Original Poster- Loved them. Saw them. Fantastic energy.
- "Jump (For My Love)."
- What R2 said. How can you make a list of favorite Pointer Sisters'' songs and not add perhaps their biggest hit to date?!
- Another vote for Jump.
- Oops, I''m sorry about that. Thanks for mentioning it to me, r3 & r4.
OP
- Think Fire is the sexiest of their songs and the least dated.
- Funny, I was watching a couple videos of theirs just a couple of days ago. I love "He''s So Shy". But I can''t help of thinking of their appearance on The Love Boat when I hear it, not that that''s bad. I also remember one specific time hearing it as a kid. I was sitting in my dad''s white Dodge Horizon while he went to an ATM--he left the radio on for me. "Automatic" is a great song too.
anonymous
- Is "Fire" the one that goes, ...but when we kiss...ooohhhh....fire
anonymous
- Actually, I think it''s Plymouth Horizon.
r7
- "Slow Hand" is my favorite by far.
- R8, that''s the one. I think it was written by Springsteen.
- r8, yes that''s "Fire"
Beautiful Song also thought Automatic was sung by a dude
- "I''m So Excited" is sooooo overplayed. Historians in the future will probably think it was truly popular for the entire decade of the 80s since it was used in just about every movie and TV show for years. \
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OTOH, it did inspire the greatest anti-drug message ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-HJK9yXqsk
- I grew up in the Detroit area, where everyone listened to AM800 ("the Big Eight"), also known as CKLW, a powerful pop station out of Windor, Canada. During the late sixties and early seventies, CKLW had the power to make or break a song. By the time the later Pointer Sisters'' music came along, most listeners had moved on to FM and CKLW no longer had the same kind of national influence it once had (and now it''s just a local talk station.) %0D\
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Anyway, whenever they played "Fire," you''d hear the Pointers sing "I''m riding in your car. You turn on CKLW." Someone said that Pointers had recorded versions like this for all the top markets, substituting a local station''s call letters for the word "radio." %0D\
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Did they do this for your hometown radio station too?
- I remember ten years ago when June Pointer started talking about her drug problems on the tv shows. I felt sorry for her. I know she has since passed on now. I really felt sorry for her. June did go to rehab and was committed to staying sober.%0D\
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Did she get fired from the Pointer Sisters at one point?%0D\
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Anita can sign her heart out when it comes to signing country tunes. Ruth likes to sing gospel songs. June loved to sing rock & roll songs.
OP
- Ooh, I knew a guy who was the company manager for their AIN''T MISBEHAVIN'' tour - he had horror stories of having to deal with the cops when they got busted for drugs, having to send people to get the drugs...all kinds of stuff. But he said that as people, they were nice.
- Thanks for the story, r16.
OP
- I''m old enough to remember when they first hit the scene. In fact I bought their first three LPs.%0D\
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They were wonderful when they first started because they really didn''t sound like anybody else around at that time.
- Not on the list, but "Don''t It Drive You Crazy" is by far my favorite song of theirs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_FoZ7JG9LY
- I saw them in Boston''s Symphony Hall thirty-five years ago. The first drag queens I ever saw were sitting in front of us. They would each randomly throw up an arm in a flourish, and then stood to sashay in place during "Yes We Can Can."
- Jump or Betcha (soooo funky...) Saw them a few years ago in DC and they were still bringin'' it!
Love those Pointer Sisters
- Cool, r21.
OP
- LOVED their stuff as a little kid (they were on Sesame Street and my aunts would play them) and can say that it was some of the very first pop music I remember in my life.
- The Pointers were amazing - treat yourself and try and find the stuff by Betty Davis (Miles Davis'' ex-wife). She is the absolute queen of funk, and the Pointer Sisters were her back-up singers.
But Don''t You Call Her No Tramp!
- Love them! "Dare me" is my favourite but also adore "Echoes of Love."
- R16 that must have been june pointer w/ all the drug busts, drug requirements etc.. as sad as her story was and as much as she''s missed, i don''t blame them for having kicked her out, if that''s what they had to deal with.
