Black Music Month QLS Classic: The Pointer Sisters

Remembering the late Anita Pointer and Bonnie Pointer for Black Music Month, listen back to Questlove Supreme's special 2019 episode with The Pointer Sisters. Anita, Bonnie, and brother Fritz tell Team Supreme about growing up in San Francisco, breaking barriers in Country music, and writing a new chapter for the group during the 1980s.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic
episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
What Up, y'all, it's unpaid bill for Quest Love Supreme.
As you may have seen throughout June, we are celebrating
Black Music one by releasing an episode every day, So
every day you either hear especially picked a QLs classic,
and on Wednesdays we are dropping new two part episodes
with Wayne Brady and the legendary Dance Poyser, both of
which were filmed in the studio. Black music is deeply
important to me and has been an influence throughout my
entire career. It's also something we celebrate here at QLs.

(00:32):
Today's episode is the Pointer Sisters from twenty nineteen. Like
several of the interviews we are revisiting this month, this
one has special significance as Anita and Bonnie Pointer have
since passed. In this interview, they were joined by brother Fritz.
It's a special.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
One supremo Suprema role called Suprema suh Sun A roll
call Suprema some supremo role called Suprema something Sun Supremo roll.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
Call one, two, three, four five, Yeah, I'm six seven
eight nine, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:12):
Said eleven, Yeah, twelve roll.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Supreme, Supreme roll call, Suprema something something supreme call.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
My name is Fonte. Yeah, I'm feeling free.

Speaker 6 (01:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
You gotta believe in something. Yeah, why not believe in me?

Speaker 7 (01:32):
Oh, Suprema something Suprema roll came.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Suprema suck something supreme A roll car name is Sugar. Yeah,
you can't hide your desire.

Speaker 5 (01:44):
Yeah, curse my roll call.

Speaker 8 (01:46):
Yeah, five.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Supremo something Suprema roll call, Suprema s Suprema roll.

Speaker 9 (01:56):
Call when the sisters on here, y'all. Yeah, that's what
you need to know. Yeah, loss Bill so excited. Yeah,
like Jesse spannel.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Suprema God Supreme rolla Suprema so so supremo.

Speaker 10 (02:11):
Role calls with the po ma'am Yeah, teaching me about Yeah,
slow hand.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Whoa supremo supremo role called Suprema so some Suprema role call.

Speaker 5 (02:28):
His name is Fritz. Yeah, I'm glad to be here.
Yeah are you folks?

Speaker 6 (02:33):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (02:34):
I love so dear.

Speaker 8 (02:35):
Oh Suprema Subprema role called Suprema son, Supremo.

Speaker 6 (02:43):
Role called I'm a Nita. Yeah, and I'm excited to
be here with you.

Speaker 11 (02:50):
Whoa Supreme roll.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
Some Supreme.

Speaker 6 (02:56):
Roll call Suprema so soun Supreme.

Speaker 11 (02:59):
Row your Bonnie Peep wants to be in the house.

Speaker 8 (03:04):
Get route Suprema.

Speaker 5 (03:23):
Supreme.

Speaker 6 (03:34):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of Quest Love
Supreme Surprises of bound ladies and gentlemen even for us. Yes,
this is an amazing day we have Team Supreme.

Speaker 5 (03:49):
Was nice anyway.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Shout out to Jesse Spiano. Yes, I thought you were
going to go the obvious route to say it. I'm
so scared.

Speaker 9 (03:59):
I was going to, but that was too obvious.

Speaker 4 (04:03):
I see no, no good good, good work there. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
What can I say, ladies and gentlemen, we have what
I consider a dynasty, an absolute dynasty. Uh, in my opinion,
one of the probably the what what I would call
the the the ultimate metamorphosis in black music covering jazz, country, pop, rock, soul,

(04:35):
R and B.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
You name it.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Uh, this entire family and to have FONDI here is that?
Wait even before we start, are you still good your
esther Phillips imitation?

Speaker 11 (04:49):
Oh for sure, I surround my ho.

Speaker 5 (05:01):
I want to, I want to.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
We want to welcome Bonnie, Anita and Fritz one of
the porters and brother, Thank you, thank you, thank you
for giving us the honor of celebrating uh, your book
which is entitled fairy Tale a Pointered.

Speaker 4 (05:20):
Sister or a Pointer Family. What's the complete title?

Speaker 5 (05:24):
Fairy Tale the Pointer Sister's Family story, Okay?

Speaker 4 (05:28):
And fairy Tale course named after your historic our.

Speaker 11 (05:31):
Lives our first.

Speaker 6 (05:35):
Country country, best country vocal by dual or group. Bye
we were.

Speaker 12 (05:42):
It was written by me and Bonnie and we went
over the oak Ridge Boys and the Statler Brothers Great Country.

Speaker 6 (05:49):
To Nashville, Tennessee. David Rubinson was our producer and he
was just amazing and he had lived in Nashville, but
he took us there to record it in Nashville with
the Opry musician, all operate musicians.

