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- [00:00]
Chris Melanfi
You're listening ad free on Amazon Music. Welcome back to Hit Parade, a podcast of pop chart history from Slate magazine about the hits from coast to coast. I'm Chris Melanthe, chart analyst, pop critic and writer of Slate's why Is this Song Number One series. On our last episode, we chronicle the long launch of the family vocal troupe the Pointer Sisters. Their years as a quartet trying everything from jazz and big band music to strutting funk, children's music and even twangy country. It's now the turn of the 80s. They are a trio of Ruth, Anita and June Poynter, and their producer and label boss Richard Perry is about to guide the sisters toward a new wave of synth pop hits. The Pointer Sisters versatility meant that Richard Perry could throw virtually anything at them. Their 1980 album Special Things leads off with a post disco R B track in high Quincy Jones style on Could I Be Dreaming, the Pointers channel the Jacksons. Could I Be Dreaming managed to reach number 22 on the R B chart and just missed the pop top 40. But the special Things track that became The Pointer Sisters first 80s blockbuster was driven by a very poppy keyboard hook. When the song's co writer Tom Snow found that synth line, he knew he had a hit on his hands. He's so Shy started off as she's so Shy, Tom Snow wrote it with Leo Sayer in mind, and he left the bulk of the lyrics to Journey woman songwriter Cynthia Weil, who by the way, just passed earlier this month. Rest in peace, Ms. Wild. When Richard Perry heard Snow and Wild's song, it sounded to him like a smash. Its keyboard hook in particular was very on trend at the peak of what later became known as yacht rock. Just one year earlier, the Doobie Brothers had taken their single what a Fool Believes with that patented yachty Doobie bounce to number one. So Perry took Snow and Wild's yachty Diddy, flipped the song's gender to he's so Shy and recorded it with the Pointer Sisters and a team of smooth west coast session musicians. Perry chose June Pointer to take the lead vocal and the result was a pop smash.
- [03:23]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
He's so Shy he's so Shy.
- [03:35]
Chris Melanfi
He's so Shy rose to number three on the Hot 110 on the R B chart, further evidence that Richard Perry was turning the trio into full blown pop stars. It was also the first Pointer Sisters hit to receive music video treatment a year before the launch of mtv. The following year, Perry plucked another song from a journeyman songwriter and gave the Pointers another crossover Hit only this song was a crossover in disguise. Slow Hand was by songwriter John Bettis, who has written scores of hits, from the Carpenter's Top of the World to Michael Jackson's Human Nature to Madonna's Crazy for you. Bettis and his co songwriter Michael Clark never intended the song for the Pointer Sisters. They weren't even sure Slowhand, about a lover who takes his time, should be sung by a woman.
- [04:58]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
When it comes to love, I want a slow hand.
- [05:08]
Chris Melanfi
But Richard Perry heard Slowhand as a sensual, seductive song in the vein of the Pointer's previous hit Fire. And as with Fire, he encouraged Anita Pointer to take the lead vocal, and Anita infused the song with assertive sex positivity that was subtly cutting edge for the time. As critic Elizabeth Vincentelli later wrote on songs like Slowhand, even when the Poynter sisters weren't singing specifically about female empowerment.
- [05:44]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
They bravely embodied it.
- [05:46]
Chris Melanfi
The sisters made music like women who were free of preconceptions and boundaries, unquote. The Pointer Sisters Slow Hand debuted on the Billboard charts in the spring of 1981, just a few months after he's so shy had fallen off. Once again, pop radio led the way as Slowhand rose to number two on the Hot 100 and stayed there three weeks. The pointer's biggest ever pop hit on the R and B chart, Slowhand reached number seven. But that wasn't the only genre chart that Slowhand made.
- [06:38]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
Darlin, don't say a word Cause I already heard what your thought is saying to mind.