- great recent interview with Ruth Pointer, where she lays it out..
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/69226-still-so-excited-an-interview-with-ruth-pointer/
- In 1979 at the Boat Slip in Provincetown, I just couldn''t get enough of Bonnie Pointer''s mega-hit, "Heaven Must Have Sent You." So muuch fun, great memories.
- Here''s a medley of their hits. The video looks like the AMA''s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8JntunHSKs&feature=related
- Yes, R14, When the local radio station played ''Fire'' it had the call letters instead of the lyric, ''the radio."\
I remember thinking that part sounded a little off. Was kinda neat though.\
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I wonder how many versions with other radio stations they did that to.
- Bump.
- My fave is "Baby Come & Get It"\
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Come and get it while it''s hot!
- It''s not on the list, but Fairytale is my favorite Pointer Sisters song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXkllqtya90
- Saw them when they opened for Lionel Ritchie. They turned the shit out.
- Bonnie was bi-polar.%0D\
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Rest in Peace
- Bonnie Pointer is going to be appearing on VH1''s "Celebrity Rehab." June is the one who passed away in 2006.%0D\
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I had to say that, r35.%0D
OP
- R33, they won their only emmy for that song
- BRING BACK THE POINTER SISTERS!!!%0D\
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Excellence never goes out of style.%0D\
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They''ve worked their asses off and need payback for all the joy & love they''ve inspired. Thanks Pointers.%0D\
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(Carol Burnette also loved them)
- R27\
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Thanks for the link. Fascinating article. Never knew their recorded output was so diverse.
- r27, thanks for the link. I actually got tears in my eyes when I read about June''s death.
- "BRING BACK THE POINTER SISTERS!!!%0D\
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Excellence never goes out of style."%0D\
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ABSOLUTELY,I''m going to start downloading the songs mentioned in this thread right now. They truly were great
- My very favorite of their songs is "Fairytale," a country hit that landed them on the Grand Ole Opry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXkllqtya90
- Another not-on-the-list vote: "Back in My Arms." Download it---it is FIERCE!%0D\
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(I just Mary''ed myself.)
- Bump.
- A bunch of Afrod drag queens in bigass "Strut Yo'' Stuff" platform shoes was my introduction to "How Long". %0D\
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Always brings back such good memories!
Betchagottachickoddasideshoyougottachiucka
- I saw them in the Ain''t Misbehavin'' in 1996, they were fantastic. I was looking for some video of that show to post here. Couldn''t find any, but I did find this - "Old Songs". I don''t know if they''ve ever sounded better. Plus, there''s a tap dance in shiny gold platform shoes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XIcFDJFxs
- I had the albums "That''s A Plenty" and "Steppin''" and listened to them CONSTANTLY. My sister also loved them and absconded with them when she went to college.%0D\
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I remember when they appeared on the Carol Burnett Show after June left the group and lip-synched "That''s A Plenty," valiantly trying to cover for June''s solo vocals. I was mortified.
- I saw them on Soul Train way back in 1975.
OP
- Yeah, but were they ever on Pee Wee''s Playhouse?
Edie, Elena & Mildred Del Rubio
- I''d forgotten how many hits the Pointer Sisters had. They were everywhere in the 70s and 80s.
- FIRE featured the station "KFRC" for me. (San Francisco Bay Area).%0D\
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I loved their jazz albums from the early part of their career where they covered things like Cloudburst and music like Black Coffee and Jada.%0D\
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I also enjoyed that they were quite open about their family spats. They canceled a Tahoe engagement and actually stated it was due to a family disagreement.
- I really hope that Ruth or Anita will write a memoir about the Pointer Sisters'' career one of these days.
OP
- "Fire" has held up really well - it''s still a great song.