Speaker 12 (06:01):
All musicians, and they didn't know that we were black
at first.

Speaker 11 (06:05):
And they said and we got on stage, they said, hot,
damn it. Them gals is black.

Speaker 6 (06:13):
That was Opry. Yeah, the first black females to ever
perform there, Charlie Bride.

Speaker 10 (06:21):
It was a welcoming surprise.

Speaker 11 (06:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (06:24):
They loved us. After we sang the song though a
thousand times, they had us sing it three times. Really, yeah,
kept saying silent again, girl.

Speaker 12 (06:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 11 (06:33):
It was funny. It was it was funny. I was
far it was really surprising.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
So this was a collaborative effort from all of you
as far as like is it an oral history book
or how how's the book format it?

Speaker 6 (06:46):
It is a collaborative effort from all of us. My
brother Fritz is the writer, okay, and we fed him information.

Speaker 11 (06:53):
He's professor Fritz.

Speaker 6 (06:58):
I just retired from Contracstal Coniversity. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
Yeah, I taught for thirty thirty five years.

Speaker 6 (07:05):
Yeah university.

Speaker 5 (07:10):
I taught. I was in the English department, but I
taught African history and African literature, both oral and written
African literature. And so I taught those courses for thirty
three years here.

Speaker 11 (07:22):
And we had to sit there and learn them. And
it was such a wonderful teacher.

Speaker 6 (07:27):
It was great because you know, growing up in Oakland,
we got no history, black history in our schools. And
when my brother came back from college and set up
a center and we called it the Black Students Study Group,
and he taught us history that we never knew, you know,
important things that black kids should know to feel proud

(07:49):
of themselves.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
Yeah. I feel like a Grillo because you know, the
Greo is someone who the grio is someone who you know,
recites poetry and history and then but the grio needs,
uh some sort of heroic act in order to write about.
And so I consider my sisters the heroines in this
and I'm the grio who records their heroic deeds. So yes,

(08:16):
can I?

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Can I assume one of my favorite songs by you
guys when like I've been listening, like the like the
back of my hand.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
But uh, the the.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
The intro to Steamed Heat where you guys talk about
your So can I assume that was autobiographical?

Speaker 4 (08:40):
Like just.

Speaker 6 (08:43):
So it was really written? It was not what we experienced.
We didn't have steam heat in Oakland. There was no
stame heat in Oakland. And we were talking about the play.
Was it a pajama game?

Speaker 11 (08:54):
Tell us about it.

Speaker 12 (08:55):
It was a pajama game that did in high school
and to the group, and I started just sang that
song to them a game and then I liked that song,
so then I thought it today my sisters after after
I graduated from school and started the Pointed Sisters.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
So what was uh your early childhood, uh memories like
growing up in Oakland?

Speaker 4 (09:23):
What was the Oakland like back then.

Speaker 6 (09:25):
I thought it was a great town.

Speaker 11 (09:28):
I have fun a lot of.

Speaker 6 (09:33):
It's different now, it's changed so much. And we lived
right across the street from Defirmary Park. That's where all
the Black Panthers would have their rallies. But even before
those times, we used to play at that park every day.
It was our babysitter school.

Speaker 12 (09:47):
We went to cold School and go to Defirmary Park
and play and.

Speaker 6 (09:52):
Mother and guns.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
There was charm school.

Speaker 12 (09:57):
We went to charm school at defferm Charm School, cookie class,
dance classes.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yeah, because the only time we heard about that was Motown.

Speaker 6 (10:05):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 12 (10:05):
We had the Walkward books on our ass and hold
our purses a certain way and.

Speaker 6 (10:10):
Have certain clothes and gloves.

Speaker 11 (10:12):
The mother made us do that.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
Yeah. I think it's really good for women to have that.
And Fritz talks about that too. With the importance of
the parks.

Speaker 5 (10:21):
Yeah, my brother now is Commissioner of Parks and wreck
for the City of Tacoma, and it's an elected position.
They have to vote him in every year, and he's
been re elected for like three times. Yeah, and he's
really concerned that the parks have seen a decline and
they don't have the kind of upkeep and maintenance that
they should have because when we were growing up, we
could play basketball at night under the.

Speaker 11 (10:42):
Lights and.

Speaker 5 (10:46):
It was such a wonderful Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah yeah, many.

Speaker 10 (10:52):
A few pointers. I'm sorry, are there they don't know.

Speaker 11 (10:55):
Whether some of you are.

Speaker 6 (11:01):
Everybody?

Speaker 5 (11:01):
Yeah, there are six children children.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yes, mister Ruth.

Speaker 12 (11:09):
Aaron is the professional baseball player as well.

Speaker 5 (11:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (11:13):
He pad referee for many years and NFL referee for
the NFL.

Speaker 11 (11:17):
He was he played for.

