Pearly Gates....

[lakeside]

Just got this CD/DVD. I was not familiar with Pearly Gates/Viola Billips
from The Flirtations. Bought mine from their website [[England), but you can find it on Amazon. I was more than pleasantly surprised how much I like it. I really like her alto voice. Some of the tracks were done by Ian Levine back in the day, but they were far superior to most of what I've heard. Many of the songs Pearly had a hand in writing. The CD also includes a song by the Flirtations called "Roulette" done in more recent
years which is quite good. A fun CD. I haven't had time to check out the video, yet. Now I'm going back and ordering another CD by Pearly. There's a nice booklet included with her/The Flirtations history and some nice pics in this fold out CD/DVD.
SHOP | THE FLIRTATIONS

[ms_m]

Ian Levine. Haven't heard that name in a minute. Is he still around?

[lakeside]

Ian Levine. Haven't heard that name in a minute. Is he still around?

Levine was born into a Jewish family; his parents owned and ran the "Lemon Tree" complex in Blackpool, including its casino and nightclub.^[4] Levine is openly gay.^[5] He suffered a major stroke in July 2014, leaving him with severely limited movement on the left side of his body.^[6][7]

[ms_m]

Thanks lakeside. I knew he came from money and was gay but didn't know he suffered a stroke. It's also been said he didn't treat many of the artists he dealt with fairly...and that's my nice way of stating it.

[lakeside]

Thanks lakeside. I knew he came from money and was gay but didn't know he suffered a stroke. It's also been said he didn't treat many of the artists he dealt with fairly...and that's my nice way of stating it.

Yes, Ms M, I heard some stories, too.

[luke]

Brenda Holloway speaks highly of him.

[carlo]

Pearly Gates aka Vi, is a very kind and lovely lady. I've had the pleasure of interacting with her a few times via email and Facebook. She's an angel! I remember seeing the cover art for this album when it was released, but I don't recall if I ever heard any of the tracks from it. I will need to check it out...thanks Lakeside! Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Love her and the Flirtations!

However, I do remember she did a fun and campy music video several years ago with adult performer Zeb Atlas, who played the role of her boyfriend in the video. It was fun!

[lakeside]

Pearly Gates aka Vi, is a very kind and lovely lady. I've had the pleasure of interacting with her a few times via email and Facebook. She's an angel! I remember seeing the cover art for this album when it was released, but I don't recall if I ever heard any of the tracks from it. I will need to check it out...thanks Lakeside! Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Love her and the Flirtations!

However, I do remember she did a fun and campy music video several years ago with adult performer Zeb Atlas, who played the role of her boyfriend in the video. It was fun!

Carlo, I believe this video with Zeb is included in the DVD which accompanies the CD. I haven't gotten around to watching the DVD, yet....but I remember reading about it in the booklet that came with it. There was a picture of Pearly with Zeb in the booklet, too.

[lakeside]

Pearly Gates aka Vi, is a very kind and lovely lady. I've had the pleasure of interacting with her a few times via email and Facebook. She's an angel! I remember seeing the cover art for this album when it was released, but I don't recall if I ever heard any of the tracks from it. I will need to check it out...thanks Lakeside! Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Love her and the Flirtations!

However, I do remember she did a fun and campy music video several years ago with adult performer Zeb Atlas, who played the role of her boyfriend in the video. It was fun!

[soren1974]

Just got this CD/DVD. I was not familiar with Pearly Gates/Viola Billips
from The Flirtations. Bought mine from their website [[England), but you can find it on Amazon. I was more than pleasantly surprised how much I like it.

Hi, Lakeside, I am Soren Jensen who wrote and produced half of the stuff on this album. Very pleased to hear that you enjoy it as it was a labour of love for us to put together. There are also four songs from 1977 that Pearly recorded with H.B. Barnum in L.A. which made their debut on this CD. Thank you so much for posting this.

[lakeside]

Hi, Lakeside, I am Soren Jensen who wrote and produced half of the stuff on this album. Very pleased to hear that you enjoy it as it was a labour of love for us to put together. There are also four songs from 1977 that Pearly recorded with H.B. Barnum in L.A. which made their debut on this CD. Thank you so much for posting this.