- [06:47]
Chris Melanfi
Country singer Del Reaves was the first man to record Slowhand as a country song. Switching the pronouns I want a man with a slow hand became you want a man with a slow hand. And turning up the twang, Reeves's version reached number 53 on the Hot country chart. Then just a few months later, country superstar Conway Twitty had a crack at it.
- [07:18]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
Darling, don't say a word I've already heard what your body's saying to mind if you want all night.
- [07:30]
Chris Melanfi
And his Slow Hand went all the way to number one on Hot Country Singles in June of 1982, less than a year after the Pointers version had peaked. In Other words, roughly half a decade after Fairy Tale, the Pointer Sisters had basically hit with another country song, this time disguised as a soulful slow jam. Slow Hand came from the sisters LP Black and White, which rose to number 12 on the album chart, their highest position to date, and went gold. All over the album, the Pointers were flaunting their try anything spirit. What a surprise. For example, featured breakdowns where the girls were rapping just a couple of years after rap emerged as a recorded medium. And Should I Do It? Was a new kind of throwback for the ladies, A perky homage to the sound of 60s girl groups and doo wop. Released as a single, it hit number 13 on the pop chart in early 1982.
- [08:51]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
The same of the land. Should I do it? Should I fall? Should I do it after all?
- [09:02]
Chris Melanfi
By 1982, with Planet Records established, thanks in no small part to the Pointer Sisters, Richard Perry sold his vanity label to RCA Records. He continued to oversee the artists on the imprint, including the Pointers. The transition to RCA was a bit bumpy at first. The Sisters next LP underperformed on the album chart, although it did spawn two medium sized hits, A bouncy yacht style pop ditty called American Music which reached number 16, And a follow up hit that gave the album so Excited its name. This was the first version of I'm so Excited and considering how catchy it was, it really should have gone higher on the charts than number 30.
- [10:14]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
Tonight's Tonight We're Gonna Make It Happen.
- [10:19]
Chris Melanfi
Written by the three Pointer Sisters themselves with their associate producer Trevor Lawrence, I'm so Excited was a four minute party. It had the post disco sound of synth driven club music and fun loving hedonistic lyrics. This is the 1982 version of I'm so Excited. The differences between this mix and the version that would later become a bigger hit were subtle. But in 1982, as Planet Records was making the transition to the RCA fold, I'm so Excited peaked at a modest number 30 on the Hot 100. This pop classic that would later be recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, was going to need another shot to become culturally entrenched.
- [11:23]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
After the so excited album underperformed, June Pointer decided to try spreading her wings with a solo album building on her status as the group's high spirited sex symbol. Her debut LP, Baby Sister was released in early 1983 on Naturally Planet Records and the single Ready for Some Action took June to number 28 on the R B chart. With hindsight, June's minor hit sounded like a dress rehearsal for the new wave pop and BE sound the Pointer Sisters would pursue on their next album. June remained in the group, rejoining them for 1983's breakout LP. The album would eventually live up to its title, breaking the Pointers out of their mid tier pop status, but it didn't seem all that exceptional at first. I Need you, a stately heartache ballad that served as the first single from, Breakout was only a modest hit, reaching number 13 on the R B chart and number 48 on the Hot 100. It looked like this Pointer Sisters album was going to do no better than its predecessor. At the start of 1984, Breakout had stalled on the album chart at number 75. But then for the second single the group tried something completely different. A song that was scoring early airplay by club DJs as an album cut. And this track was a little geekier.
- [13:34]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
Look what you're doing to me I'm actually at your.
- [13:40]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
Automatic was a relatively rare Pointer Sisters single in which eldest sister Ruth Poynter with her low alto bordering on tenor voice, took the lead vocal and the song leaned into Ruth's rumbling vocal quality both musically and in subject matter. Automatic was pulsating electro rock and its lyrics were about robotic love, how attraction could be mechanistic, involuntary, cybernetic. Ruth sang Automatic like a lustful Android. Debuting on the Hot 100 in January 19, 1984, Automatic took a dozen weeks to rise to number five on the Hot 100. The Pointer Sisters had been reinvented yet again and they were once again on trend. Automatic sounded right at home with the other synthesizer driven new wave rock dominating the top 10 from the cars.