Speaker 12 (11:19):
The Chicago Cubs in Houston Astros and he was retired
from and.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
He's the last professional baseball player to bat four hundred.
No one has ever done that except our brother, and.

Speaker 6 (11:30):
He stopped playing fifty years ago. Yeah, still record.

Speaker 10 (11:35):
What an amazingly well rounded family.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
Yeah yeah, yes, And we grew up in We grew
up in a house with fifteen people and our cousins
Paul Silas, and he's now he was a professional basketball
player with the Boston Celtics and Uhlan.

Speaker 6 (11:55):
Lebron James coach. Yeah, it was his first coaching with
the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cousin Paul Silas.

Speaker 5 (12:01):
Yes, yes, we have at first, Yeah.

Speaker 11 (12:05):
You know what I mean? Then me okay, well, and
then Ruth.

Speaker 5 (12:12):
And then Ruth who's not here, and then Anita, then
Bonnie and then June who was not here with us. Yes,
but there we had a Oh god, we had an
exciting childhood. I mean, there were so many jobs in Oakland.
Oakland was just full of employment all everywhere, never worried about.
And then all of a sudden, it just the you know,
the offshoring and the you know, relocation of industry, and

(12:35):
now it's just depleted. Was the main industry, well, I
think the main industry was steel. They had a US Steel,
but they also had a huge like I remember the
Carrisco Company.

Speaker 6 (12:47):
Was there, was there, was there, I never worried about.

Speaker 5 (12:53):
Job was not an issue when we were growing up.
You know, it just became that way, and oh god,
last twenty thirty years, it's just because it becomes they
just depleted just all the jobs left, and they put
in liquor stores and crack of course.

Speaker 6 (13:06):
And I remember going around the neighborhood collecting people's old
magazines and then going back through those same neighborhoods selling them.
Oh bood Nickel and that's three actually, I would usually
get they were laughing. I had this magazine every time

(13:28):
I got it from and I'll give it back to them.
But we didn't worry about nobody shooting us or kidnapping
us or you know. It was a great neighborhood, you know,
where people were trusted. No guns, you know, no.

Speaker 11 (13:42):
Not until we went to Arkansas.

Speaker 12 (13:48):
And Bonnie went to Arkansas one year. I went three times.
I went in the fifth grade, the seventh grade, and
the tenth grade. The seventh grade. Bonnie wanted to come
with me, so she came with me. And it was
a hell of a trip to We rode all the
way from Oakland to Arkansas and a big old transfer
eighteen who.

Speaker 6 (14:06):
People were were your back. I was in. We they
had like a little apartments set up in the back
of the truck.

Speaker 11 (14:12):
And we left our family and and then Bonnie drove back.

Speaker 6 (14:15):
To Arkansas in that truck. We spent about two hours
as the whole trip because they were stopping.

Speaker 11 (14:22):
I was I was like twelve or eleven or thirteen.

Speaker 4 (14:25):
Yeah, well, this wasn't the visit family down south.

Speaker 6 (14:28):
It was just grandmother. We were head at the grandma's house.
They were saying they were shocked when that big old
truck pulled up and here we have.

Speaker 12 (14:41):
And then we wanted when while we were there it
was it turned into Halloween, and we wanted to go
tricky treating because we were from California, Okay, and we
we thought we can go trick or treating, and they said.

Speaker 6 (14:51):
My grandma just told us don't be out after dark.
Right after dark, not past the city line where there
was a city line where and we lived right grandma's
house was.

Speaker 11 (15:00):
Right across that line from that line.

Speaker 6 (15:02):
White side of town was just on the other side
of the street. We lived on the other side, right
across the street where.

Speaker 11 (15:08):
It was gravel on our side and it was paving
on the on.

Speaker 10 (15:10):
The white side.

Speaker 6 (15:11):
Right all the roads on our side were gravel roads.
All the streets on the white side were paved.

Speaker 10 (15:17):
But it was probably good for you guys to see
that and be exposed to.

Speaker 6 (15:19):
Couldn't believe the conditions there when I went there, it
was like I might have been going to a wild
jungle somewhere, just you know, where people are living off
the land and they didn't have indoor, indoor toilets.

Speaker 5 (15:30):
And this is in the fifties, and I think that's
where Anita got her country ye.

Speaker 6 (15:36):
I kept doing it.

Speaker 5 (15:37):
From Yeah, she kept going back and she would sit
outside these speakeasies and listen to yeah right, Albert King
and King and yeah. So that's I think she got

(15:57):
her chops, her Southern nights, so her you know, country genuine,
they're not.

Speaker 6 (16:03):
Earl Thomas Conley. Yeah, yes, yeah, something like that. Yeah.
And we went back to the Grand Ole Opry and
we were presenters at the Country Music Awards that year,
and they never said mention of.

Speaker 11 (16:17):
That was I was how that came to me?

Speaker 1 (16:25):
How was music officially introduced to the family, Like who's
the first?

Speaker 11 (16:32):
Was it?

