Anita Pointer is DEAD to ME
James Williams 
Only one sister left, I think....?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 101 | January 3, 2023 4:05 PM |
I always associate Anita witht this grammy winner, she co wrote with Bonnie
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 2 | January 1, 2023 4:31 AM |
Fairytale is so, so good.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 1, 2023 4:32 AM |
They had so many hits, fabulous catalog.
Ruth is the only one left.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 1, 2023 6:24 AM |
Aw, sorry to hear that. RIP.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | January 1, 2023 6:47 AM |
So good, Elvis covered it. RIP.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 6 | January 1, 2023 7:16 AM |
So, so many great hits…”Slow Hand” is probably my favorite.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | January 1, 2023 7:27 AM |
Loved the 4 sister line up / saw the 4 live in mid 70s / nothing like it
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | January 1, 2023 11:43 AM |
They had a bunch of great singles, but I wish they'd hooked up with Nile Rodgers, who could have produced them an album that was a top-to-bottom piece of art, like he did for Sister Sledge with "We Are Family."
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 1, 2023 11:56 AM |
She is going to be knocking on her coffin now.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 1, 2023 11:59 AM |
Oh, man, am I feeling old now. They were a huge part of my 1980s soundtrack, and now there's only one sister left. :-(
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 1, 2023 12:00 PM |
R9 So lucky to have seem them all live. I went on a Pointer Sisters kick after hearing their cover of Dirty Work on the "Tuffy" episode of Gaslit. The way it was used in the story was so poignant. Their voices were so good, rich, and so emotive. What a remarkable and diverse body of work they created. Love them RIP, Anita.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | January 1, 2023 12:00 PM |
Shit sorry at R11, I thought the Pointer Sisters sang this. 👇😬
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 1, 2023 12:06 PM |
"I'm So Excited" was a gay anthem in the 1980s.
We'd go out to the big gay dance club in Denver, and when this song came on, everyone would run to the dance floor.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 15 | January 1, 2023 12:15 PM |
I'm So Excited is, of course, the video where one of the sisters flashes her cooch as she gets up out of the tub!
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | January 1, 2023 2:13 PM |
R8 if you do not know who the pointer sisters are then you’re stupid.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 1, 2023 4:49 PM |
I always loved her 1987 song Overnight Success
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 1, 2023 4:51 PM |
R11 should jump in a huge toilet filled with shit
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | January 1, 2023 4:52 PM |
[quote] Loved the 4 sister line up / saw the 4 live in mid 70s / nothing like it
Except perhaps these three:
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 1, 2023 4:58 PM |
RIP, Miss Anita. And my condolences to the family. ❤️
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | January 1, 2023 5:39 PM |
Their cover of Springsteen's "Fire" is my favorite. They sang the hell out of that song.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 22 | January 1, 2023 5:40 PM |
They never got the enduring respect they deserved for having survived so much and been so successful across genres. They had hits on pop charts, soul charts, even a country-western chart. They did sexy music, bubble-gum music, soundtrack hits, and outstanding covers, too.
Let's see Madonna or Bono do THAT.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | January 1, 2023 5:43 PM |
The Breakout album really reinvigorated them. Automatic, Jump, and Neutron Dance (in Beverly Hills Cop) totally captured the non-new wave, American, mid-1980s sound…a slightly slowed down, more melodious version of high energy.
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | January 1, 2023 5:53 PM |
I loved their music in the 70s and 80s. Especially when they sang backup for Streisand on the track "Emotion" (and she buried their vocals to the point where it could've been the Osmond Brothers singing back-up and we'd never know).
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | January 1, 2023 6:13 PM |
R15 I always thought the black guy in the hat toward the beginning of the video was sexy as hell. June was known as a real slut. I wonder if she fucked him after the shoot.
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | January 1, 2023 6:38 PM |
It was June who flashed her pussy in the I'm So Excited video.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | January 1, 2023 8:01 PM |
The Pointer Sisters partied HARD back in the day, they were always down for a good time.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 28 | January 1, 2023 8:27 PM |
R27 She was so excited, and her pussy was too!
