The eldest, and only surviving, sister from the original Pointer Sisters line-up, Anita Pointer, died on New Years Eve 2022 from cancer aged 74. This is a re-post of the tribute paid to her on news of her demise to celebrate what would have been her 75th birthday.
The group was set up by younger sisters June (d 2006 52) and Bonnie (d 2020 69) as a duo (Pointers, a Pair) in 1969 with Anita joining later. They were signed to Atlantic where they released just two singles in 1971-72. The flip side of the second in 1972, "Send Him Back", was huge on the Northern Soul scene a few years later.
The Pointer Sisters' breakthrough single was an Allen Toussaint song "Yes We Can Can", on which Anita sang lead, released on Blue Thumb in 1973 by which time they were joined by a fourth sister, Ruth. Bonnie left for a solo career in 1978 leaving them a trio once more.
Their music was quite eclectic to say the least with a single "Fairytale" winning a Grammy in 1975 for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group and was also nominated for Best Country Song and their 80s/90s material was pop, rock, electro, disco. The song was written by Anita and Bonnie and later recorded by Elvis.
They had most commercial success in the 80s with songs like "He's So Shy", "Slow Hand", "Automatic", "Jump (For My Love)" and "I'm So Excited". Two further Grammy's were awarded in 1985 for "Automatic" (Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices), "Jump (For My Love)" (Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal). They were first to cover Prince's "I Feel For You" in 1982 on "So Excited" before Chaka Khan had a worldwide hit with it in 1984.
In 1987 Anita released a solo album "Love For What It Is" from which "More Than A Memory" was a club hit (video below). She also released a duet with Earl Thomas Conley "Too Many Times" which was a #2 Country hit. Apparently, she recorded a solo album in 1977 for ABC that was never released. She had been working on an album, "Take Me Away", which was a collection of unreleased recordings.
The Pointer Sisters released around fifteen studio albums between 1973-93.
Anita retired from the group in 2015 owing to ill health and in 2020 wrote a book "Fairytale: The Pointer Sisters' Family Story". She died in her Beverly Hills home on 31 Dec 2022 surrounded by her family. Her only daughter Jada died in 2006 and a song ("Jada") was written for her on their debut, eponymous, album in 1973.
The group continues to perform with Ruth, her daughter Issa (with ex Temptation Dennis Edwards) and granddaughter Sadako.
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Anita was the second eldest- Ruth is the oldest sister and she is the only surviving member- The sisters have two older brothers
ReplyDeleteThanks .. you are of course correct ... but the wording was from the 'original' line up, of which Ruth wasn't a member at the time.
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