The Detroit “punk/new wave scene” of the late 1970s just did not get the attention or credit that its counterparts in New York, Los Angeles and even Akron, Ohio, received. Though it largely slipped under the radar, the quality of the music coming out of Detroit in those early days of punk was in many ways just as relevant and crucial as anywhere else in the country. Bands like the Mutants, Reruns, Romantics, Denizens, Sillies, Coldcock, Pigs, Flirt, Traitors, Cubes, Ramrods and others brought new life to motor city rock, and places like the Red Carpet, Bookies, Red Grape and Lili’s reverberated with the cutting edge sound.
One of the leading proponents of this scene was a band called Flirt. Fronted by Skid Marx and wife Rockee, Flirt burst on the Detroit scene in the fall of 1977 with a sound that combined Rockee’s haunting vocals backed by a ferocious rock & roll beat, playing the inaugural show at the legendary Red Carpet on the east side of Detroit with the Seatbelts and the Reruns. The original Flirt lineup consisted of Rockee Re Marx on vocals, Skid Marx on bass, Gaetano and Thomas St. Thomas on guitar and Steve Sortor (on loan from the Mutants) on drums. The lineup of Flirt would change over time, but their brand of polished, straight-ahead rock & roll remained constant. In those early days before “alternative music” became a staple on corporate-owned airwaves, the punk scene in Detroit consisted of, at most a couple of hundred people. Besides being musicians, band members needed to be booking agents, promoters, publishers and publicists just so that the bands had a place to play. Flirt was certainly no exception – Skid Marx along with Sure Shot Productions (Steve Sortor & Cameron Wesley) and David Keeps promoted shows at the Red Carpet. Rockee and Skid also booked shows at another East Side Detroit club called the Red Grape. This all happened before Bookie’s Club 870 opened and became the “de facto” center of the Detroit punk scene.
Rockee and Skid were active in music long before any of us had ever heard of “punk” or “new wave”. As was, and still is common in Detroit, Skid played in multiple bands at one time; including the Seatbelts, Ramrods and Nikki Corvette. Playing in five bands during one week was somewhat less common, but Skid managed to pull that off in one memorable week at the Red Grape. A short-lived band from those days known as Rocke Re Marx and the Quotations included Rockee, Wally Palmar of the Romantics and Steve King.
Flirt used several lineups during it’s existence and they are all listed below. In 1978 they released a single containing the songs “Don’t Push Me” and “Degenerator” on Real Records from Detroit. This first recording was made at A2 Studios in Ann Arbor, Michigan during early November of 1977 with Jim Cassily and Nick Canzanno at the controls. This single captures the signature Flirt sound: Rockee’s exquisite voice rising above the wailing guitars of Gaetano and Thomas St. Thomas coupled with the driving beat of drummer Steve Sortor. Through all of this, the visually imposing Skid Marx and his bass puts the “made in Detroit” stamp on this recording. The Flirt set also included other originals such as “DMA,” “You Burn Me Up” and covered such classics as Gene Pitney’s “Heartbreaker,” the Stooges’ “Search and Destroy” and “Tin Soldier” by the Small Faces. Flirt opened for a host of national acts including Patti Smith, Devo, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers and Robin Lane & the Chartbusters. The band toured extensively and played at many of the well-known clubs of the era including Max’s Kansas City, Hurrah and Danceteria in New York City, the Rat and The Space in Boston and the Pirate’s Cave in Cleveland.
In 1980 Flirt released their second and, until now, last recording: a 10 inch EP titled “Faster Than You.” It contained four original songs: “Faster than You”, “DMA”, “I’m Not Forgettin” and “You Burn Me Up”. The last song is dedicated to Francine Hughes, who burned her house down with her wife-beating husband inside of it. This record was produced by Ken Quain, engineered by Edward C. Moon and recorded at Livonia Sound Recording in Livonia, Michigan. Also in 1980 Flirt decided to leave their home base of Detroit and head off to New York City in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, for Flirt and for many of their fans – this never happened. The band broke up a short time later and only remained a pleasant memory for those of us that were lucky enough to see them live.
This CD brings the long-neglected sounds of Flirt back to the forefront and shows how important that band was at that time for the Detroit music scene. One listen will make you forget that, at the time corporate bands like Foreigner and Boston ruled the airwaves and you could only hear those new sounds in places like Bookies and the Red Carpet. It was a chosen few who got to witness the innovative sounds of Flirt and all their brethren in those tiny Detroit clubs. But for those of us who did, it left quite an impression. Here’s your chance to hear why. There weren’t many of us in those days that filled these tiny clubs and opened up our hearts to Flirt and all their brethren, but I can speak for all of those kids and the succeeding generations to proudly say that it was well worth it !!!
Postscript: On June 14, 2003, a reunited Flirt with Skid, Rockee, Thomas St. Thomas, joined by Danny Bloxsom on drums, took the stage for the first time in more than 25 years at Alvin’s in Detroit. The intervening years have taken a toll on all of us, but the sounds of Flirt ran just as clear and loud as they did back at Bookies in 1978. Flirt stopped performing in the mid-2000’s but Skid Mark can now be seen as playing bass in Cinecyde and the Seatbelts.