The Flirts are a project concept group formed by Bobby "O" Orlando to front his performances as an artist, musician and songwriter. The group consisted of Orlando and featured a revolving roster of female session singers and models. Under The Flirts name, Orlando churned out hits "Passion", "Danger", "Helpless" and "Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime)". While many of the girls were just models for the group, Andrea Del Conte, Rebecca Sullivan, Debra Gaynor, Tricia Wygal, and Christina Criscione used their real vocals. Today, the group features a relatively stable trio that performs at 80s music festivals and other venues mainly in the U.S. with some international appearances.
The Flirts | |
|---|---|
| Origin | United States |
| Genres | Hi-NRG, synth-pop |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | "O" Records, Rams Horn Records, Sony Music Entertainment |
Concept and first chart success
editOrlando conceived the idea for the Flirts, wrote the songs, played the instruments, and produced the tracks. He then auditioned girls to be the faces of the group. Orlando often called in the services of professional session singers to sing the female vocals for the tracks because most of the performers were trained as dancers, models or actresses. The Flirts went through numerous lineup changes, and with every album release and tour, some girls left while others stayed. Orlando released six studio albums under The Flirts name from 1982 to 1992 and numerous singles.
"Jukebox" received significant airplay on MTV in 1982. The song rose to number 28 on the Billboard US Dance Chart. The follow-up single "Passion" peaked the same year at number 21 and became a huge success in Europe, reaching number 22 in the Netherlands[1] and number 4 in Germany.[2]
"Helpless (You Took My Love)" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard US Dance Chart, and reached number 13 on the German Top 75. Members of The Flirts performed in the German feature film Feel the Motion.[3]
In 1985, "You and Me", which Orlando co-wrote with influential hip hop producer Clifton "Jiggs" Chase, topped the US dance chart.[4][5]
Discography
editAlbums
editStudio albums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| SWE [6] | ||
| 10¢ a Dance |
|
38 |
| Born to Flirt | — | |
| Made in America |
|
— |
| Blondes Brunettes & Redheads |
|
— |
| Questions of the Heart |
|
— |
| Take a Chance on Me |
|
— |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||
Live albums
edit| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Flirt with the Flirts |
|
| Passion of Disco – The Remix Album |
|
Compilation albums
edit| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Best of the Flirts |
|
| Greatest Hits |
|
| Physical Attraction |
|
Singles
edit| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Dance [7] |
BE (FL) [8] |
DEN [9] |
GER [10] |
NL [11] |
SWI [12] | ||
| "Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime)" | 1982 | 28 | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| "Passion" | 21 | 36 | 14 | 4 | 23 | 4 | |
| "On the Beach" | 1983 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "We Just Want to Dance" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Calling All Boys" | 21 | — | — | 57 | — | — | |
| "Danger" | — | — | — | — | — | 30 | |
| "Helpless (You Took My Love)" | 1984 | 12 | — | — | 13 | — | 15 |
| "Telephone" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Dancin' Madly Backwards" | 1985 | 47 | — | — | 46 | — | — |
| "Voulez Vous" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "You & Me" | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "New Toy" | 1986 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Miss You" | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "All You Ever Think About Is (Sex)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "A Thing Called Love" | 1988 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "After School" (featuring Full Force) | 1989 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||
Featured tracks on compilations
edit- "Danger" - Disco Discharge: Pink Pounders (2010)
- "Passion" - Disco Discharge: Gay Disco & Hi-NRG (2009)
- "Passion" - Grand 12 Inches 4 (2007, Sony)
- "Helpless (You Took My Love)" - I Love Bobby O (2006)
- "Passion" - Back to Mine: Pet Shop Boys (2005)
- "Passion" - I Love Disco Energy (2003)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Dutch Top 40
- ^ German charts
- ^ 'Feel the Motion' on IMDb
- ^ US Chart Singles Discography
- ^ "The rush to ride the rap tide". The Washington Post. 1987-01-29. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "The Flirts". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "Danish Chart Archive - Singles 1979 - ____ (B.T./IFPI DK)". UKMIX Forums. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade - hitparade.ch". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2022-03-25.