The Pointer Sisters are doing it for themselves
Soul legends Anita and Ruth Pointer talk about the struggles of running a family business for 40 years
T he Pointer Sisters will go down in history as a family of sou-lmusic super heroes. Ruth, Bonnie, June and Anita—famously known as one of the only Grammy-winning singing quartet sister acts in pop and R&b—have experienced the joys and pains of performing together like no other group in music history, save for the Jackson 5. They turned out a barrage of hits in the ’70s and ’80s—diverse cuts that range from “He’s So Shy” and “Happiness” to “Jump (For My Love)” and “Neutron Dance”—and their singles continuously get major radio play, which have kept these siblings touring year after year (they are booked to perform at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on December 1). Their catalogue has also managed to stay relevant in the club scene, with some of the most influential Djs—from U.K.’S electro duo Basement Jaxx to France’s DJ Pilooski—remixing and sampling their vocals regularly.
“The song ‘Automatic’ has lived 300 lives,” says Ruth Pointer of the often-remixed, Billboard- topping track, when we reached her via phone at her home in Hopedale, Mass. “And so have I!” she says, laughing.
“It’s so funny. When the song hit the big time, everyone thought the lead vocalist was Stevie Wonder, but it was me.”
Filling in for June at first, Ruth officially joined her sisters in 1973—the trio then was comprised of June, Bonnie and Anita— before the group recorded their debut album. Right away, the quartet decided to shake up their sound and image, so they could stand out from the other female-fronted groups on the charts.
Lady Gaga
“We’ve never been [nor] wanted to be a girly, cutesy, poopsie-doo bunch of singers,” says Ruth. “We’ve got a lot of power and strength in our voices and demeanour, so much so that people thought we were men early on in our career! This was because we refused to be the gown-wearing Supremes-type little ladies. We are as strong and as hard as any male singing group.”
Sticking to their guns, the foursome chose a palette of ’40s-inspired couture to wear onstage and in public appearances. “It was the best time for women and clothes,” Ruth notes. “The cuts and fabrics were perfection, and a woman was adorned while expressing herself. I still love watching old movies with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Marilyn Monroe for inspiration. These were people who magnified glamour. Using them must have worked because some of Lady Gaga’s outfits look like Pointer Sisters wear. We are so flattered. She pulled from all the greats. So did we.”
The formula of combining nostalgia with catchy, modern choruses caught on quickly. Anita wrote the song “Fairy Tale,” which ended up roping in, not only R&B fans but also staunch Nashville purists.
“When we arrived at the Grand Ole Opry [country-music stage in Nashville] to record ‘Fairy Tale,’ there were protesters,” recalls Anita from her home in Beverly Hills. “They rushed us in through the back to get us away from them. Some people didn’t like the fact that we were there. Their signs said, ‘Keep country music country.’ We showed them. We got our first Grammy because of that song and Elvis Presley ended up recording it.”
Twins at 47
Aside from having to contend with the tough challenges of breaking into genres outside of the R&B world, The Pointer Sisters—much like The Supremes, En Vogue and Destiny’s Child—had their fair share of dramatic personnel changes. In 1978, Bonnie suddenly left the group to go solo (last year, she released a solo album), and in 2006, June passed away after a hard battle with cancer.
Not only have Anita and Ruth been able to weather all the storms, they have also been able to keep the family business strong by keeping it all in the family. For example, Ruth’s granddaughter Roxie Mckain has sung with the group during many tour dates and Anita’s daughter Issa Edwards-Pointer also joins them on stage from time to time. The result of keeping the group alive by performing with kin has given them epic status in the industry. The Pointer Sisters are planning to celebrate their 40th year in the business next year. And to help kick things off, they reissued one of their most popular discs, Energy, in March.
“Honey, this group has been through some changes,” says Ruth.“from the height of our heels, which keep getting higher, to the dissolving of the big record companies, the costume and vocal changes and the fact that I had twins at 47—we have seen and sung through it all.”
Adds Anita, “We also know how to deal with that whole work-life-balance thing now. The first few years of our career were a blur— we were moving so fast. We would do so many interviews that we would fall asleep during the middle. We don’t do that anymore. We work on a sane schedule because we are not 25 and we learned how to pace ourselves.
“The Pointer Sisters may be honouring 40 years in the business, but when we sing ‘I’m So Excited’ onstage, we still feel like we are 40 years old.”