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | January 1, 2023 9:27 PM |
Ruth is the eldest and now the last. 😞
I also saw them live. Maybe in ‘82? They put on a great show.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | January 1, 2023 10:41 PM |
June and Anita were my fave Pointers
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | January 1, 2023 11:23 PM |
I almost got arrested at one of their concerts one time.I had lawn seats at a big outdoor amphitheater they were performing at. Some drunk asshole directly behind me was loud and obnoxious. He was visibly disturbing my fun and everyone around us. So I turned around and got up in his face and told him to shut up and calm his fucking shit. All of a sudden 2 or 3 police officers on duty at the show were separating us and threatening to arrest me. I missed out on about 10-15 minutes of a great concert as a result my actions quilted that fucker down.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | January 1, 2023 11:54 PM |
[quote] Their cover of Springsteen's "Fire" is my favorite. They sang the hell out of that song.
Honey, them girls sang the hell out of EVERY song put in front of them. Love the Pointer Sisters! Those 80s albums produced by Richard Perry are classic.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 34 | January 2, 2023 3:14 AM |
[quote] The Pointer Sisters partied HARD back in the day, they were always down for a good time.
Their father was a minister and they were raised in the church -- so of course they were wild party girls!
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | January 2, 2023 3:16 AM |
I remember watching them on The Carol Burnett Show when I was a little kid.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | January 2, 2023 6:35 AM |
Remember when they played Richard Pryor's televangelist harem in "Car Wash?" This was a great song!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 37 | January 2, 2023 12:22 PM |
I remember when they were on THE LOVE BOAT!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 39 | January 2, 2023 3:23 PM |
They were an act that if you saw live,....... you knew you were seeing a LIVE act.
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | January 2, 2023 3:52 PM |
One thing that people forgot as they became more successful as a pop act is that they started out as a jazz trio, and they were incredible!
"Cloudburst" was phenomenal.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 41 | January 2, 2023 3:56 PM |
Did the record label even spend $1.98 on that Autoomatic video? Was Automatic the first single to chart off of the album Break Out? If I remember correctly DJs would play it, and then ask listeners if it was a man or woman singing lead? MTV was in it's 2nd or 3rd year, and still not really showcasing black acts as I rememer.
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | January 2, 2023 4:00 PM |
^I should've said they started out as a jazz quartet. I keep forgetting Bonne was with them once.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | January 2, 2023 4:01 PM |
I can’t say this is a shame given her stance on homosexuality in the ‘70s and what she did for the orange juice industry, but still.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | January 2, 2023 4:21 PM |
"Their record deal with Atlantic Records produced several unsuccessful singles. The trio grew to a quartet when sister Ruth joined in December 1972.".....wikipedia
were the Atlantic singles ever released?
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | January 2, 2023 4:37 PM |
Anita was a serious African American art collector. The Hollywood museum devoted the entire 2nd floor for an exhibit of Anita Pointer’s collection.
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | January 2, 2023 4:45 PM |
They should've been Kennedy Center honorees........
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | January 2, 2023 4:54 PM |
R42 The story of their "Break Out" album is interesting. The label didn't expect a lot from it and put little effort into promoting it, mainly because The Pointers Sisters' previous album, "So Excited," which contained the single "I'm So Excited," only hit #59 on the album chart in 1982.
Surprisingly and unexpectedly, "Break Out" took off, and "Jump" hit #6. The label scrambled to put together music videos for the album, which is why "Jump" and "Automatic" look so cheap and amateurish. They didn't have much to time to assemble the videos and rush them out.
"I'm So Excited" was added to the "Break Out" album, because the label wanted hit singles featuring a solo vocal from each sister for PR purposes. June scored with "Jump," Ruth with "Automatic," and by adding "I'm So Excited," Anita got hers.
The "I'm So Excited" video is a much more professional video because it was made a year before when the label was putting more cash into the Sisters' efforts.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | January 2, 2023 4:59 PM |
R48 I remember an interview a few years ago - I think it was with Ruth - and she talked about making the "Jump" video. Nobody expected the song to chart, and it suddenly took off. It was already in the top 20 when Planet Records called them and said they needed to make a video for it.