Speaker 4 (16:32):
Church?

Speaker 6 (16:32):
Was it?

Speaker 11 (16:33):
Yeah? Church?

Speaker 6 (16:34):
And our mother was a singer. She sang at home
all the time, saying to wake us up, you know,
and singing to put us asleep. And she was a
good singer, and she sang solos at church, and of
course we be in the pastor's children. We got in
the choir and we sang, and it really was good
training for us.

Speaker 5 (16:51):
I think so too, because I think that's where they
learned to sing harmonically and also thing together because uh,
you know, having having to audition for a position in
the choir, then they place you in different places and
so you begin to learn your voice and your your
you belong and how to hold on to your own

(17:12):
notes and how be in your own group. And so
it was excellent training for uh for learning to sing,
you know, and learning to sing group singing in particular.

Speaker 11 (17:21):
Because they were like, don't get in my key, do
not get in my notes? And then did you just
get in my key.

Speaker 6 (17:33):
Note?

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Please mean to ask your sister Ruth, who's world famous
for her based vocals.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
Yes, yes, when did she developed that voice? Was that always?

Speaker 6 (17:47):
There was so weird? How we all just had Yeah,
she didn't.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
Had it and she said she worked on it too,
by screaming at our basketball games.

Speaker 6 (18:05):
Yes, love to get to those games.

Speaker 5 (18:09):
Yes, yes, because we had an amazing sports school, our school,
mcclimates High School, so many.

Speaker 6 (18:14):
Great basketball They never ever, ever ever lost a game.

Speaker 5 (18:18):
Yeah. Yeah, the girls the fifteen years well actually it
was like five years or so that we had didn't
lose again fifty I wouldn't stay in high school that long.

Speaker 6 (18:27):
But yeah, years year, five years they were.

Speaker 5 (18:33):
They never lost the game. But some of the names
like Bill Russell went to our school, Yeah, Frank Robinson lost.
Kareean no, no, no, no, no, yes, but also Frank Robinson,
the first Major League baseball coach, Bill Russell, considered the
best basketball player ever, Wendell Hayes, Vada Pinson, all of

(18:55):
these guys, Joe Ellis, all these guys became professional athletes,
the Jewel. So they called us the School of Champions
because we would just that was our thing, you know, winning,
We love winning, and we did.

Speaker 6 (19:11):
Him.

Speaker 5 (19:12):
So that's how I was able to go to college
on a scholarship scholarship. My brother and I both and
my cousin went to a university on athletic scholarships. In fact, yeah, my, my,
my fact, my my uncle and my father got together
and said, uh, well, if you want my cousin, Paul Silas,
because he was really the star, they said, if you
want him, you got to take Fritz. And so that's

(19:34):
how I got. They negotiated me and was already gone, yes,
Aaron was already gone. But they said, if you want Paul,
you got to take Fritz. Yes, yeah, yeah, So they
took me out of reform school to go to play basketball.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
So was what year was the beneficially started.

Speaker 11 (19:58):
I didn't know that.

Speaker 5 (20:15):
That that that that honor goes to Bonnie. She's the
one who had the vision. She's the one who stepped
out and said, we got I gotta do something. That
Ruth and Anita were working jobs. You know, Anita was
a secretary typing and Ruth was working as a key
punch operator doing computer stuff and before computers, key punch
and June was too young. But Bonnie said, hey, I

(20:35):
want to do something different, and so she took that
ride over to San Francisco and she and June I
started singing together pointers a pair. They were called how.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
How culturally different was San Francisco to Oakland and the
late sixties? Because I know that people consider.

Speaker 11 (20:56):
It totally different.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
Really, so the the whole idea of this utopian uh
love love thing that's happened.

Speaker 11 (21:04):
I dontink I'm still dressed like that.

Speaker 4 (21:08):
So that wasn't happening in Oakland at the time or
was it? Just like.

Speaker 12 (21:13):
Most Black Panthers, we were part of the Black Panther
uprising in Oakland when it happened with Hugh in Newton
and at the Black Church and then you know Panther Party.

Speaker 7 (21:24):
But then on the other side of Francis, it was
the hippie and all the love.

Speaker 6 (21:30):
Yeah, it was rock and roll and so much of
that in Oakland, but rock did see some of it
in Berkeley. Yeah, you know, more about the colleges, they
had a lot of you know, used.

Speaker 11 (21:40):
To call it berserk.

Speaker 6 (21:45):
And meskilline and things like that, living people living in
commune drugs.

Speaker 5 (21:51):
Oakland had a lot of political infrastructure when I returned
from college. The Urban League, the nb A c P,
the Nation of Islam, uh, you know, African American Association. Uh,
all of these organizations were were doing work in Oakland,
you know, and that was really a very political more
political than uh than then San Francisco, you know, so

(22:14):
we got meshed in that. We in San Francisco, we're
part of the Northern California Black Panther Party before the
before the Black Panther Party, for we were.

