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]

On 9/12/2026 at 2:45 PM, samhexum said:

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

Ruth might not agree.  She said when she first got sober she started eating everything in sight and wound up with a weight problem she couldn't deal with and started using again until she found a program that helped her with both addictions.

I watched a video that went more in depth on their problems the other night. 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. She was also bi-polar and refused to take her meds.  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.

This is a nice interview with Ruth from 2015 or 2016 in which she talks very honestly about her personal ups and downs.  It seems like she got sober around age 40.

 

In September 1994, the Pointer Sisters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

BTW, 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 the second one 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. At least the second of her solo albums is available on YouTube.

Her album Baby Sister was released in 1983, scoring a modest R&B hit with the song "Ready for Some Action" (US R&B #28). 

Her second solo album June Pointer was released in 1989, with the R&B charting single "Tight on Time (Fit U In)" (US R&B #70).  that's the video I saw 

In December 1986, she was featured in a music video with Bruce Willis singing a cover of the Staples Singers' song "Respect Yourself"; the song peaked at number 5 on the Hot 100 under Willis's name alone, despite the prominence of the Pointer Sisters on the track.

June posed for Playboy in 1985.

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

 

 

 

[viewing ownly]

"Automatic" is one of my all-time favorite songs, but that alone wasn't enough to get me to see them play a one-off show in the dive of a casino I worked at many moons ago. It was such a random, strange billing, as they weren't on tour, but would likely play any place that would house them so many years removed from their hits. 

Interestingly enough, that strictly therapeutic inexpensive masseur from the past that used to advertise in Las Vegas on masseur finder with the memorable "hot rock in the guy's crack" photo was one of the Pointer Sisters backup singers in his past. Nice guy.

[samhexum]

I listened to the second solo album June Pointer and wasn't impressed. I thought this was the best song and it's nothing special. Anita's solo album IS on YouTube; I'll listen to it eventually.  There doesn't seem to be a link to the entirety of June's first album but there seem to be a lot of links to the individual songs.

 

Edited yesterday at 06:51 AM by samhexum
and I think you already know why