By Randy Patterson, Boomerocity.com
If one were to name a female singer whose voice has mesmerized audiences for more than 50 years, the name Ruth Pointer of the legendary The Pointer Sisters just might come to mind. That is understandable with hits like “Automatic,” “I’m So Excited,” and “Jump (For My Love)” that are still immediately recognizable whenever they hit baby boomers’ ears.
Ruth and her sisters grew up in an Oakland, California, home where the atmosphere was permeated with the sounds of gospel music. Ruth, Anita, Bonnie, and June were seemingly born with harmonies that were extensively used in their father’s church and created the basis of the signature sound of The Pointer Sisters. That signature sound blends those heavy gospel influences with pop, R&B, jazz, and – believe it or not – country. This allowed the talented women to destroy genre boundaries, to record a unique and diverse catalog of work, and to grab the ears of listeners of all musical palettes. This created die-hard fans around the world – fans who still lovingly and enthusiastically support the ladies today.
Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to chat with Ruth about an upcoming short tour, her long career, the lessons she’s learned in life, and what she hopes is the impact The Pointer Sisters have had. Ruth also talked about her “Wow, this is special!” moment after the American Music Awards in 1985 when she and her sisters participated in the historic recording of “We are the World,” a song co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.
The short tour that Ruth and The Pointer Sisters (consisting of her daughter and granddaughter) were embarking on included the Commodores and The Spinners. When asked about what that tour would entail, Ruth said, “We just sing the songs that have made us known and made people happy over the years, especially the ’70s and ’80s, and maybe a little bit of the ’90s. We’re just going to sing a song because, quite frankly, our audiences are diverse and a mixture of maybe a few young people, a few generations of people… some seniors in there we have to appeal to. We sure have some memories, and that’s what we’re bringing.”
If anyone is synonymous with The Pointer Sisters, it would be the legendary Lionel Richie. Ruth shared some stories about her relationship with him.
“Lionel pulled me, Anita, and June in to open for him on his first solo tour, and we got to be pretty good friends. At the time, the Beverly Hills Cop film had been released, and I wasn’t that crazy about that song written by Allee Willis – ‘Neutron Dance.’ I didn’t know what that word really meant. It sounded violent to me – neutron – like a bomb or something. She said she had written it with my voice in mind, you know, because it had this gospel kind of undertone to it. We were on tour with Lionel, and I think it was the last show that we were doing with him.
“We were on tour with him for about two or three months all over the country. And the last show he came to our dressing room, and he said, ‘Look, I know that ‘Neutron Dance’ is not in your lineup right now, but you’re going to have to sing it because the movie has come out, the song is in the film and part of the soundtrack and people want to really hear it. They really are liking the song.’ So, we’re like, ‘Okay, Lionel.’
“So, we’re doing our show, and all of a sudden, the band starts playing the intro to ‘Neutron Dance,’ the audience jumped up out of their seats and started rushing the stage and it really threw me. I almost forgot the words to the song! And at that moment it occurred to me – I was like, ‘Okay, uh, this is what a hit feels like. Okay.’ I never will forget that moment… and ‘Neutron Dance’ has been in our show ever since that day. We’re singing it now!”
There is more to this interview, where Ruth talks about her relief that music artists are “smarter” now so they don’t get taken advantage of like past generations did, just how exhausting travel can be, and her willingness to still be “teachable.” It can be watched in its entirety at Boomerocity.com or listened to on the Boomerocity podcast. Keep up on the latest with The Pointer Sisters on their website, ThePointerSisters.com.