338 Hello Pointer Sisters - Everybody Is A Star

Chart  entered  : 3  February  1979

Chart  peak : 61

Number  of  hits : 10

Discounting  the  Pistols  whose  Great  Rock  And  Roll  Swindle   can't  really  be  classed  as  a  group  album , I  can't  think  of  anyone  else  who's  so  reliant   ( 50 % ) on  one   LP  to  get  in  here. 

The  Pointer  girls  hail  from  Oakland, California. Their  father  was  a  minister and  they  were  raised  in  the  gospel tradition. Ruth  is  the  eldest  born  in  1946  followed  by  Anita  ( born 1948 ) Bonnie ( born  1950  )  and   June  ( born  1953 ).  The  two older  girls  married very  early  but  Bonnie  and  June  started  performing  together  as  Pointers  A  Pair  in  1969. In  1971  Anita  quit  her  job  as  a  secretary  to  join  them. They  changed  their  name  to  The  Pointer  Sisters  and   started  getting  regular  session  work. .After   backing  Elvin  Bishop  on  tour  they  got  a  recording  deal  with  Atlantic.

Their  first  single  was  "Don't  Try To  Take  The  Fifth"  in  November  1971  a  decent  pop  soul  song  which  sounds  like   Atlantic  were trying  to  groom  them  as  a  female  Jackson  Five.  They  also  recorded  the  vocals  for  the  "Pinball  Number  Count"  feature  on  Sesame  Street  .  I  haven't  heard  their  second  and  final  single  for Atlantic, "Destination  No  More  Heartaches".   Despite  the  group  being  released  by  the  label  Ruth  succumbed  to  the  temptation  to  join  them  in  December  1972.

They  got  a  new  contract  with  Blue  Thumb  and  released  their  eponymous  debut  album  in  May  1973. The  cover  unveiled  their  striking  new  image  based  on  picking  up  1940s  clothes  from  thrift  stores. The  first  single  from  the LP  was  a cover  of  Allen  Toussaint's  "Yes  We  Can  Can"  a  slow  burning  , consciousness  raising    R &  B number  with  Anita  taking  the  lead.  It  shot  to  number  11  in  the  U.S.  after  an  appearance  on  The  Helen  Reddy  Show  and was  a  smaller  hit  in  other  countries.  In  its  wake  the  album  started  selling  despite  its  eclectic  mix  of  styles including  jazz, swing  and  bebop. The  follow  up  single  was  a  cover  of  Willie  Dixon's  swamp  blues  song  "Wang  Dang  Doodle"  which  reached  number  61  despite  the  girls  not  doing  too  much  to  modernise  it. The  album  eventually  got  to  number  13.

Their  next  album  "That's  A  Plenty "  followed  quickly  in  1974. The  first  single  was  a  mistake  ,  a  jazzy  cover  of  "Steam  Heat"  from  the  1954  musical  The  Pajama  Game  which  confused  their  audience. Notwithstanding  its  failure,  the  follow-up  was  "Fairytale" , Anita  and  Bonnie's  country  number. Originally  it  was  to  be a  B-side  to  a  version  of  the  Vibrations' "Love  In  Them  There  Hills"  but  a  lukewarm  reaction  to  that  from  pop  radio  led  them  to  pitching  "Fairytale  "  to  C &  W  stations  instead. It  paid  off  spectacularly  despite , to  my  ears  , being  a  pretty  dull  song.  It  reached  number  13  on  the  charts , made  them  the  first  black  group  to  apear  at  the  Grand  Ole  Opry, won  a  Grammy  and  was  covered by  Elvis. Strangely  it  didn't  do  much  for  the album  which  didn't  advance  beyond  number  82.

Encouraged  their  next  single  in  January  1975  was  another  Anita/ Bonnie  country  composition  "Live  Your  Life  Before  You  Die" . Despite  being  somewhat  sprightlier  lightning  didn't  strike  twice  and  it  stiffed  at  number  89.  It  wasn't  included  on  their  next  album  "Steppin'"  in  May  1975. Though  still  encompassing  a  broad  range  of  styles  there's  a  greater  preponderance  of  contemporary  R  &  B  tracks  and  one  of  them   "How  Long (  Betcha  Got  A  Chick  On  The  Side )  with  its  percussive  backing  vocals  restored  them  to  the  U.S.  Top  20  in  July. The  similarly  gritty  "Going  Down  Slowly"  reached  number  61.

They  didn't  release  an  album  in  1976  but  made  a  brief  appearance  in  the  film  Car  Wash  and  the  song  they  contributed  to  the  soundtrack  ,"You  Gotta  Believe"  was  released  as  a  single .  Written  by  Norman  Whitfield  , the  song  is  little  more  than  a  chant  wound  around  a  monolithic  bass  line  and  failed  to  crack  the  Top  100.

The  band  had  a  difficult  year  in  1977. First  June  decided  she  needed  some  time  out  from  the  group  and  bailed  out  after  recording  just  one  track  for  the  next  album  , a  cover  of  Sam  Cooke's  "Havin  A  Party". This  lively  but  vacuous  track  then  failed  to  chart  when  released  as  a  single   and  its  parent  album  of  the  same  title  stalled  at  number  76.  With  their  contract  with  Blue  Thumb  now  fulfilled  Bonnie  decided  it  was  the  right  time  to  quit  and  launch  herself  as  a  solo  artist on  Motown  with  the  help  of  her  new  husband  Jeffrey  Bowen. To  cap  it  all  Ruth  was  pregnant.

Once  she  was  up   on  her  feet  again  Ruth  and  Anita  signed  up  with  Planet  Records . They  decided  to  jettison  the  nostalgic  part  of  their  repertoire  and  its  trappings  and  stick  to contemporary  styles. Their  first  recording  for  the  new  label  was  this  cover  of  a  Sly  and  Family  Stone  number , seemingly  only  released  in  the  UK. June  did  some  vocals  on  it  as  a  guest  and  was  then  persuaded  to  re-join. It's  an  odd  choice with  the  girls  trading  vocal  lines  in  a  seemingly  random  fashion  before  the  pa-pa-pa  bridge  to  the  chorus  which   then  turns  out  to  actually  be  the  chorus. Despite  the  girls'  vocal  qualities  it's  not  a  comfortable  listen  and  I'm  surprised  it  made  any  mark  at  all  here.