- [14:59]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
I know when you're weak, you think.
- [15:03]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
You'Re real to Nana. To Eurythmics. Moreover, Automatic's digital funk sound was embraced by black audiences too. The song rose to number two on the R B chart. The Pointer's biggest hit on that chart since How Long Betcha Got a chick on the side hit number one R B in 1975. It even made it to number two on the UK singles chart. The Pointers biggest British hit at last breakout started scaling the album chart, cracking the top 30 in the spring of 84 and going gold. But the Pointers commanding year was just getting started. For their next single the sisters and Richard Perry wanted to go with an up tempo cut that on the album. Album was simply titled Jump. But while they were waiting for that single they had a little problem. Van halen hit number one on the Hot 100 with their synth rocker also titled Jump. So Team Pointer added a parenthetical to their track. The ladies next single would be titled Jump for My Love. Automatic had scaled the charts without a music video, but the Pointer Sisters took no chances with with Jump for My Love they shot a video of the ladies singing in slinky dresses in a steamy room. Intercut with footage of limber track and field athletes as well as basketball stars Julius Irving and Magic Johnson. With 1984 Olympics fever gripping America, the sporty Jump For My Love video enjoyed heavy rotation on video channels. Jump For My Love peaked at number three on both the Hot 100 and the R and B chart in July, just as the Summer Olympics were opening in Los Angeles. It became Breakout's biggest hit, but not the last. Richard Perry and the pointers felt that 1982's I'm so Excited hadn't reached its full potential. Moreover, after a Ruth lead vocal on Automatic and a June lead vocal on Jump, Anita Pointer wanted a turn. So in a late inning Switch Perry had the 1982 single remixed, and the breakout LP was reissued in record stores with I'm so Excited tacked on. Coming off, the momentum of Jump, I'm so Excited finally became the signature smash it was always destined to be on American top 40. Casey Kasem counted it down two years ago.
- [18:58]
Chris Melanfi
In 1982, it first hit at number 30. Now the record has returned to the top 40, climbing four notches this week to number 29. Here are the Pointer Sisters with I'm so Excited.
- [19:12]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
The I'm so Excited remix eventually reached number nine on the Hot 100, though that was lower than the peaks of Automatic and Jump. Today, I'm so Excited is regarded as the Poynter Sisters legacy hit on Spotify, it is overwhelmingly the pointer's most played track, with roughly 425 million streams, more than double that of Jump For My Love. Its music video featuring Ruth and Anita in lingerie and June in a bubble bath has also been watched tens of millions of times.
- [19:52]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it I'm about to lose control and I think, I think I like it I'm so excited and I just.
- [20:05]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
Can'T hide it by the time I'm so excited peaked in October 84, Breakout had cracked the top 10 on the Billboard album chart and was certified platinum. But there was one more deep cut on the LP with hit potential. It just needed a silver screen boost. Neutron Dance was originally written by veteran songwriter Ali Willis for the soundtrack to.
- [20:45]
Chris Melanfi
The movie Streets of Fire.
- [20:47]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
It was turned down for that movie, but after Ruth Poynter sang it and it made the back half of the Breakout lp, the song was instead pitched to the producers of the forthcoming Eddie Murphy action comedy Beverly Hills Cop. That made Neutron Dance commercial gold.
- [21:10]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
How you doing? Are you coming for second place?
