Pearly Gates - Fading into the Night (1979)




Here is the wonderful Viola Billups, under her stage name,"Pearly Gates", singing "Fading Into The Night.




 Pearly Gates was one of the three original members of The Flirtations. They started out as The Gypsies, a group from New York, with the early sixties classics, "Jerk It", and the Northern Soul legendary classic "It's A Woman's World", before becoming The Flirtations, and emigrating to England. They had many hits in the 1970's, including "Nothing But A Heartache", and another Northern Soul classic, "Need Your Love". In the late seventies they disbanded, and I got to produce a whole album with Pearly, called "No Two Ways About It". In the meantime, the Flirtations, without Pearly, had reformed for Proto Records, for Barry Evangeli, with the high energy anthem, "Earthquake", which Ian Anthony Stephens produced. This line up of The Flirtations then went to Passion Records, under Anne Plaxton, and I got to produce them on "Read All About It". And at the same time, Pearly herself did this solo track on the Funkin Marvellous label, which George Hargreaves produced. I produced her next single for that label, called "Third Time Lucky". Then Pearly rejoined the Flirtations, and all three original girls, Earnestine, Shirley, and Pearly. They were back together once again. We then did a Flirtations single for Nightmare Records, called "Back On My Feet Again", and also a solo track with Pearly called "One Less Bell To Answer". We had so many tracks with Pearly that we completed the "Best Of Pearly Gates" album for Hot Productions. I have now known Pearly for thirty years, and yet she still looks thirty years old.

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