The sisters were all in different states at the time, so they all flew to LA on about a day's notice, somebody had found some dresses for them to wear, the girls put 'em on, and they filmed the whole thing in about 3 hours. The video was edited and distributed in less than week.
| by Anonymous | reply 49 | January 2, 2023 5:09 PM |
AND in 1984 I’m So Excited re-entered the Billboard Hot 100. A newly remixed version appeared on Break Out. Eventually landing in the Top 10 in the early fall.
The original version of the track appeared on 1982’s So Excited album. The single reached #30 in the fall months of 1982.
| by Anonymous | reply 50 | January 2, 2023 6:40 PM |
may be of interest ..... wiki entry of the record producer behind the first albums. seems like a smart guy who knew how to showcase their gifts.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 51 | January 2, 2023 6:42 PM |
I’m So Excited was written by Anita Pointer, Ruth Pointer, June Pointer and Chris Christian.
June said they were focused on writing a sexy up tempo song similar to Olivia Newton-John “Physical”.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | January 2, 2023 6:44 PM |
I like Anita’s 1987 Overnight Success
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | January 2, 2023 6:49 PM |
I was stoked the first time I saw "Jump" on MTV at my best friend's house (we didn't have cable). Yeah, it's a nothing/thrown-together video (and we were probably a little bored at first)....but then about a minute or so into it, I bolted up, pointing at the screen excitedly: "Oh my god, that's Willie!!"
"Willie" was my father's next door neighbor, William Banks, then the World Record holder in the triple-jump, and Olympian in 1984 &1988 (also made the 1980 team). He's in the video a couple times (red shorts/white tank). Such a cool guy! He & my dad bonded as neighbors over law school/bar exam stuff. Willie was just finishing at UCLA law (dad's alma mater) when they first met.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 54 | January 2, 2023 8:20 PM |
Fascinating shit.
(No, I’m not being snarky, I mean that. I love hearing stories like that.)
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | January 2, 2023 8:37 PM |
R54 Great story! Willie had a host ass, too!
| by Anonymous | reply 56 | January 2, 2023 8:55 PM |
^Hot ass, that is. But it would make a good host ass, too.
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | January 2, 2023 8:58 PM |
I remember there was some question as to what they were singing in the song. Some said the lyrics were:
When you are next to me
You're the perfect size
Oh it feels so right
Come in me if you want me tonight
| by Anonymous | reply 59 | January 2, 2023 9:12 PM |
Lots of William Banks pics at link.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 60 | January 2, 2023 9:20 PM |
[quote] Was Automatic the first single to chart off of the album Break Out?
The leadoff single was the mid-tempo pop ballad, "I Need You", which fell short of the top 40, something that often spells serious trouble for an artist's career. Coming on the heels of the disappointing "So Excited!" album, which failed to produce a top ten pop hit, things were looking bleak for a moment there.
I'm not sure how "Automatic" got chosen as the next single, with a rare Ruth lead vocal, it at first seems an unlikely choice. But maybe that was the point. I think people were unsure who the artist was when they first heard it, because Ruth hadn't taken the lead on any of their prior big hits...yet it was a great record, and it wound up giving them the boost they needed.
(For the record, I LOVE "I Need You", it's my favorite song on the album. But it wasn't a great pick as a first single.)
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | January 2, 2023 9:27 PM |
The record compan(ies) didn't always know what to do with them.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | January 2, 2023 9:30 PM |
And I love Automatic, r61.
Great song.
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | January 2, 2023 9:39 PM |
Sadly the last real hit they had....their renaissance was relatively short.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 64 | January 2, 2023 9:43 PM |
They did a special on 'Showtime' back in 1985 titled 'The Pointers Party in Paris' . It was a great concert, and should have been released on DVD as well as CD. I had recorded it on VHS and watched it hundreds of times.