- r28 !!!!\
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I was in Ptown summer of 1979 as well, and at the Boat Slip tea dance every ding-dong day and yes, when "Heaven Must Have Sent You" played the place went nuts. Diana Ross''s "The Boss" was big that summer, too.\
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Fantastic memories, so much fun. Spiritus Pizza opened that summer, and the dark parking lot by Pepe''s Wharf was big for cruising after the bars closed.\
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I lived in a rickety apartment off Commercial St. right on the bay and loved every minute of it.
- In Chicago the lyric was "turn on WLS" in "Fire"
Damn that''s a sexy song
- R49, I love all six of your saggy ol'' lady titties!
- Bump.
- "Jump" definitely
- "We''re Gonna Make It" by David Foster from the Richard Perry produced "Black & White" album is good, wasn''t a single, the single was "Slow Hand."
- I was a child when "Slow Hand" came out. It wasn''t until years later that I figured out why they wanted a guy who had a slow hand.
- If the Pointer Sisters came out today, would they be famous?
OP
- "If the Pointer Sisters came out today, would they be famous?"%0D\
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For a brief period, then they would break up.%0D\
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Destiny''s Child
- "It wasn''t until years later that I figured out why they wanted a guy who had a slow hand."%0D\
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Well don''t keep it to yourself, tell the rest of us.
- Finger banging, Rose. Finger banging.
Dorothy Zbornak
- [quote]"If the Pointer Sisters came out today, would they be famous?"\
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If they came out today, that would make them lesbians.
Duh
- I wish somebody would make a joyous, music-filled documentary about those years in Oakland and SF, with all four of the sisters, Sylvester, and the Cockettes.
- Definitely, Jump!!
- I liked and I still like "Dare Me". You should watch the video on YouTube. It''s funky. "Dare Me" was their last hit. I wonder if the surviving sisters ever tour these days.
come on and dare me!
- Great point, r62.
OP
- "Twist My Arm" is a great song by them, too.
- The Pointer Sisters can show a thing or two to the younger female singers and groups that are out right now.
OP
- This is my favourite of theirs... a Bacharach creation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE4QjBw7VlA
- A quick shout-out to one song not mentioned on here, which I''ve always loved -- Bonnie''s "Heaven Must Have Sent You" from that Motown album mentioned in the OP''s main post. Loved her scatting Louie Armstrong at the end. Nice.\
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And shame for OP leaving "Jump (For My Love)" off the poll. It shoulda won.
- I''ve never understood the popularity of the disco version of Heaven Must Have Sent You (and I like disco). It isn''t a patch on the original imo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnJ3oTZS5h4&fmt=18
- Here is another important version of the song, "Fire" as once performed by the Pointer Sisters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpTAJDhb5U
- Bonnie also had a solo song called "Free Me From My Freedon."
OP
- The Pointer Sister were one of the most underrated groups ever, second only to LaBelle in female group musical adventureness. They released an album in 1979 called Priority that was an all bluesy Rock and Roll album with songs by Springsteen, Bob Seger and Ian Hunter. In 1979 that was unheard of for a black female group to do that in the middle of the disco era.
- automatic baby%0D\
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then the neutron dance%0D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6kpJ03gg0s&feature=related
- Lovely... and a mix of Jazz, rock and roll, Blues all in one. LOVE this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEdyodBeFak
- I totally agree with you, r77.
OP
- Best song...sesame street pinball short. 1,2,3,4,5...6,7,8,9,10..11,12...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgocE-JfWFI
- "Yes We Can Can" put The Pointer Sisters on the map. That song was SO funky and original. Let's not forget it's positive message!
Terez
- Amen.
OP
- If in a terrible mood and play "yes we can" or "neutron dance" and immediately feel better
- They could take you to church with their voices.
- The Pointer Sisters' "Breakout" album was one of the definitive pieces of 80's music. There is not a single weak song - just back-to-back dance hits. Their harmonies are gorgeous and the melodies just make you want to get up and move. A wonderfully talented group that I think will grow in recognition with the years.
- AUTOMATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMQGhjzFf-E
- [quote]Carol Burnette also loved them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpWeXSkovCo
- R33 and R42, I'm right there with you on FAIRYTALE!
