Janine Johnson, Michael Lloyd Pinq, Kitty Corbin, Judy Duff, The Concentrations, Jimmy James, and a few major surprises. Here,The Flirtations sing "Can You Keep A Secret". We're trying to do tracks with them that are aimed right at the Duffy and Amy Winehouse crowd, without compromising or losing the authentic Northern Soul flavour. These are the original Flirtations, Earnestine Pearce, Shirley Pearce, and Pearly Gates, who originally were the Gypsies. They have been together recording for forty four years and look just fabulous still, right up to this day. Pearly Gates, real name Vi Billups, has been a friend of mine for thirty years. The girls started out as the Gypsies on Old Town Records, a classic teenage girl group from New York, with the early sixties classics, "Jerk It", and the Northern Soul legendary classic "It's A Woman's World", before becoming The Flirtations, and emigrating to England. They had many hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including "Nothing But A Heartache", and another Northern Soul classic, "Need Your Love", on the Deram label. In the late seventies they disbanded, and I got to produce a whole album on Pearly, called "No Two Ways About It", during the classic disco era, an album for Music Business legend, Artie Mogul ,once he had left United Artists in 1979. But he reneged on the deal, and I never got paid, and the album never came out, till years later, when I started using the tracks on my Nightmare Gold series in 1986, and then eventually the tracks were all used on Hot Records 1995 CD release, "The Best Of Pearly Gates". In the meantime, the Flirtations, without Pearly, had reformed for Proto Records, for Barry Evangeli, with the high energy anthem, "Earthquake", which Ian Anthony Stephens produced. This lineup of The Flirtations then went to Passion Records, under Anne Plaxton, and I got to produce them on "Read All About It". And at the same time, Pearly herself did a solo track for a label called Funkin Marvellous, called "Action", which George Hargreaves produced, and this was a huge floorfilling classic, and one of the most popular High Energy records of the 1980s. Next, I myself produced her next single for that label, called "Third Time Lucky". Then Pearly rejoined the Flirtations, and all three original girls, Earnestine, Shirley, and Pearly, were back together once again. We then did a Flirtations single for Nightmare Records, called "Back On My Feet Again", and also a solo track with Pearly called "One Less Bell To Answer" . Finally we had so many tracks with Pearly that we completed the "Best Of Pearly Gates" album for Hot Productions. I have now known Pearly for thirty years, and yet she still looks thirty years old. Very few 1960s girl groups are still together, and ever fewer look like these fabulous three. My girls. And now we have cut our fifth consecutive song for Centre City Records - and the three ladies will have you dancing off the ceiling. All three girls and I co-wrote this fabulous uplifting song, along with my long time producing partner Clive Scott. And the new album, for the first time, is being distributed by Wienerworld, who have put out all our Northern Soul DVDs, and this time we look certain to get it sold in all the remaining major record shops around the country. And remember the whole theme of this special album - "I know there's better times ahead for us".
Loading...
8:48
THE FLIRTATIONS - EARTHQUAKEby ricantolar50,582 views
These "Gorgeous" girls show us why they have been "At The Top" of their game for so long!! "No" Competition!!
ianhow2478 2 years ago
I'm a huge fan of Flirtations.
bobrofmad 2 years ago
Ian- FAb U Lous Times Three!!! They Simply Are Soooooo Magical....Love Them!! The Song Is HOT!!!! The Girls Are LOOKIN' GOOOD!!! Take Care-David
BarbraAlejandro 2 years ago