When during a
lunch break long, long time ago in 1973 I bought The first album of The Pointer
Sisters my colleague looked in disgust when she said “You like that? That
screaming? I can do the same!” My answer was “Excellent! Then let’s find us a
record company and become rich!” At the time I was turning 18 years old and a
big fan of The Supremes and Diana Ross. Buying this album somehow felt like I
betrayed them. The feeling was gone as soon as I played the record. I was sold.
In retrospect, I really had become a fan of the Pointer Sisters. Was there a
rule saying one can be a fan of one singer or group only?
The Pointer
Sisters at first had this 40’s style. The picture on the album cover showed the
four sisters sitting around a table. Drapes on the wall, table cloth and a
vase with flowers. Even without seeing the image I can still picture it. It
looked very old fashioned and therefore it was quite unique in the early ’70s. The
songs were all great and no way they would fit in the pop culture. One of my
favorite songs on the album “That’s how I feel” I could not even place in the
spectrum of music. None of my friends nor siblings liked this music. It simply
did not fit in the pop culture.
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| Front cover of "The Pointer Sisters" |
The next
year, 1974, I just had to get the follow-up. It was titled “That’s a plenty”.
And again the girls were dressed very old fashioned. But in a great style! This
album I thought could -if one had to- be categorized under Jazz. A very
well-known Dutch piano player (Pim Jacobs, husband of the great and late Jazz
singer Rita Reys) player made a television show with girls and he really
praised them for their vocal arts. There was not a single song on this album
that I did not like. Amid the jazzy tunes were one Country and Western song
“Fairytale” written by Anita and Bonnie Pointer. It earned them a Grammy award.
That same year the group also played the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and needless
to say I had a ticket. I still remember that evening. I was all alone of course
and had a seat on the front row, first balcony. I had brought a bouquet of
white roses that I would love to hand to the trio (June could not be there and
it was said she was ill). At the end of the event, I did not dare going
downstairs being afraid everybody would see me. So I stood up and applauded the
group while the bouquet was under my arm. Anita looked up, saw me and signed to
throw the flowers. She caught them and threw me a blown kiss. By doing that she really made my day!
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| I loved this figure so much that I painted one on the back of my denim jacket. A picture of the girls was on the back cover |
I cannot
recall how often I have played the follow up “The Pointer Sisters Live at the
Opera House”. It made me feel like I was attending their concert in Amsterdam
again. A Dutch teenage-pop-magazine had a raffle and all we had to do was name
our favorite musician. It did not come as a surprise to me that I had won
nothing since I had named Thomas P. Salisbury. He had given it all for the
girls on many recordings and also on this album.
The third studio
album “Steppin” had a completely different cover: airbrushed shoes which were a
combination of high heels, basketball shoes, and shoes for tap dancing. There
was some jazz on the album but to me, it sounded more like pop music. Still,
again they did a great job. “Sleeping alone” was written by Stevie Wonder and
that showed how great the group really was. Some songs were often played in our
local disco and I would lie if I said I did not like it. But I did notice that
the magic had gone.
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| Again another piece of cover art. It was so well done even in the smallest details |
When “Having
a party” was released I did not feel like I had to run to the shop anymore. But
sure enough I did get the album and sure enough I was not impressed at all with
it. The Pointer Sisters slowly were moving into the direction of the trendy pop
music and slowly I began to lose interest. The group no longer was different
from the other mediocre bands. Personally I have never had feeling with Middle
of the Road music.
Next thing
the world knew was that the group had huge disco hits; music for the masses. Of
course I am not saying that it was all bad. In those years I could often be
found in the discos. Being at home I liked to listen to music of higher
standards. That could even be all kinds of music from classical to hard rock. From
French chansons to torch songs. But it always had to be more qualified than mediocre.
Back on
topic: No matter what has happened to the group, I still treasure the early
albums very much. And if you ever got the time; those early sessions can still
be found on the internet where you can enjoy their voices that delightful romp
through one another.
To see more, please look for the links and/or website on top of this page.
Love the ones you’re with and be loved in return.
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