Speaker 13 (22:26):
Talking about because they were talking about the whole establishment
of Kwansa and whatnot.

Speaker 5 (22:31):
Yeah. In fact, there's a filmer in the in the
in the in the movie called the Panthers about our organization.
When the Black Panther part of our self defense came
from Oakland, San Francisco and shot up our party and
said we should not call ourselves that name.

Speaker 6 (22:44):
Anymore.

Speaker 5 (22:45):
Yeah, So we said, okay, stole.

Speaker 6 (22:49):
Our money, now you're okay, right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (22:54):
Because we wanted to be aligned with Lounges County, Alabama
and the Freedom Democratic Party at Fanny lou Hamer and
so I know I needed that. We're talking about going
to uh there to be a part of that movement,
but with Stokely Carmichael. So we did a lot of
work there, you know.

Speaker 12 (23:07):
So I didn't poetry with Angela Davis. Time did back
a couple of points with Angela Davis.

Speaker 4 (23:14):
Really did you?

Speaker 6 (23:14):
Guys?

Speaker 10 (23:15):
Did you publish him?

Speaker 6 (23:16):
Are they can?

Speaker 12 (23:16):
You know?

Speaker 11 (23:17):
I have them in my head?

Speaker 5 (23:19):
Well, Huet Newton was hitting and tired of.

Speaker 11 (23:22):
Being sick and tired lost in the wilderness of white America.
Are the masses asses cool? Said the masses to the slave, no.

Speaker 12 (23:28):
Problem, don't rob and still I'll be your driving will
cool baby, And he willed us into three hundred years
of black madness from hall guts, breaching, creams, promises and
Uncle Thomas's to the streets to Watts to kill boom.
Two Honkys gone, motherfucker, the police and Poxes the two
black people tied, sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
You were saying that Huey Newton used.

Speaker 5 (23:59):
To hit in fact that, in fact that the night
the night he.

Speaker 10 (24:05):
Knew it was fine though.

Speaker 5 (24:07):
Yeah, he was fine.

Speaker 6 (24:09):
Beautiful brother had the center opened that we were having
a party.

Speaker 11 (24:13):
Yeah, and he came.

Speaker 6 (24:15):
Yeah, and he tried to get Bonnie to leave with him,
did I And she didn't go. A little while later,
we get this pot call he's been shot. Yeah, so
we all was glad. High in the hospital.

Speaker 5 (24:28):
Yeah, we got We got a car caravan of about
ten cars and went to the hospital just to stand.

Speaker 6 (24:33):
Around because they had arrested him, staying he had shot
a cop.

Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yeah. Yeah, so we went there to just make sure
that they didn't do too much harm to him.

Speaker 6 (24:43):
The police let us know, you better get out of here.
The game with their dogs their good.

Speaker 7 (24:51):
You could hear them.

Speaker 6 (24:52):
They stood in the line and everyone dispersed.

Speaker 5 (24:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 11 (24:55):
Yeah, and we ran away, ran.

Speaker 7 (25:00):
Got away to live another day.

Speaker 5 (25:04):
Oh yeah, jump.

Speaker 6 (25:06):
Oh that was just at a crazy.

Speaker 12 (25:10):
So that was one drive guy in my lifetime. We
were in a drive by and that was in Oakland. Yeah,
we were at a party in the backyard.

Speaker 6 (25:17):
Marty and the guy had a fight with somebody back
there and came by shooting, and we jumped the fence
and and.

Speaker 14 (25:23):
Get so far was that we got in convertible. It
was a pink, pink convertible. We're trying to dugle on.

Speaker 11 (25:38):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 10 (25:40):
So then you're already ready for this book to be
the movie.

Speaker 5 (25:45):
Yes we are. Yeah, it'll be out in February. It'll
be out in February. February this coming year, February Black
History Month.

Speaker 10 (25:53):
Yeah, so black black, Yeah.

Speaker 11 (26:00):
Get back up out a day.

Speaker 4 (26:03):
Back when, back when it was Point as a pair.
You guys were signed to Atlantic.

Speaker 12 (26:08):
No, we weren't signed to anyone then. No, we were
just singing all over over San Francisco and everywhere. And
in June we became when Anita joined the group. Then
we became the Pointer Sisters.

Speaker 6 (26:22):
Okay, and was signed to Atlantic and signed to Atlanta.
Terry Wexler saw we were playing at the Troubadour. We
were backup singers, Me and Bonnie and June were backup
seekers for groups in San Francisco, and we were.

Speaker 4 (26:34):
Saying, I don't know on my Sevester records, I've seen
your name.

Speaker 6 (26:37):
Oh yeah, yeah, I have so much fun with them.
We were seeing he had the best clothes, Like I know,
you got flying chickens on stage, hoops, wo fire people

(26:57):
jumping through the hoops, and just people on swings. It
was just like a circus. And we had we could
have come out there and be singing our hands off
as high as we could go because his voice was
high right, and he wanted us above him.

