The group had started life as a quartet called the Gypsies, consisting of three sisters, Betty, Shirley, & Earnestine Pearce, along with Viola Billups, who worked for three years under that name. They changed their name to the Flirtations
In 1967, by which time the Flirtations were a trio, the group had gone to England, as both a performing & recording act. American soul was going over in a serious way at the time in the U.K., and the group came to the attention of Decca Records. The Flirtations made their British recording debut with "How Can You Tell Me" in 1967 on Parrot. The group was shifted to the Deram Records label the following year & released a classic piece of late-'60s soul in "Nothing But a Heartache." The single proved a success in America as well as England, riding the charts in Cashbox magazine for many weeks in 1969 and getting up to number 31. The group's fortunes remained high for most of the next decade, and they built up an especially fervent following in England