So nice of you responding, Soren. Wonderful music. Are there any plans for more music from Vi and the Flirtations? It would be most welcome!

[carlo]

Thank you lakeside for sharing this info earlier on...I missed your posts from October! I didn't realize that the physical version of this album comes with a DVD. I will need to get it!

Welcome here, Soren! Yes, more music please

[lakeside]

Thank you lakeside for sharing this info earlier on...I missed your posts from October! I didn't realize that the physical version of this album comes with a DVD. I will need to get it!

Welcome here, Soren! Yes, more music please

Be aware Carlo that the DVD would not play for me. It was made for the UK where I bought the CD/DVD [[from their website). If there's a copy available in the US, maybe the DVD would play here? I was really bummed out. I know it'd be super. If you can find a copy that would play in the US/Canada, let me know. Enjoy. The CD is great!

[carlo]

Ah yes, that makes sense, Lakeside. Thanks for the heads up. The DVD is likely Region 2 and/or PAL encoded, for the UK [versus NTSC for North America]. I'll have to see if I have any luck playing it on my computer's disc drive, as it's usually able to play DVD's from other regions. Some DVD players will play discs from other regions. I'll let you know how I make out...or if I'm able to find any copies for the US/Canada

[soren1974]

So nice of you responding, Soren. Wonderful music. Are there any plans for more music from Vi and the Flirtations? It would be most welcome!

Thank you both, Lakeside and Carlo, for the kind words. I still see Pearly and the two other Flirtations, Earnee & Shirley, a couple of times every year, and I'd love to record them again as they still look and sound good. It's just the money-side of things as it is so hard to make ends meet with nobody [[apart from a few loyal guys like yourselves) buying records these days. I never say never though, but I haven't got the funds I used to have. I don't regret spending the money on it as it was a very special experience to have been able to write my own music, getting it recorded and a dream come true to hold an album in my hands with my name on it.

It is mentioned in the booklet, but I literally met Pearly by complete chance. I was actually staying at Ian Levine's house at the time, but had gone to see a Jocelyn Brown concert in Camden [[London) in 2006 when, after the show, I spotted this beautiful black woman stood in the crowd. I thought: "Oh my god, she looks exactly like Pearly Gates" but dismissed the thought because I only knew her from images from the 1970s and 80s and of course believed she would have aged since then. Also, I thought she lived in America. She then noticed I was eyeing her up, lol, and I became embarrassed and looked away. I then looked back, and she looked again, and I thought: "This is too silly!" and walked up to her and said: "I am so sorry to be staring, but you just look exactly like a singer called Pearly Gates." She then gave me the eye and said: "How the hell do you know who I am?" and gave out a loud laugh. She couldn't believe I had recognised her. She was 60 at the time and looked 20 years younger.

Fast forward six months, and Ian Levine had invited me to attend a recording session of his. And who turned up for it? Pearly did and cried out: "You're the guy from the Jazz Café" when she saw me. I was so excited to attend a recording session [[Ian recorded three artists that one day) that a while after I finally mustered my courage to play Ian my demos and said to him that I wish I could record them properly. I then called Pearly and asked if she'd like to record a few tracks with me, and that got the ball rolling, and they snowballed into recording Roulette with the group and then finishing this album throughout 2009. I'm sorry the DVD doesn't work for you though. We only have that one version.

[lakeside]

Thank you both, Lakeside and Carlo, for the kind words. I still see Pearly and the two other Flirtations, Earnee & Shirley, a couple of times every year, and I'd love to record them again as they still look and sound good. It's just the money-side of things as it is so hard to make ends meet with nobody [[apart from a few loyal guys like yourselves) buying records these days. I never say never though, but I haven't got the funds I used to have. I don't regret spending the money on it as it was a very special experience to have been able to write my own music, getting it recorded and a dream come true to hold an album in my hands with my name on it.