Speaker 11 (27:12):
Our veins would be popping out of our next I.

Speaker 5 (27:15):
Think you said, did you did you? Did you attend
his wedding at first kind of the first game wedding
in San Francisco, Funny went to wedding?

Speaker 6 (27:26):
What was that in Golden Gate Park and Park?

Speaker 10 (27:29):
I'm saying, what did they What was the first dance?

Speaker 11 (27:31):
I don't I don't remember. We were too high, that.

Speaker 10 (27:39):
Makes sense to me.

Speaker 11 (27:40):
Tell you it was six was it seventy seventy two
seventy one or something like that. Yeah, we all went
to go.

Speaker 6 (27:47):
It was like seventy two seventy one. Yeah, just before
we did our finished our We were finishing our album
at the same time.

Speaker 11 (27:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we loved his clothes.

Speaker 5 (27:57):
When when was the trip There was a trip where
they took to I think Mississippi when they told you
you couldn't sing. Uh, they had to sing you couldn't sing.

Speaker 6 (28:06):
That was what when we did the thing with Elvin
at the Whiskey of Go Go with Jerry Wexler was
in the audience and he called David Rubinson and said,
I want to sign these girls. And like the next
day we were off to New Orleans and from New
Orleans to be with Wardale Kazar and from there we
went to Jackson, Mississippi. Yeah. Jerry Wexler Aretha's producer. Yeah,

(28:29):
and they got there, they gave us like five songs
to learn overnight.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
How okay, Because of the intricacies of your presentation, First
of all, when you're the point of Sisters, did you
guys come out the gate?

Speaker 5 (28:47):
In the.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Sort of filtered Andrew Sisters forties stick thing that.

Speaker 4 (28:54):
Defined you guys.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
For your first Blue Blue Note reclue, like was it,
did you guys come out the gate? As in, Okay,
our approach, it's going to be these forties harmonies with
the dresses and we.

Speaker 6 (29:09):
Had the forties look, but we wanted to sing everything.
And on the first but the first two albums we
did stick with the jazz. We did a lot of
jazz on the first two.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
Albums Cloudburst yea nine, How did you guys rehearse that?

Speaker 4 (29:26):
Because that's so intricate.

Speaker 6 (29:27):
Start off slow and yeah yeah, but we worked on
it for you know, weeks. We sang it slow. Everybody
get their note and you sing it slow and every
day you speed it up.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
It's so hard for me to imagine that because, I mean,
now with technology, I can go on the internet look
up lyrics, you know, instantly repeat stuff.

Speaker 4 (29:46):
But you know, like there's a lot of words in Cloudburst.

Speaker 12 (29:49):
I know, so we got we got recognized in the
Encyclopedia Britannica for singing five hundred words a minute.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, I know, Like, how how long did it take
you before you mastered? Mastered it perfectly?

Speaker 11 (30:01):
After we fainted in the studio.

Speaker 7 (30:06):
A few times a week?

Speaker 6 (30:07):
Two weeks maybe, Yeah, it would take working day for hours.
We go to David's office and just had a keyboard
player that would just play it.

Speaker 4 (30:17):
You can tell like that that to me, like I
feel like, whenever I want to put somebody.

Speaker 15 (30:23):
Down, that was always oh no, no, no, I knew
from first you were my love because that's new great clubbers.

Speaker 7 (30:33):
My heart really flew.

Speaker 6 (30:38):
Class the first I Found Your Love and that's clubs.

Speaker 5 (30:43):
Yeah. Well, one of the things about that is that
you know they were when they went to this southern event,
they were told that they not supposed that they wanted
to put them in a mold.

Speaker 6 (30:57):
And with the yeah, and we went from Jerry Wexler's
said he wanted to sign us. They sent us down
there to Wardale because they're and we went in singing
country songs and uh, what else we have?

Speaker 4 (31:10):
Jada?

Speaker 6 (31:10):
Do we have Jada? Then too, and some other songs,
and they laughed in our face. They told us, you
can't sing songs like that. You guys are black girls,
and you gotta sing like.

Speaker 11 (31:19):
The Jackson five. I want you to sound like the
Honeycomb and he comes in the docks.

Speaker 6 (31:23):
That's what they told us.

Speaker 12 (31:24):
So then they gave me like the Honeycomb, a song
called Don't try to take the Fifth on Me.

Speaker 6 (31:28):
Yeah. They gave us some songs that we lord.

Speaker 11 (31:31):
Yeah, yeah, we did them and they put them out.

Speaker 6 (31:33):
They didn't do anything we knew. There wasn't us.

Speaker 11 (31:36):
Objection, not gone well, not gone with.

Speaker 6 (31:42):
Question and nature.

Speaker 7 (31:45):
Okay, So.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
It was very unorthodox though, because you guys were like
the first throwback group. Even though throwback wasn't a thing
back in the seventies, you know, like the whole nostalgia
culture things didn't really wasn't a thing that you guys
were even taking it before the fifties.

