The Flirtations | |
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Origin | United States |
Genres | a cappella |
Years active | 1988–1997 |
Past members | Jon Arterton Michael Callen Aurelio Font TJ Myers Eliot Pilshaw Jimmy Rutland Suede Cliff Townsend [ citation needed ] |
The Flirtations were a pro-LGBT, male a cappella musical group active from 1988 to 1997. The original members were Co-founders Jon Arterton and Elliot Pilshaw, Michael Callen, Aurelio Font and TJ Myers. On the Out On the Road album they were joined by Cliff Townsend and Jimmy Rutland. The group later reconfigured: for the album Three, Jon Arterton and Jimmy Rutland were joined by Suede.
Their music provided an opportunity for both a celebration of gay culture and a call to arms in the battle against AIDS and homophobia. Two of the group's original members passed away from AIDS: TJ Myers in 1989 and gay activist Michael Callen in 1993. The Flirtations performed at a number of prominent national venues including Carnegie Hall, and performed a song in the party scene of the Tom Hank's film Philadelphia . They also performed on a number of television shows including Good Morning America, the Phil Donohue Show, HBO's documentary "Why Am I Gay?", and In the Life. In the course of their ten-year career they performed with fourteen different incarnations. Arterton was the group's main arranger and the only singer to participate in the group's entire career. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Flirtations contributed one cut each to the following collections: