The Pointer Sisters

[samhexum]

I was always a fan and had a few of their albums.  I don't know what set it off, but I've been listening to them a lot the last week or two.  All these years later and I think my appreciation has grown even more.  The gals could really sing.

[samhexum]

BIG SISTER RUTH SINGS LEAD:

THEY WEREN'T THE PRETTIEST SINGERS AROUND, BUT I THOUGHT THIS WAS ABOUT THE BEST THEY EVER LOOKED

 

 

 

MICHAEL McDONALD ADDS HIS VOCALS TO THIS ONE:

 

 

SEXY SONG:

 

 

 

[samhexum]

13 hours ago, samhexum said:

I was always a fan and had a few of their albums.  I don't know what set it off, but I've been listening to them a lot the last week or two.

I remembered what POINTERed me in this musical direction... when this popped up on my YouTube feed.  I think it's so much fun:

This was during the period when June was asked to leave the group and go to rehab.  Bonnie left soon after. All the sisters had substance abuse problems at times (except maybe Anita), but June's were the worst and she never was able to stay clean for long.  During this binge I've been on, I've read about them a lot... June had been gang-raped before they were famous and never got over it, which was probably a big part of her drug use.

 

[+ jeezopete]

I always enjoyed the musical production numbers on those old shows:

The Cher Show

The Carol Burnett Show

Donny & Marie

Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters

[samhexum]

BABY SISTER JUNE SINGS LEAD:

June was the only one who never married.  She and Bonnie had no kids.  Bonnie had a long marriage, Anita a short one, and Ruth had 4 or 5, plus 5 kids. Anita's daughter died at 37.  Like the Gibbs, the Pointers died in reverse order of birth, leaving only Ruth and Barry alive.  She performs with her daughter & grandaughter.

 

 

PROBABLY MY FAVORITE SONG OF THEIRS:

 

 

IMAGINE KIP NOLL, LEE MARLIN, & NICK RODGERS WALKING ALONG AS JUNE CROONS:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 04:24 AM by samhexum
because Bonnie Pointer told him to in a dream

[samhexum]

ANITA WAS PROBABLY THE MOST STABLE ONE:

THEIR PRETTIEST SONG:

 

 

 

 

SEXY SONG:

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 04:21 AM by samhexum
because that's just the kind of guy he is

[Becket]

Well you are truly a fan! Saw them in concert back in the '80's with Billy Ocean (Caribbean Queen, etc.) as the opening act. Great show. My favorite was Neutron Dance. "Lord have mercy!!!...."

[CheckCar]

They were incredibly versatile vocalists. Pop, R&B, gospel, country, jazz — they could sing it all.

[CheckCar]

 

[samhexum]

1 hour ago, CheckCar said:

They were incredibly versatile vocalists. Pop, R&B, gospel, country, jazz — they could sing it all.

They were the first black women to perform at the grand old Opry. Anita had had a bad break up and stayed up all night, listening to sad songs and by the morning she had written something that wound up winning them their first Grammy and the invitation to perform at the Opry, where people were shocked that the song was sung by black women. 

[samhexum]

I watched a video that went more in depth on their problems tonight. Anita may have been the most stable one, but she also had her problems with drugs. She and Ruth got addicted to crack and Ruth's addiction was so severe that once she finally got sober after being told by doctors that she didn't have a choice anymore, she had to have reconstructive surgery on her mouth because all the drug use had screwed it up.

The video also said that June's rape occurred when she was 16 and something that I had never heard before was that she got pregnant as a result of it, and decided to get an abortion, which I'm sure was yet another aspect of her downward spiral for the rest of her life. Apparently, by the end, Anita and Ruth had finally gotten so tired of June's unreliability that they asked her to leave the group and even served her with legal papers, prohibiting her from using the name of the pointer sisters.

by the way, as far as solo albums go I've heard that Anita recorded one, but it never got released and I know June recorded two in the mid 80s, but they didn't do very well. I saw a video of her performing a song from one of the albums on soul train; it was OK. I also saw another video in which she was interviewed about the first solo album and it had an impressive group of people behind it. I don't remember all the names, except that it was co-produced by Carol Bayer Sager and one of the other people involved in the album of course was carol's then husband, Burt Bacharach. They were also a few other notable names that escape me right now. One of these years I'll see if the solo albums are available on YouTube.

Edited 23 hours ago by samhexum
because the ladies deserved his best effort

[samhexum]

Didn't realize I posted the wrong version in the June section and can't edit it now...