- [21:19]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
Dropped as a single just weeks before Beverly Hills Copy arrived in theaters. Neutron dance scaled the Hot 100 into early 1985, peaking at number six, the fourth straight top ten hit from breakout. And the song had legs well into 1985 because neutron dance was also included on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack alongside big hits by former Eagle Glenn Frey. And score composer Harold Faltermeier. The Beverly Hills Cop SoundTrack reached number one on the Billboard album chart in June of 1985. By then, Breakout was double platinum on its way to triple platinum. The Pointers pop ubiquity now seemed absolute. The three sisters were invited to join the chorus on USA for Africa's We Are the World. Even long departed sister Bonnie Pointer scored another solo hit in late 1984 with the top 40 R B your touch. The challenge for the original trio, however, would be following up breakout. The Pointer Sisters wasted no time returning in the fall of 1985 with the album Contact, whose lead single Dare Me seemed to pick up where the breakout singles left off. In a somewhat ominous sign, Dare Me just missed the pop top 10, peaking at number 11 in September 1985. However, the 12 inch remix of Dear Me became the Pointer Sisters only number one on Billboard's Club Play chart that.
- [23:49]
Chris Melanfi
Fall.
- [23:59]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
Though the Contact LP was certified both gold and platinum in just one month. The Poynter sisters had a hard time pulling hits from the album Freedom. The follow up got to number 25 RB, but only number 59 pop. And in early 1986, Twist My Arm missed the top 40 on both charts.
- [24:35]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
If you want to hold it, if you want to show it, come and let me know it.
- [24:45]
Guest or Secondary Narrator (possibly Christian John Wycaine or a music critic)
In fact, the highest chart position any of the Poynter sisters saw in 1986 was on the country chart. Anita Poynter was invited by country star Earl Thomas Conley to join him on Too Many Times. The duet reached number two on Hot Country Singles in November 1986, the first time the Pointer name had been on that chart since Fairy Tale a dozen years earlier.
- [25:30]
Chris Melanfi
In the closing weeks of 1986, the Poynter sisters scored what would be their last top 40 pop hit as a lead act. Gold Mine, the first single from their Hot Together album, peaked at number 33 just before Christmas. 86. They were still regulars on the dance floor. Their 1987 electrodisco single Sexual Power reached number seven on Billboard's Club Play chart. Also in 87, the pointers played a supporting role in the singing debut of actor Bruce Willis. What, you didn't know Bruce Willis sang? You've never heard his the Return of Bruno cd. Yes, believe it or not, Willis then coasting on his first wave of fame on TV's Moonlighting scored a top five hit with his smirky cover of the Staple singer's sole standard, Respect Yourself. The Pointer Sisters backed up the self styled Bruno and June Poynter even sang a verse. It was the last time any Poynter's adjacent hit would crack the pop top ten. The Poynter Sisters attempted to make movie Lightning Strike again when they recorded a song for the soundtrack to 1987's Beverly Hills Cop 2, but the catchy Be There peaked at number 42. Save this for the Pointers. They kept up with trends when Janet Jackson helped usher in the New Jack swing ERA in 1986 and 87 with the hits from her Control album Nasty.
- [27:55]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
Nasty Voice, I Don't Mean Nothing.
- [28:03]
Chris Melanfi
The Pointer Sisters came back in 1988 with the new Jack styled He Turned Me out, a number 39 R B hit. When rich R and B turned toward house and club music at the turn of the 90s, The Pointer Sisters added a house beat to their 1990 single Friends Advice, a number 36 R B hit. They even kept a toe dipped in country music as that genre exploded in popularity in the 90s. On the 1994 various artists album Rhythm, country and Blues, which featured duets between country and R B acts, the Pointer Sisters teamed up with country megastar Clint Black on a roadhouse style cover of Aretha Franklin's classic Chain of Fools. By the mid-90s, with the hits drying up at both pop and R B radio, the Pointers sought refuge on the legit stage, accepting roles in a touring company of the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin. Given their harmony singing skill, the sisters were more than up to the task. Their formal stage debut earned favorable notices and even coverage on cnn.
- [30:14]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
Starring in this new production is just one of many firsts for the group.
- [30:18]
Chris Melanfi
During their 22 year career.
- [30:20]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
The first contemporary group to play the San Francisco Opera House, the first black women to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, the first what else were the first first women to be so Tall and Dinner David.
