Pearly Gates (singer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pearly Gates | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Viola Billups |
| Born | July 4, 1946 |
| Origin |  Alabama, United States |
| Genre(s) | Dance-pop, Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1960s - present |
| Label(s) | Polydor Records, RCA Records, Bronze Records, Funkin' Marvellous, Nightmare, Centre City Records |
| Associated acts | The Flirtations |
Pearly Gates is an American soul singer and member of girl group The Flirtations.
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[edit] Biography
Pearly Gates, née Viola Billups, was born in Alabama in 1946. She joined The Flirtations with sisters Earnestine Pearce and Betty Pearce in 1965 and moved with the group to London, England in 1968 where their music was popular. Pearly left the group in 1973 and released her first single "Sad Old Shadow" on Polydor Records under the name Vie. She did not adapt her artist name Pearly Gates before her second single "Johnny and the Jukebox" in 1974. Several more singles followed in the late 70s on RCA Records and Bronze Records and she remained a popular artist on TV. She completed her first album Fading Into the Night late 1979 with producer Ian Levine but the album became a victim of the disco backlash and wasn't released until 16 years later. In 1985, she enjoyed a huge Hi-NRG hit with the song "Action". Two of her unreleased disco tracks were released on 12" singles in Levine's Nightmare Gold series in 1987. In 1995, Levine recorded six new tracks with her (including a remake of "Action" and released them along with her lost 1979 album on the CD The Best of Pearly Gates. Pearly continues to perform regularly with The Flirtations who remain popular on the Northern Soul scene. She's also the manager of boy band Dyyce. In 2007 she recorded four new tracks - two solo and two with The Flirtations - for Ian Levine's Centre City Records releases Northern Soul 2007 and Disco 2008.
[edit] Albums
- "The Best of Pearly Gates" (Hot Productions, 1995)
[edit] Singles
- "Sad Old Shadow" / "Stay" (as Vie - Polydor, 1973)
- "Johnny and the Jukebox" / "They Were Good Times" (Polydor, 1974)
- "Make It My Business to Get You Boy" / You're the One for Me" (RCA, 1975)
- "Burning Love" (Bronze, 1978)
- "Fandango Dancing" / "Dancing on a Dream" (Bronze, 1979)
- "Action" (Funkin' Marvellous, 1985)
- "Sweet (Like Honey To a Bee)" / "Action" (Funkin' Marvellous, 1985)
- "Third Time Lucky" (Funkin' Marvellous, 1986)
- "No Two Ways About It" (Nightmare Gold, 1987)
- "Fading Into the Night" (Nightmare Gold, 1987)
- "One Less Bell to Answer" / "The Race Is On" (Nightmare Records, 1989)