Speaker 12 (32:03):
You were taking it to likewies and forties.

Speaker 4 (32:06):
Yeah, oh yeah, How did you guys convince?

Speaker 5 (32:10):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (32:10):
Well, you're you're still at Atlantic with short you went
to Bob was Bob cresnew president of uh huh? What
made him see the vision of you guys and what
you could be?

Speaker 5 (32:23):
I think it was David David Rubinson. David Rubinson had
a bit that thing. Yeah. Yeah, he was familiar with
the catalog of jazz and Lambert Hendrickson Ross and Disica
Lespie and Duke Ellington, and he wanted all of them.
And when yes, and when they said, you know, we
can sing anything, don't put us in a box, then
David must have heard that and said okay, and then

(32:44):
they able to do it. Yeah, yeah, and so what Yeah.

Speaker 6 (32:49):
When we got the record back from New Orleans, that Wardale,
because there did that we recorded in Jackson, Mississippi, David
Rubinson took the record and threw it across the it was,
this is not what I wanted you to do.

Speaker 11 (33:11):
This is not what I wanted for your division.

Speaker 6 (33:14):
Yeah, it wasn't what we wanted to do either, because
they just you know, didn't let us do our music.
They took one country song that we took to them,
Tulsa County, Oh my god, count and they they took
that song and you wouldn't recognize it. After they finished
with it, they rearranged it into an R and B
country song, so it didn't need the sound country anymore,

(33:37):
saying man, you're black, you can't say no country music, right, right, And.

Speaker 5 (33:41):
That reoccurred when they went to the Grand Ole Opry
and they had signs out in the front greeting them
saying keep country white, keep it keep yeah, yeah, keep
country country, country country, Yeah, in front of the Grand
Ole Opry.

Speaker 16 (33:54):
That was the original makerber great again, right exactly exactly,
say yes, same thing, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 5 (34:03):
Yeah. So that was quite an event. And you know,
the country western part of it, you know.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
Yes we can't can, which was Alan wrote that for
you guys Allan.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Lee Dorsey did it, Yeah, he did it first. How
did you what was whose idea was it to cover
that song.

Speaker 6 (34:28):
It was a pointers says. We had the record at
the Lee Dorsey album and we took it to Day
but it said this is the message we want to
get to the world. So then we wrote the vamp
the end of the song. But Alan wouldn't give us
any credits on it. He said the song was to
my song, my song, I give you no writers credits,

(34:50):
even though we wrote the whole end. Now the time
all the people come together as an equal take the
burden off your brother, got to love one another. How
can you sit there like there's nothing to do, just
like you don't care with this world is coming to
so many needy, so many poor understanding is the key
to the door, you know?

Speaker 5 (35:09):
And you know for their first debut performance, what what
club was that the built? Built?

Speaker 4 (35:14):
Was it?

Speaker 5 (35:15):
You know where you did the where the Klan was
in the uniforms?

Speaker 11 (35:19):
That was Bimbo and Ku Klex Klan.

Speaker 5 (35:27):
Their debut performance. The performance the band was in a
Ku Klux Klan uniform.

Speaker 11 (35:34):
We were dressed like Billy Holiday. That was funny.

Speaker 12 (35:36):
And the band was dressed in hoods and capes and
and they were playing their guitars and playing in their
Hoods that kind of funny now, But our own backup

(36:00):
band was the klu Klux Klan.

Speaker 5 (36:01):
Can you believe it? Can you believe it?

Speaker 11 (36:04):
Like Billie Holidays and everything that was so wonderful.

Speaker 6 (36:08):
I didn't even notice the band, didn't. We got off
the stage and I saw pictures. Yeah, turn around, and
then nobody turned once, so we did.

Speaker 7 (36:18):
I was so nervous on the first show.

Speaker 6 (36:20):
Yeah, I didn't even realize they wouldn't know that who
the band was. I didn't know.

Speaker 11 (36:24):
I didn't care because I wouldn't pan them no attention.

Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah, those three sixties, that was our very first, our
first American show.

Speaker 11 (36:36):
Oh my god, Oh my god.

Speaker 6 (36:43):
Did you have the Klan band too?

Speaker 4 (36:49):
No? We did not. No.

Speaker 1 (36:52):
Wow, So what what was the what was the touring
circuit like for that specific period? Because I know that
at least with the Summer of Love, like between sixty
seven and seventy three. Uh, Bill Graham was into mixing,
you know, Miles Davis and the Grateful Dead, Like would
you guys fit in anything that was Bill grammish at all?

Speaker 11 (37:15):
Or he was our manager managed the Fillmore West, Fillmore East. Yes,
it was our manager, but he said.

Speaker 6 (37:28):
He didn't be able to know that. He was always
giving us money and he.

Speaker 11 (37:35):
Think everybody that.

Speaker 12 (37:38):
He did very meant so influenced our career and helped
us along and to grow be what we are now today.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
So would he promote you via the rock circuit or
like we were doing backup.