- "The Pointer Sisters' "Breakout" album was one of the definitive pieces of 80's music. There is not a single weak song - just back-to-back dance hits. Their harmonies are gorgeous and the melodies just make you want to get up and move. A wonderfully talented group that I think will grow in recognition with the years."
I'm with you on that, r866.
OP
- Ladies and gentlemen,
Children too,
These brown babies gonna boogie for you.
The early rumors were that they were actually the Pointer Brothers.
Do you actually see June's muff at .59?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-LbvFckptY&ob=av2n
- FAIRYTAIL was their only grammy winning song - in Country and Western!
- I like their '70s output more than the '80s, mostly because I love the four voices together, but also because I like their jazzier mood, but they're unbeatable in any era.
They used to go on the Mike Douglas show - he was a big fan. (That was an afternoon talk show with music, kiddies.)
Yes, someone needs to make a wonderful musical - maybe a documentary - about that seminal period in the Bay area when Sylvester, the Pointer Sisters and "gay liberation" all conspired to get our asses moving.
Check out this rehearsal for a long-lost TV show. They could not hold back even when there was no one there to appreciate them, which I believe is the secret to their perfection. They sang for one another, not for us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XIcFDJFxs
- Oops. Did someone already post that link?
I was actually looking for a different session - I think they may have been rehearsing "Salt Peanuts" or something. It was probably the song they finished right before "Old Songs."
R93
- They won at least three grammys that I can see in the picture of the posted article. And one of them was for Jump (For My Love).
No emmys, as much as one poster here wanted to make that happen
- They did a great version of "Steam Heat".
And that Break Out album--yes, epitome of fantastic 80s pop.
I had a co-worker who always termed "Slow Hand" "that filthy song" and she loved every second of it.
- They're pretty much half-forgotten today, which is weird for a group who had so many hits.
- [quote]They're pretty much half-forgotten today, which is weird for a group who had so many hits.
I think all of the friction and controversy that surrounded the group after they broke up in the late 80's overshadowed everything. Plus, there's only two original members in the group today. Two of the sisters left the group years ago and one died about 6 years ago. It was just never the same after the late 80's.
I still play "Dare Me" and "I'm So Excited" to this day.
- LOVED them!
- LITTLE BOY SWEET!
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DC1Zp7vfyew8
Classic
- R100 That song always makes me happy!
- Love. it.
- I loved them, too.
All of their songs made me happy.
- I wish that June Pointer was still alive. I miss her wonderful voice. Damn!!!
- LOL I haven't seen that scene in years R100! It makes me miss Imogene though.
- R105 Here's the full song...hopefully it'll link unlike the first one. Apparently this song was never released anywhere outside National Lampoon's. I could listen it on a never-ending loop without tiring! And I dance like I'm Christy Brinkley the entire time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DHz26RooSihI
- FAIL. Is there any way to tell which YouTube videos can be embedded BEFORE posting them? And who are these bitches who don't want their shit embedded?
- They started out in country music
- I love a lot of their music, and this song still brightens up any dreary day:
http://youtu.be/4CIKNOiajU4
- Were they among the few black artists played in solid rotation on MTV before Michael Jackson? Or did it take his breakthrough with "Billie Jean" to get their stuff played?
- "I'm So Excited" is SO DIRTY! With lyrics like "And if you move real slow, I'll let it go..." I'm surprised Tipper Gore never bumrushed their doorstep.
- [quote] "I'm So Excited" is SO DIRTY!
The video is even dirtier, with an unexpected appearance by June Pointer's vagina.
- This is the "Goldmine" video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUfvyajzA6g
- Oh my god, June Pointer's dripping snatch as she got out of the bathtub! I can still remember the first time I saw the "I'm So Excited" video and when June's ladybox made a surprise appearance I thought "WTF? Did I just see what I thought I just saw?" I was not quite prepared for it.
- OMG THAT TOTALLY IS HER VAG AT :55 (or so).
http://youtu.be/h-LbvFckptY
- [R110] They had pretty solid airplay even before MJ's "Thriller." They had a streak of hits around 1980-82 and then again from 1983-1984 on for a few years.
