The Toy Box: The Flirts

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Retro Spins: The Flirts - Questions Of The Heart

Today's the day. I'm on my final 80's album from The Flirts. It was a journey that initially started out great, but by album three (of five) started to wear a bit thin. The "newness" wore off, and the overall lack of hits was definitely becoming a problem for me. It will be interesting to see if the girls close out the decade with something solid.

It's interesting to note that Miss You would peak in 1986 at number fifteen on the Billboard Dance Charts. However, the song doesn't appear to have been released on any studio album. Instead, it seems it was only released as a single in two different formats. The first is the twelve inch single, which features three different mixes, and the second, a seven-inch single which includes Voulez Vous from 1985's Blondes Brunettes & Redheads as the B-side.

Well, this one took a unique turn. The opening track, All You Ever Think About Is (Sex)! brings with it a very mature theme. Additionally, the once new wave sound is overtaken with a more R&B, somewhat rap style. It's different. I don't know if it's in a good way, but different, nonetheless.

Another thing I noticed was the overall lack of singing. Several tracks were filled with standard line reading. That's a unique style in moderation but doesn't work when it's the whole schtick.

Everything became a giant joke with track three, Boys On The Beach. Here, let me give you a taste:

Save the dolphins
Down with people who wear dead animal furs
Free lunch, free dinner, free rent for everyone
Save the whales
Equal pay for equal (something incoherent)
Feed the starving muskrats of Beverly Hills
People unite against nuclear conflict
Outlaw dogcatchers

It then does a complete 180, with the girls singing about radios blasting, the sun shining, and boys on the beach. Further mind-numbing lyrics include the opening to Special Angel:

Is there really life on other planets?
No!

I'm just going to say what keeps crossing my mind. Questions Of The Heart is a really dumb album, and a real lame way to close out the decade, studio album wise.

While The Flirts wouldn't release another studio album until 1992's Take A Chance On Me, they did produce two additional twelve-inch singles. The first was 1988's A Thing Called Love, and the second, 1989's After School. Both would feature multiple mixes of their respective track, but both would also not find any chart success.

About the only noteworthy aspect I found was for After School, which featured Full Force. Though I've never heard any of their studio albums, I am familiar with them for working with Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam on their 1985 debut album.

As for The Flirts, Questions Of The Heart wraps up my trip through their 80's discography. Like I mentioned many times throughout the multiple albums, while there's nothing Earth shattering to be found here, it was still a fun time listening to all of that new wave goodness. I'd definitely like to find more albums like this. Not necessarily new wave, but 80's oriented, new to me, but also fun at the same time. That's good stuff.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Retro Spins: The Flirts - Blondes Brunettes & Redheads

At this point in time, I'm growing a bit bored with The Flirts. What started out as something "new", and a novelty has kind of run its course. Still, I have two more albums to get through, todays Blondes Brunettes & Redheads, and tomorrow's Questions Of The Heart. So, let's dig in, and get there.

Though there's not much to say about the group itself, the album is noteworthy for the track, You & Me. It went all the way to number one on the Billboard Dance Charts, making it their biggest hit of all time. This was followed by New Toy, which peaked at number five.

Great, so what you're telling me is that this album's going to be the greatest of the bunch, and well worth the journey to get to it!

Yeah, not so much. I don't profess to be a big fan of the Billboard Dance Charts, so I'm not sure what exactly was going on at the time that You & Me went to the number one spot, but I definitely feel like there should have been something better. Hold please...

Okay, I'm back. I checked the Billboard Dance Charts, and I'm admittedly confused. You & Me was up against the likes of Stevie Wonder's Part Time Lover, Diana Ross's Eatin' Alive, Aretha Franklin's Who's Zoomin' Who?, Sheila E's A Love Bizarre, and Scritti Politti's Perfect Way. Mind you, that's just five of the top ten for that week. Well, six if you include You & Me. The point being, no way that The Flirt's track is better than any of those. Sorry, it's just not. It must have been a fluke.

Much like yesterday's play session of Made In America, I'm seeing familiarity between their songs with each other. The chorus to Just Another Heartache could easily be replaced with their debut album's Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime). At this point, it feels like a lot of self-plagiarism is occurring, or Bobby Orlando's signature style is so finely tuned, that everything sounds the same. Either way, it feels lazy, and detracts from the much better songs that are being copied.

Surprisingly, there was a standout track that seemingly came out of know where. As Island Boy came around, I found my head bobbing to the beat, and my ears really digging the rotating vocals of the girls. It was a nice hidden gem, and really unexpected.

