june pointer died. you probably have to be a certain age or else you say 'who?'
june pointer was the youngest member of the pointer sisters. they started out as four sisters (bonnie, ruth, anita and june) then 1 left (bonnie). the three sang together, they were a vocal group.
the 1st song i knew was their hit 'fire' which was written by bruce springsteen.
romeo and juliet
sampson and delilah
if you don't know it by those 2 lines, you don't know it.
they were good for songs and that was really it for most of their career.
'american music' was a hit they had and 'he's so shy' was a mega hit for them.
he's so shy
that's why i love my baby
he's so shy
it's driving me crazy
that sweet little boy who caught my eye
they had a hit with 'slow hand' and maybe some will know that:
i want a lover with a slow hand
i want a lover with an easy touch
i want a man who can spend some time
not come and go in a heated rush
then came 'i'm so excited' which was a hit twice.
it was a hit in the early 80s and then, when they were on a hot streak with break out, it was a hit again.
break out?
their best album. the 1 time they made a real album. richard perry was their producer on almost everything. he produced carly simon (hotcakes, no secrets, playing possum) and barbra streisand (stoney end) among others.
break out was a favorite cassette for me (back then, we bought albums on cassette). i always bought every 1 of their cassettes and was usually disappointed because they had 1/2 an album or less. a lot of filler. break out was great.
and it was a huge hit. so somebody decided, 'hey, they had a hit with "i'm so excited" awhile back, let's put it on the album!' and they reissued the album. on cd you can only get that version.
break out was when they moved away from the pop sound and went after more of a dance feel.
'telgraph your love' was 1 of my favorites on the cd but i also loved 'i need you' and 'easy persuasion.' guess what? those weren't hit singles.
this was a great album. i can't remember but i think 'automatic' was the 1st single. this 1 had ruth on lead and there was a big controversy over whether or not it was ruth's voice natural or manipulated because her voice was so deep. it's a great song and was a huge hit. if that wasn't the 1st single, it was 'jump (for my love)' which was also a huge hit. i loved that song. jump - jump - for my love. so they had 2 hits and 'i'm so excited' got added on for 3. it was re-released and a hit again. 'neturon dance' waas a huge hit from the album and it was also in the movie beverly hills cop. for that video, they were usherettes with flashlights while clips from the movie played. but that wasn't it. 'baby come and get it' was also a hit on dance and urban charts. i believe it also crossed over to pop. five hits off 1 album. it was really big. it came out in 1983 and was still on the charts in 1984.
in the summer of 1985, they came out with contact and the 1st single was 'dare me.' that was a hit as well and had a video with a young model as a boxer. he was hot. i believe he had red boxing shorts but that was so long ago. i just remember thinking 'hot!'
as always, i rushed out and got the album as soon as it came out. the 2nd single was a mistake. they went with a ballad. 'freedom.' it was a hit but i think it killed the enthusiasm for the album.
i liked the song but they really needed to go with something more up tempo. i remember people complaining about 'freedom.' i would defend it and say 'wait for the next 1.'
but that really was it. 'pound pound' was great and should have been the follow up to 'dare me.'
they did another album with richard perry producing and it didn't do very well. they had a hit on the urban charts with the lead single, i don't even remember it.
and that was really it.
they could really sing. they sang with bruce springsteen on the first merry christmas album in 1985 or 1986 (charity album for special olympics). they also performed on 'we are the world.'
of the non singles, i think my favorite song was 'i need you.'
something's wrong (something's wrong)
things ain't right (things ain't right)
and it turns into a silly fight
i walk out (i walk out)
you get mad (you get mad)
and we both just seem to feeling bad
the way their voices mixed on that song just gave me chills.
if you're wondering about song writing credit, they worked with outside song writers. the only hit they had that they wrote was 'i'm so exicted' (with trevor lawrence).
that's a song that always pops up in movies. (the fabulous baker boys, working girl, etc.)
as a 4-some (with bonnie) they had a hit with 'the fairytale' but i never knew that song. when i was buying cassettes, they never had that at any store i went to. i always wanted to hear that song during the 80s but by the time the 90s rolled around, there had been too many bad albums.
break out was their best 1. and they are a part of 80s popular music.
i was really sad to see the news online this evening that june pointer died.
they had at least 14 hits, that i know of, from the 70s to the 80s ('yes we can' was a hit before 'the fairytale') and that may not seem like a huge number today when you put out an album and get the 1st hit, then the 2nd, then the 3rd, then the 4th ... but back then it wasn't uncommon (sad but true) for acts trying to have hits to end up with only 1 or 2 hits per album.
to put break out into perspective it came out after thriller and before tina turner's private dancer and bruce springsteen's born in the u.s.a. music had been a slump, sales were down - so of course the labels were whining 'piracy!'
reality was a recession, rising prices and really bad vinyl. every time i bought a vinyl album, it was like placing a bet. when i got it home, maybe it would play without skips, maybe it wouldn't.
i returned linda ronstadt's living in the u.s.a 4 times before i got 1 that would play correctly.
then came the walkman in the 80s and cassettes became the rage. michael jackson and others revived interest in music (stevie nicks' belladonna was 1 of the huge albums of the early 80s). donna summer had re-discovered god and lost her talent.
along came the pointer sisters.
break out stayed on the charts forever. if you're looking for some where to start with their music, get that on cd.