It is mentioned in the booklet, but I literally met Pearly by complete chance. I was actually staying at Ian Levine's house at the time, but had gone to see a Jocelyn Brown concert in Camden [[London) in 2006 when, after the show, I spotted this beautiful black woman stood in the crowd. I thought: "Oh my god, she looks exactly like Pearly Gates" but dismissed the thought because I only knew her from images from the 1970s and 80s and of course believed she would have aged since then. Also, I thought she lived in America. She then noticed I was eyeing her up, lol, and I became embarrassed and looked away. I then looked back, and she looked again, and I thought: "This is too silly!" and walked up to her and said: "I am so sorry to be staring, but you just look exactly like a singer called Pearly Gates." She then gave me the eye and said: "How the hell do you know who I am?" and gave out a loud laugh. She couldn't believe I had recognised her. She was 60 at the time and looked 20 years younger.

Fast forward six months, and Ian Levine had invited me to attend a recording session of his. And who turned up for it? Pearly did and cried out: "You're the guy from the Jazz Café" when she saw me. I was so excited to attend a recording session [[Ian recorded three artists that one day) that a while after I finally mustered my courage to play Ian my demos and said to him that I wish I could record them properly. I then called Pearly and asked if she'd like to record a few tracks with me, and that got the ball rolling, and they snowballed into recording Roulette with the group and then finishing this album throughout 2009. I'm sorry the DVD doesn't work for you though. We only have that one version.

Wow! That was a great story! Thank you so much for sharing. It would be wonderful if you could record Vi and the group again. I understand the reasons and the recording business isn't an easy one. I can still wish and would be 1st in line to buy! Do you ever have any contact with Ian these days? I had read he had a pretty severe stroke a while back and am assuming he's no longer in the business? Thank you again for sharing your great story! Vi sounds like a lot of fun!

[soren1974]

Do you ever have any contact with Ian these days? I had read he had a pretty severe stroke a while back and am assuming he's no longer in the business?

I speak to Ian nearly every week. He did have a very serious stroke in 2014, but he has recovered quite well. Although his one arm is still immobile, it has not affected his speech. In fact he is still an unstoppable force, producing Northern Soul podcasts [[Solid Soul Sensations) every month, and still recording new music. In fact this song by Edwin Starr's brother Angelo was released just a few weeks ago:



This is a recent interview with him:

[soren1974]

I do remember she did a fun and campy music video several years ago with adult performer Zeb Atlas, who played the role of her boyfriend in the video. It was fun!

We first did one video with Zeb Atlas guest-starring in Pearly's track Stop For Love in 2009, where he played her husband who never had time for her.



Because we got a lot of attention with that video, my partner at the time, Darren Harvey, suggested we do a follow-up with Zeb as the lead main artist and Pearly being the featured vocalist. As Zeb was not much of a singer, we had to find a fairly simpel song, and my partner suggested Love Hangover which I thought was a good idea because it is rather easy to sing and it's a well-known track, and how can you go wrong with a bit of Miss Ross? We recorded that one in Soho, London, in the summer of 2010 and were quite pleased with the result. Then we cut a video and sent it to Zeb's manager. Before we knew it, he had sent it to someone who had leaked it, and all of a sudden it was all over the internet, poor Zeb being ridiculed and panned left, right and centre on a number of gay blogs, where it was thought he tried to branch out as a serious singer. We tried to get the video taken down, but it was spreading like wildfire, and in the end we had to publish the video ourselves and rush it out as a download. By then Zeb wanted nothing to do with the whole thing, and sadly it came to nothing, much to everyone's disappointment. We had half a million views on Youtube with it [[if only I had a penny for each of them) and we were mentioned in the booklet of Diana Ross' 1976 album reissue on Hip-O Select which I was very proud of. At least that counted for something.

Our version of Love Hangover was recorded after Pearly's album had been released by the way.

[carlo]

Thank you, Soren, for sharing these stories with us. I've enjoyed reading them. I definitely remember the Love Hangover video. I'm sorry to read that the video had leaked out and that it took away the potential traction with the single release. Pearly sounds great on that track and she looks fantastic in the video. Zeb is workin' it lol. It was a good song choice for him and his limited singing abilities. I may have also seen the Stop For Love video at one point, but I don't entirely remember it [my memory is fuzzy], however it is a good song and cute video!