The Flirtations - Can You Keep A Secret
  • 6 years ago
The Flirtations singing "Can You Keep A Secret". Another song we did with the girls, aimed right at the Duffy and Amy Winehouse crowd, without compromising or losing the authentic Northern Soul flavour. 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 1960's and early 1970's, including "Nothing But A Heartache", and another Northern Soul classic, "Need Your Love", on the Dream label. Pearly Gates had left the group but the others had reformed without her for Proto Records. They 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 1980's. 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". Very few 1960's girl groups are still together, and ever fewer look like these fabulous three. My girls have redone this beautiful and poignant song - a truly beautiful song for a beautiful group. These 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. The track is from my wonderful album "Soul Steppers" which was released in late February 2009.