- [30:36]
Chris Melanfi
However, the Pointer's joyful banter for the cameras belied their interpersonal turmoil. Long plagued by a cocaine addiction, youngest sister June Poynter missed numerous performances on the Ain't Misbehavin Tour. Eventually, circa 2000, Ruth and Anita were compelled to kick June out of the group altogether due to her ongoing addiction. There was an internas and family battle as June and Bonnie Pointer teamed up in 2002 and 03 for some gigs. Billed as the Pointer Sisters, Ruth and Anita sued the promoter for Fraud Starting in 2002, Ruth and Anita began performing as a trio with Ruth's daughter Issa Poynter. This version of the Poynter Sisters scored a minor adult contemporary hit in 2005 with the Holiday single Christmas in New York. Eventually, most of the members of the group had to be replaced as the Pointer Sisters were beset by two decades of strife and loss. In 2006, a year and a half after an arrest for drug possession, June Poynter died after a short battle with cancer. She was only 52. In 2011, Bonnie, too was also arrested for drug possession. She died in 2020 at age 69. Anita Pointer, who had lost her daughter Jada to cancer in 2003 herself began missing gigs due to illness. She did get to perform with Ruth periodically in the final decade of her life, but Anita finally succumbed to cancer herself just six months ago on the last day of 2022. Anita was 74 as of this podcast episode. Oldest sister ruth Pointer, now 77, is the last remaining member of the original Pointer Sisters, not unlike the Bee Gees, whose oldest member, Barry Gibb, is the last living Gibb brother. For most of the last decade, Ruth Pointer has performed Poynter Sisters gigs with not only her daughter Issa, but also her granddaughter Sudeko Johnson. Even Amidst all this 21st century tragedy, the last two decades have brought a reappraisal of the Poynter Sisters legacy. In 2003, Girls Aloud, the hit making British girl group, took a cover of the Pointers Jump for My Love to number two on the UK singles chart.
- [33:36]
Narrator or Singer (performing song excerpts)
Want to Take My Kisses in the Night?
- [33:44]
Chris Melanfi
A couple of years later, a remix of the Sisters Sesame Street Jam Pinball Number Count became a minor dance hit. In 2008 as presidential hopeful Barack Obama toured the country. Following him at many of his rallies was naturally the Poynter Sisters totemic 1973 hit yes We Can can, which anticipated Obama's campaign sl. To this day, if the Poynter Sisters are remembered for anything besides their stellar roster of hits 16 that made the top 40, nearly half of which cracked the top 10, it is their adaptability and their game attitude. They tried it all and were still trying it all in the last two decades, as on this vintage live performance on which the late great Anita Poynter, nearing 60, was rapping. I've used several adjectives to describe the Pointer Sisters in this versatile, soulful, funky, sensual, genreless. But maybe I should add one more adjective. Fearless at every turn when the music business doubted their prowess or thought they couldn't come back with more hits, the Pointer Sisters said, yes, we can. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Hit Parade. Our show was written, edited and narrated. Narrated by Chris Melanfi. That's me. My producer is Kevin Bendis. Kevin also produced the latest installment of our monthly Hit Parade the Bridge shows, which are available exclusively to Slate plus members. In our latest Bridge episode, I talked to music journalist and interviewer Christian John Wycaine about the Poynter sisters unusual vocal alchemy and what made them such diverse performers. Performers to sign up for Slate plus and hear not only the Bridge but all our shows the day they drop, visit slate.com hitparadeplus Derek John is Executive Producer of Narrative Podcasts and Alicia Montgomery is VP of Audio for Slate Podcasts. Check out their roster of shows@slate.com podcasts. You can subscribe to Hit Parade wherever you get your podcasts, in addition to funding finding it in the Slate Culture feed. If you're subscribing on Apple Podcasts, please rate and review us while you're there. It helps other listeners find the show. Thanks for listening and I look forward to leading the Hit Parade back your way. Until then, keep on marching on the one. I'm Chris Melanfi. That.