Wonderland Burlesque: Wonderland Burlesque's Down The Rabbit Hole: The Flirtations

Sunday, June 07, 2026

Wonderland Burlesque's Down The Rabbit Hole: The Flirtations

Wonderland Burlesque's

Down The Rabbit Hole:

The Flirtations

Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.

Today, we take a look at the musical legacy of the often overlooked girl group, The Flirtations.

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From Wikipedia:

The Flirtations are an all-female musical group who have recorded since the early 1960s.

In 1962 in New York City, Lestine Johnson and sisters Ernestine Pearce, Shirley Pearce and Betty Pearce from South Carolina formed a group called The Gypsies. By1964, they'd signed to Old Town Records, where they released their debut single Hey There, Hey There. The song achieved airplay on local radio stations, leading to a second single, the J.J. Jackson-written Jerk It, which proved more successful, reaching #111 on the US Pop Chart and #33 on the R&B chart. At that point, Lestine Johnson left the group, replaced by Viola Billups. The Gypsies released two additional singles for the label in 1966, bringing an end to their time at Old Town Records.

The four women landed at Josie Records, renaming themselves The Flirtations. Their first single for the label was the well-regarded northern soul dance song, Change My Darkness Into Light. However, DJs ignored it, sales suffered and they were dropped by the label. The quartet moved to Festival Records, where they released Stronger Than Her Love and Settle Down, but again, there was no interest.

By 1968, Betty Pearce had left the group, reducing the Flirtations to a trio. After winning a small local talent contest to see who could sound the most like the Supremes, they packed their bags and headed for England, where they were signed to the Parrot label. They were immediately enlisted as the opening act for the label's star act, Tom Jones. Oddly, they only recorded on single for Parrot, Someone Out There. Thanks to a number of television appearances, it rose to #2 on the Bubbling Under chart in September of 1968, and charted in the Netherlands, peaking at #25.

Moving to Deram Records in late 1968, the group recorded what would become their signature recording, Nothing But A Heartache. The song rose to #1 on the Bubbling Under chart in December 1968 and gave the Flirtations a second Top 40 hit in the Netherlands, reaching #36. Somebody was listening, and in March of 1969, they embarked on an 18 date tour of the UK with Stevie Wonder and The Foundations.

Nothing But a Heartache was re-issued in the US in early 1969, debuting at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1969. The song spent 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #34. The follow-up, South Carolina, was a ballad and reached only #111 in July 1969. In 1970, two singles were released, with What's Good About Goodbye My Love" snagging the #17 spot on the R&B chart. In July 1970, the trio scored another semi-hit with Can't Stop Loving You, a song former labelmate Tom Jones also recorded. While the ladies' version only got as high as #93, Jones' reached #3 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and #5 on Canada's AC chart.

A sixth, and final, single was released on Deram in 1971, but failed to generate any heat. From that point on, their singles were no longer released for the U.S. market. It was at this juncture that Misty Browning, replaced Viola Billups, embarked on a solo career as Vie and as Pearly Gates. Browning was subsequently replaced by Loretta Noble. Throughout 1972, the group became the resident vocal band on the long running BBC TV series It's Cliff Richard, backing Richard on various numbers, while performing their own songs and singing backup for other guests on the show.

Throughout the 1970s the Flirtations released material on various major labels - Polydor, Mojo, and RCA, with little success. The band was rediscovered in the disco and Northern soul circuits of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the U.S. and their sound evolved with the times. They recorded Hi-NRG tracks in the 1980s, including Back On My Feet Again, which reunited Billups with the Pearce sisters. The track became a major hit in South Africa in 1989, reaching #6.

The group enjoyed a bit of renewed notoriety in the UK, when Nothing But A Heartache was used in an advertising campaign for KFC. In 2007, the ladies were recording for Centre City Records, and in 2009, released their first single in 20 years, Roulette. The track peaked at #10 in Music Week's Commercial Pop Club Chart in December of 2009.

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