The Flirts finished off the 80's with their aforementioned 1986 album, Questions Of The Heart. It would serve to be their final studio release until 1992's Take A Chance On Me. But leave us not get that far ahead. Let's first get through 1986 tomorrow.

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Retro Spins: The Flirts - Made In America

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.

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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Retro Spins: The Flirts - Born To Flirt

Yesterday, I began a journey through the obscure 80's group, The Flirts. Today, though I'm continuing on through the second of their five 80's albums, there's relatively nothing I can say leading into it. Information on the band is pretty limited, and there's nothing noted specifically pertaining to this album. As such, I just have to dive in to 1983's Born To Flirt, and see where things land.

It kicks off with Oriental Boy, a song which seems to want to tape into Aneka's 1981 hit, Japanese Boy, though a bit more upbeat in tempo. It's an okay tune, and kind of fun with all its new wave gooiness of cheese.

That's relatively where the whole album stays rooted. Not in oriental tone, but rather retro new wave guilty pleasures. It's just fun but certainly lacking in hits at the same time. You're definitely not going to turn on the radio today and hear this stuff. Which is a shame when you think about it.

Other standout tracks included Teenage Werewolf (I Was A), Dream Boy, and Danger. Mind you, none of this is earth shattering top forty material. Nor do I see myself going back to them in the future. Rather, they just contributed to an enjoyable thirty-minute listening session of obscure 80's. Sometimes, it's just nice to hear something "new", even if it's not a long lasting impression.

Probably the most noteworthy portion of 1983 for Bobby Orlando, would be the meeting between he and Neil Tennant. Tennant, and fellow Pet Shop Boys album, Chris Lowe, admired the music of Orlando, and specifically noted the previous Flirts album hit, Passion, as the most important song of their lives. They'd work with Orlando, producing twelve tracks, which included the original mixes of West End Girls, One More Chance, It's a Sin, Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money), and I Get Excited.

However, by the following year, Orlando and his gaggle of girls were back to The Flirts, recording and producing 1984's Made In America. With it would come another dance chart hit, but sadly, no further explosion in popularity. That's where I'm headed tomorrow. Hope to see you there.

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Retro Spins: The Flirts - 10¢ a Dance

Hey, who remembers The Flirts? Hello? Anyone? No surprise.

Before he penned West End Girls for Pet Shop Boys, Bobby Orlando was the mastermind behind Hi-NRG, new wave group, The Flirts. Between 1982 and 1992, they released six albums, featuring Orlando himself with a rotating female lineup consisting of Andrea Del Conte, Rebecca Sullivan, Holly Kerr, Linda Jo Rizzo, Pamela Moore, Christy Angelica, Debby Gaynor, Tricia Wygal, Geri, and Jodie Rocco.

Orlando would often call in female session musicians to record the tracks, but then hire others to be the faces performing, often with backgrounds as dancers. Basically, talent in the studio, looks on the stage. You know, Milli Vanilli.

Though they didn't have many, there were some hits which came from the efforts. However, despite being a US group, most of their success would be found overseas in European countries. In fact, their final 1992 album, Take A Chance On Me, would only be released in Switzerland.

Their debut, 10¢ A Dance, was released in 1982, and music videos for Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime), and Passion would become mainstays on the channel's during MTV's infant years. The two songs would also hit the Billboard Dance Charts, peaking at twenty-eight, and twenty-one, respectively. Additionally, the single, Calling All Boys would chart, and also peak at number twenty-one.

The album is fun, in that cheesy 80's new wave type of way. It almost has a B-52's vibe, wherein the music feels like it's intended to be a long party that everyone's invited to. During its thirty-minute runtime, the tempo never slows down.

The Flirts take a stab at the Dusty Springfield hit, I Only Want To Be With You. It's a serviceable cover, maybe not as good as the Samantha Fox rendition, but still okay.

Passion is a pretty decent track, but I find that I have to like Jukebox, (Don't Put Another Dime). It's the first song I ever heard from the group. Mind you, that wasn't until recently when I randomly came across it on Youtube. In fact, I wouldn't even own their entire 80's discography if not for that chance listening session and finding a seller on ebay who just so happened to have them all for around ten dollars each. Everything just clicked into place on this one.

Again, it's a fun album. It's not Michael Jackson's Thriller by any means, and there's probably nothing on here that I'll find myself saying, "let's hear that again." If nothing else, it's just cool to have found something obscure, that at the same time was enjoyable to hear. Will that hold up for four more albums? I don't know, but I'll find out.

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