What Are The Pointer Sisters’ 5 Biggest Hits?

They had 16 Top 40 singles, 13 of which hit the Top 20, and another seven that rolled all the way into the Top 10 on the pop charts. The Pointer Sisters laid down quite an imposing legacy in their 70s and 80s heyday.

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But which of those chart-climbing songs of theirs did the best? Here are the five biggest Pointer Sisters hits in the US.

5. “Automatic” – No. 5 in 1984

If you’re looking for the acme of The Pointer Sisters’ career, the 1983 album Break Out is a great place to start. It rose to the Top 10 on the album charts, sold over three million copies, and churned out a bevy of hit singles. Mark Goldenberg, who also added his guitar to the sessions, wrote “Automatic” with Brock Wright. Ruth Pointer’s ability to go down and get the low notes in the verses makes a huge difference here. It makes the chorus stand out even more when it erupts later in the song.

4. “He’s So Shy” – No. 3 in 1980

Because all three sisters could take the lead on a song and bring it home, it led to some competition whenever a killer single came down the pike. In the case of “He’s So Shy”, Anita Pointer had the first crack at the song in the studio. But ace producer Richard Perry called an audible and went with June Pointer, who added some sultriness to an innocent lyric. Fun fact: songwriters Tom Snow and Cynthia Weil initially pointed this toward Leo Sayer as “She’s So Shy”. But once Perry heard it, he figured out that it was a perfect fit for The Pointer Sisters if the gender was switched.

3. “Jump (For My Love)” – No. 3 in 1984

The songwriters here were Gary Skardina, Stephen Mitchell, and Marti Sharron. They wrote the music first, and when they heard the ebullient synthesizer chords in their finished form, they literally started jumping up and down. That opened the floodgates on the lyrics. When Van Halen scored with “Jump” earlier in 1984, The Pointer Sisters changed the title of their track, adding the parenthetical phrase “For My Love”. Try listening to this one without getting a happy kick out of it. No chance you’ll pull it off.

2. “Slow Hand” – No. 2 in 1981

John Bettis, who co-wrote this track with Michael Clark, can point to a mind-blowing list of songwriting credits. He was behind tracks for megastars like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and The Carpenters. In his mind, he didn’t hear The Pointer Sisters as the ideal conduit for “Slow Hand” to make it to the pop music heights. But producer Richard Perry did. Anita Pointer takes the lead vocal here and does an outstanding job projecting the combination of desire and savvy that the lyrics display.

1. “Fire” – No. 2 in 1978

Prior to 1978, The Pointer Sisters had done well selling albums and with singles on R&B radio. But pop success was more sporadic and measured when it did come. Their version of “Fire” appeared on their 1978 album Energy, their first as a trio after Bonnie Pointer left the fold. Bruce Springsteen wrote “Fire” at a point where he felt ambivalent about songs that were pop-oriented and didn’t fit into his larger album themes. Lucky for The Pointer Sisters, it proved an ideal vehicle for them to make their biggest pop splash to date.

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