O

The F lirtations (L to R); Aurelio Font, Jon Arterton, Jimmy Rutland, Clijff Townsend

(Absent: Michael Callen)

bucket-of-cold-water kind of experience.”
The others agreed with this assessment,
again identifying the anger that appears
when a family member is seriously ill.
“You know”, said Cliff, “It’s kind of like, if
Michael had his shit together, we wouldn’t
have to be doing this.” Aurelio talked about
their‘anger, “Yeah . . . you’re angry at the
person who gets ill, too. ‘Snap out of it!”’
“How dare you be ill!” added Cliff. Jon
quietly added, “We don’t mind if you die,
as long as it doesn’t inconvenience us.”

All of the Flirts agreed that they want to
continue to perform because they consider
their work to be valuable. “This is what we
give to our own lesbian and gay, bisexual
community”, said Aurelio, “and what we
can give out to the straight community is
just too important to let anything stop us.”

The Flirts are unique. Another male acap-
pella group, the Nylons, has been sup-
portive of their efforts. Comparisons? Jim-
my quipped, “The main difference is we’re
openly gay and they’re Canadian.” The
Flirts talk to their audience in a waythat
other groups don’t. They like the house
lights up during a performance so that they
can cruise the audience. “We flirt shame-
lessly,” Jon offered. Amid the laughter Au-
relio added that they talk to the audience,
revealing little parts of their own lives that
flesh out the image of what it’s like to be a
gay male in the 90's. Something else that

distinguishes the Flirts from other en-
tertainers, in Cliff’s view, is that “We ac-
tually stay after the show to meet our audi-
ence, which nobody ever does. You know,
they perform, and then they’re gone, and
you never hear from them again. We come
out and meet people -” “And date them!”
interrupted Jon. Cliff continued, “I think
even if we get big, you know, that’s some-
thing we won’t give up. Ipersonally like
that part!”

It’s obvious that all of the Flirts enjoy
what they do. And what they do is much
more than entertainment, although that
part should not be overlooked. With tight
harmonies and wit they revise lyrics to
such classics as Mr. Sandman. “Mr. Sand-
man, bring me a man. No one psychotic or
Republican. Give him two legs like Greg
Louganis; but make him public about his
gayness!” Cliff tells the audience of his ad-
miration for Johnny Mathis, and then
breaks into a rendition of Johnny Angel.
Aurelio, who has two lesbian sisters, re-
hearses the audience for their part in the
“lesbian Latina participatory song”, Donde
Esta Dolores (Where is Dolores?) The an-
swer is that she has run off with her lover,
Magdalena (much to the delight of the au-
dience!) Lyrics to some songs remain un-
changed, such as Cris Wi1liarnson’s Shoot-
ing Star and James Taylor's Secret o'Life.
The transformation occurs in the Flirts vo-
caltreatments.

February 1993

The Burlington performance included a
segment in which Jon invited the audience
to ask their scandalous questions. They did.
“Have any of you been lovers?” After a dis-
cussion of the semantics of the word ‘lov-
ers’, they told the audience, “Three of us
have been intimate with three of us”, and
agreed that they had answered the question.

Throughout the show the Flirts impressed
us all with their professionalism, their beau-
tiful harmonies, their immediate rapport
with the audience, and their originality. Ad-
ditionally, what they do when they sing to
us is to create a safe space where we can all
relax and be ourselves.

After a P’town performance last summer, I
spoke briefly with Michael Callen, thanking
him for surfacing so many emotions. “You
made me cry,” I told him. He immediately
reached for my hand and said that he hoped
it wasn’t a bad, sad kind of crying. No . . . it
was a good kind. “and the only measure of
your words and your deeds will be the love
you leave behind when you’re gone.”*
Thanks, Flirts!

*Everything Possible (Small; Rounder
Records), sung by the Flirtations on Out On
The Road, Flirt Records, 1992.

NOTE: Many of the songs performed in
Burlington are on the 1992 tape/CD, Out
On The Road, available from The Flirts,
P.O.Box 421, Prince Street Station, N Y,NY
10012-0008 V

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