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | January 2, 2023 9:49 PM |
I don't remember this. Quite a combination. As a child of the '70s, I kinda love it in a cheeseball way.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 69 | January 2, 2023 10:17 PM |
With Joan on The Tonight Show
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 70 | January 2, 2023 10:46 PM |
R67 God, that was amazing. Their voices blended so perfectly and they made it seem so effortless.
No autune or backing tracks needed for these ladies!
| by Anonymous | reply 71 | January 2, 2023 11:14 PM |
[quote] "I'm So Excited" was added to the "Break Out" album, because the label wanted hit singles featuring a solo vocal from each sister for PR purposes. June scored with "Jump," Ruth with "Automatic," and by adding "I'm So Excited," Anita got hers.
I heard it was because some suit at RCA loved "I'm So Excited" and with the success of the first two singles they felt they had another shot to get it on Top 40 radio. It helped that it already had a video that could be serviced to MTV. It got a second life and is probably now their best known song. Still a party anthem.
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | January 2, 2023 11:34 PM |
Their hits were more precious because they were so few.
I mean, compared to others.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | January 2, 2023 11:36 PM |
And I seem to remember there was a radio programmer somewhere that, when Jump took off, started playing I'm So Excited and had off the charts success in that market, which led to more stations doing it, and ultimately, to the record company's attention, so they added it to Break Out.
| by Anonymous | reply 74 | January 2, 2023 11:37 PM |
R39: They were also on Gimme A Break! as the Doo-Wop Girls -- Nell's former singing group that had dumped her in favor of a skinnier & prettier lead singer, in order to land their first major gig. (no doubt inspired by Dreamgirls' success at the time).
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 75 | January 2, 2023 11:39 PM |
[quote] [R39]: They were also on Gimme A Break! as the Doo-Wop Girls -- Nell's former singing group that had dumped her in favor of a skinnier & prettier lead singer, in order to land their first major gig. (no doubt inspired by Dreamgirls' success at the time).
The writers of "Dreamgirls" were hoping for Nell Carter to play Effie, but Nell was done with Broadway and wanted TV.
| by Anonymous | reply 76 | January 2, 2023 11:42 PM |
[quote] The writers of "Dreamgirls" were hoping for Nell Carter to play Effie, but Nell was done with Broadway and wanted TV.
Who can blame her? I mean, Broadway pays well, but not "I have an out of control cocaine addiction that needs to be fed" well, unlike TV.
And speaking of cocaine, back to the Pointers!
| by Anonymous | reply 77 | January 2, 2023 11:51 PM |
[quote]I mean, Broadway pays well, but not "I have an out of control cocaine addiction that needs to be fed" well, unlike TV.
I mean, Broadway pays well, but not "I needs to be fed" well, unlike TV.
FIFY
| by Anonymous | reply 78 | January 2, 2023 11:54 PM |
hang onto your 1993 compact discs of this one..... I don't see it streaing anywhere.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 79 | January 3, 2023 1:26 AM |
[quote] Who can blame her? I mean, Broadway pays well, but not "I have an out of control cocaine addiction that needs to be fed" well, unlike TV.
Well, it was only that, right? She couldn't maintain a 8 show a week schedule. Otherwise, "Dreamgirls" would have been the perfect vehicle for her and her second Tony. It had a (then-)huge budget and she would have made quite a bit of $$$ We may not have that song but she would have given Effie the gravitas and pathos the character needed. She just got lucky with "Gimme A Break!" She was not known to TV audiences and there was no certainty that it would be successful.
Bringing it full circle, in the 90s the Pointer Sisters toured in a spirited production of "Ain't Misbehavin'" -- Nell Carter won her Tony starring in the original Broadway production. I recall Anita Pointer sang lead on the best performances the evening I saw it.
| by Anonymous | reply 80 | January 3, 2023 2:40 AM |
Network TV $$$ vs. NY stage $$$. There's no contest.
| by Anonymous | reply 81 | January 3, 2023 2:48 AM |
Has this been shared yet? Good medley of their hits.
