Bobby Orlando is often credited as one of the founding fathers of Hi-NRG music. As a multi-instrumentalist, he's single handedly crafted the music for entire albums, playing electronic keyboards, guitars, bass, synthesizers, drums, piano, assorted percussion, trumpet and saxophone.
As a solo artist, he composed the hits, She Has a Way, How to Pick Up Girls, Suspicious Minds, and I'm So Hot for You. However, by 1982, he was on to his next project, the formation and delivery of The Flirts. While he himself would provide all instrumentation and occasional backing vocals for their albums, for the lead singing, he brought in a rotating lineup of all female session musicians. For the face, AKA the on-stage performers, he hired models.
The Flirts released five albums throughout the 80's, and today, I'm at the halfway point with 1984's Made In America. The album itself is most notable for being the second to produce Billboard Dance Charts hits, this time being Helpless (You Took My Love) (peaking at number twelve), and Dancing Madly Backwards (peaking at forty-seven). However, much like previous hits, this didn't necessarily make the group a household name, and they continued to be more popular in European countries.
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Helpless (You Took My Love) kicks things off for the record and quickly sets that 80's new wave tone. While I don't necessarily think it needs to be an eight-minute song, it's the track which actually first intrigued me about the group. Despite its length, it's definitely the standout track among the bunch.
As track three, Temptation, starts up, it sounds incredibly familiar. This is because it has the exact same beat and riff as that of Helpless. It's not until the lyrics kick in that it starts to show any differences, but still, it's kind of lazy song writing. The same thing happened with Physical Attraction, which too sounds familiar of the hit.
Despite that, The Flirts deliver an overall satisfying 80's album. Is it wearing a bit thin at this point? Yeah, maybe. I think the novelty of something "new" has worn off, and while the tracks aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, their consistent genericness is starting to take its toll. I say this knowing I still have two albums to make my way through, and candidly, I'm not as excited for this as I was with previous ones.
The same month Made In America was released, The Flirts would also have their collaborate with Jan and Dean for the Karate Kid soundtrack, (Bop Bop) On The Beach, featured in the film. It's the song which plays during the beach scene, where Daniel first gets the idea to stalk Ali, and become Johnny's bully.
Though I would usually end my posts with some kind of segue into the next, there's honestly not much to say pertaining to the group. Instead, we'll all just have to meet up tomorrow for their 1985 follow-up, Blondes Brunettes & Redheads, the album which would feature their biggest career spanning hit. Is it the end all be all Flirts song? I guess we'll find out.
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