They also wrote "Fairytale" which is an amazing COUNTRY song. These hos could do ANYTHING.
- Seriously, I think this thread got the girls back on the road. They're coming to Chicago for Halsted Days (the "other" gay pride festival).
Can't wait - I love them, even though they'll be without the awesome June.
- Can't believe no one has mentioned 'If You Wanna Get Back Your Lady'.
That was the jam.
- I was surprised to see "Dare Me" as one of the choices.
I remember getting that on cassette when visting Chicago. I had my Walkman walking around downtown, "Baby make your move, step across that line. Touch me one more time, c'mon dare me! I wanna take you on, I know I can't lose..."
Shy Boy
- "Love in Them There Hills" from their Live at the Opera House album.
- Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump
- I'm So Excited is probably their signature song (or one of them), but Automatic is the SHIT.
- Bonnie finally got the first of her 3 solo albums released. It's the one with her big hit Heaven Must Have Sent You, but the album didn't have the disco remix of the song. The original version is really bland. The cd issue includes the remix, of course. But it would've belonged better as a bonus track for her 2nd album, also eponymously titled and with a very similar cover too. I believe the first album is called the "red album", and the 2nd is called the "purple album."
The purple album was trying to follow up on the success Heaven Must Have Sent You by being all disco versions of Motown hits. Her disco version of "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" is fantastic and made the top 40, but is largely forgotten now. A cover of the Supremes "I See Your Love Light Shining" is also pretty good, and I like the ballad on the album which was released as a single but failed. Motown dumped her after that.
Then a few years later a song on the Heavily Bodies soundtrack got enough attention for her to record another album, this time an imitation of her sisters' electro-funk sound. But it's terrible, all the songs are really bad. And her husband, did a pretty inept job producing.
I think Bonnie should've been allowed back into the group in the 80s. Singers leave groups all the time to record solo albums, but that doesn't mean they have to leave the group forever. Apparently Bonnie wanted back into the group when June died, but they wouldn't let her. Bonnie was one of the two founding members and wrote some of their earliest hits.
- Romeo and Juliet,Samson and Delilah.....loved the Pointer Sisters.
- bump
- Pointers Sisters are like the Spinners -- you kind of forget how many hits they had. I once went to see the Temptaions years ago -- I love the Temps -- and the show was opened by the Spinners. I think it was a last minute thing to have the Spinners as the opening act because A.) we were all surprised to see them and B.) Who in their right minds would follow the Spinners?
They blew the place away. When the Temptaions took the stage we were all, "Whatever."
- Loved the Pointer sisters. Always wondered why we don't hear their songs anymore. They play all the other old stuff, but don't recall the them getting any airplay.
- [quote]Who in their right minds would follow the Spinners?
OMG, R126, you're so right. Whoever booked The (Detroit) Spinners as an opening act for The Temptations was a fool.
But what a wonderful evening you must have had!
- I saw Bonnie Pointer in a club about two years ago (a Halloween gig, no less!) and sadly she was FUCKED UP. She was clearly wasted and didn't even try to sing. I just hope the other sisters have their shit together.
- Sadly, R129, my shit was never together and it's now buried six feet under.
June%20Pointer
- Jada.
- "Slowhand" was playing on the radio the first time I sucked cock. It will always have a special place in my heart because of that.
- Why are we being given a history lesson about The Pointer Sisters?
- Because your pussy stinks, r133.
Cheryl
- [quote] Automatic is the SHIT.
You tell it BITCH!!!!
- Do they perform at all anymore?
- Just the two of them? I doubt it. If they would get over their grudge against Bonnie they could, they could even record again. She has a great voice, perhaps the best of all of them.
- [R133]
Why are you reading this thread?
- Bonnie is so strung out these days she would need to go to rehab for a year to do a proper concert.
- "Jump" is on my workout playlist. Very effective.
- "Fire" is on mine
Yes%2C%20you%20can-can