I did chuckle when they cut to a totally uninterested Laura Branigan.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 82 | January 3, 2023 4:06 AM |
Was she the one with mental problems?
| by Anonymous | reply 83 | January 3, 2023 4:11 AM |
My family was so conservative we thought lasagna was one of The Pointer Sisters.
| by Anonymous | reply 84 | January 3, 2023 4:12 AM |
June was the one who had a ton of issues.
| by Anonymous | reply 85 | January 3, 2023 4:13 AM |
Ruth is the one people thought sounded like a man.
She had twins at 47! I guess after she dried out and got off the drugs.
| by Anonymous | reply 86 | January 3, 2023 4:14 AM |
Ruth Pointer's memoir Still So Excited is a good read. She goes into detail about how debauched and crazy the 70s/early 80s were for all of them.
Ruth was hospitalized in the mid 80s and the doctors told her if she didn't quit drugs she would be dead in less than a year. She quit immediately and has been sober ever since.
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | January 3, 2023 4:15 AM |
Why did Bonnie leave the group? She appeared at our gay cabaret in Rock Island, Illinois. This was the early 1980’s but I could be wrong. It was before AIDS stopped the party.
| by Anonymous | reply 90 | January 3, 2023 4:21 AM |
Bonnie Pointer was lured away from the group by her then-husband, Jeffrey Bowen. Bowen was a Motown writer/producer who convinced Bonnie she could be as popular as Diana Ross or Donna Summer.
| by Anonymous | reply 92 | January 3, 2023 4:37 AM |
Wasn't Bonnie either super evangelical or a Scieno?
Sadly it seems like she never really reunited with her sisters, I think they were estranged at the time of her death.
| by Anonymous | reply 93 | January 3, 2023 4:48 AM |
^I might have confused Bonnie with June. June I think was estranged from them for a time but sounds like they reconciled at the time of her death.
| by Anonymous | reply 94 | January 3, 2023 4:53 AM |
June was never able to quit drugs and she also had mental issues. She did reconcile with her sisters in her last years.
Bonnie was an alcoholic and died from cirrhosis.
| by Anonymous | reply 95 | January 3, 2023 5:01 AM |
[quote] Bowen was a Motown writer/producer who convinced Bonnie she could be as popular as Diana Ross or Donna Summer.
Somehow, I don't seem to recall Diana performing in somebody's living room in a cheap platinum blonde wig, throwing up in her mouth onstage, and then proceeding to sing along to a recording made by the Supremes after she left the group...
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 96 | January 3, 2023 5:17 AM |
That’s rich r96. Full blown alcoholism from my least fave of the sisters.
Bonnie didn’t even have anything to do with I’m So Excited. She didn’t write or record it.
RIP Anita, Bonnie and June
| by Anonymous | reply 97 | January 3, 2023 2:50 PM |
In latter years, Bonnie and June did track dates together at gay clubs. They sang all the songs that Bonnie never even recorded. They were a fun, rowdy, energetic mess high on life and crack. They usually made their way to the stage dancing with the crowd and strutting across the dance floor with tambourines. They still looked great. God bless them both.
In fairness, Bonnie was probably prettier than Diana Ross or Donna Summer so in 1978 it is conceivable that her husband thought she had a good chance at solo success.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 98 | January 3, 2023 3:17 PM |
R98 Ruth and Anita had a period of "tough love" where they shut out Bonnie and June because of their co-dependent drug use. They had tried to remove June from Bonnie's influence, but were unsuccessful and finally had to walk away. June ultimately sobered up and broke free from Bonnie.
| by Anonymous | reply 99 | January 3, 2023 3:38 PM |
All these celebrity deaths has really solidified something for me. The boomer generation is so huge and basically produced a lot of freakin entertainers and A listers, so we're seeing a lot of deaths. I'm not saying she was an A lister but you get my point.
At any rate, what has solidified is by the time one approaches 60 you really need to lead a drama free life. Think about it. People still usually die in their 70s. RIP to this talent. Be happy and be with the one you truly love once you reach middle age.
| by Anonymous | reply 100 | January 3, 2023 3:53 PM |
R99 and sadly had a stroke not long after that.
| by Anonymous | reply 101 | January 3, 2023 4:05 PM |