Speaker 11 (37:50):
Singing at the time.

Speaker 6 (37:51):
We were back up going to feel More West singing
with Evanship Maha Jefferson airplane and we lived right across
the street from did not get in line, so we
were always there. Bill Graham was our man. He loves.

Speaker 4 (38:14):
Really So was it just like mere seconds to learn
a song or like just.

Speaker 11 (38:19):
Going to make up our own backgrounds with them?

Speaker 13 (38:22):
Oh?

Speaker 11 (38:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (38:22):
We did a lot of background singing on record and
we would go in and they would play the track
and they say, now what would you put what background
would you put on this man? So we would make
up the background parts.

Speaker 4 (38:33):
The situation for David Sessions.

Speaker 6 (38:36):
Yeah, we did with some. Betty she was funny. She
was really around.

Speaker 4 (38:42):
She is actually.

Speaker 6 (38:44):
The documentary stepping in her mail the shoes. Yeah, Betty
was cool.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
So was that just a regular day? I mean, because
she's so uh mysterious with her you know, her life
and everything that this documentary is finally our first glimpse
into really was there anything notable about those sessions at all?
Or I was just like, all right, we woke up
one day, who Betty Davis looking.

Speaker 11 (39:16):
Pants?

Speaker 6 (39:17):
And she wrote that song about I mil shoes.

Speaker 11 (39:22):
I find out?

Speaker 1 (39:31):
All right, I want I'm gonna skip to seventy five
when you guys did the Stepping album speaking of shoes. Yeah,
I think the very first song I ever learned to
play on drums was I bet you got a.

Speaker 7 (39:43):
Chick on the side, Get out of here.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
I mean, by that point I was big enough to
actually fit on my dad's My father's a German drummer.

Speaker 11 (39:56):
No, no, no, he was.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
My father was an oldiest singer. But his band, uh,
you know, I used to always sneak on the drum
set and.

Speaker 11 (40:03):
So sen of you for a minute, let's see what's
going on.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
But I'll say that, uh, the Stepping album, especially with
I sleeping alone and what's the other Stevie's yeah, bring.

Speaker 5 (40:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
What were those sessions like working with them?

Speaker 6 (40:30):
Oh? They were just heavenly. I don't hardly remember. I
was sing off Stevie.

Speaker 11 (40:39):
Sing but you're gazing into space?

Speaker 7 (40:41):
And we wrote together.

Speaker 6 (40:42):
We went to the condos and we were living in Saucelito,
and he came over to Scalyo to our condo and
we rode and then we went back to David's studio
and we went to Wally Hiders studio in San Francisco,
and it was just magical.

Speaker 12 (40:58):
You know.

Speaker 6 (40:58):
I was just happy to were working with him. I
loved him with all my heart. And then to be
able to work with him too and write some songs.
And I noticed we got we got credit on baby
Bringing Your Sweet Stuff Home to Me, and and we
wrote another one with him called Sleeping Alone, but we
didn't get any credits on it. So, Stevie, if you're
out there, tell me.

Speaker 4 (41:28):
I said the same thing on ourselves.

Speaker 6 (41:31):
You know, I wrote the whole into that song. It
can give me some credits.

Speaker 5 (41:33):
Come on, Steven, wait on that.

Speaker 6 (41:39):
I'm sure he's not addling the publishing, you know himself.
So and those people that do, they're all about the money.
They don't care about nothing.

Speaker 17 (41:47):
Else, right Unfortunately, So with the the having a Party project,
it was the approach was less about the forty what
what means you guys?

Speaker 1 (41:59):
Just stylistically to modernize the group and not yeah forty
sing anymore.

Speaker 4 (42:06):
Whose decision was that?

Speaker 6 (42:08):
Well, I guess a joint decision of us and producer.
But we have been doing these songs, you know, and
getting gold albums and but it it made no difference.
You know, they barely would hear them on the radio.
The songs wouldn't be played just.

Speaker 11 (42:26):
Like now huh.

Speaker 6 (42:30):
But once we got a gold single, everything changed, and
I guess that's what we were headed for. We didn't
get it with David with having a party, but we
got some nice fun stuff on that record and great musicians.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
It's weird because for hip hop, that's an album that
a lot of hip hop produces gravitate towards because of
you know, there's hip hop producers hear things different, so
it's like like if there's a good four bars, there
four bars, you know, that's sort of things. So, yeah,
a lot of notable hip hop classics were you know,

(43:08):
the foundation of a lot of the musical backdrop. That's
an album to go to, you know with like drum
loops and whatnot. That's good, but for you, you didn't
particularly enjoy that album or that project or.

Speaker 6 (43:26):
That was the last project with David we did have
the train station in La Union. It was just a
crazy day. I remember it's working so hard and sweating, and.

Speaker 11 (43:39):
I don't remember it.

Speaker 4 (43:42):
Was hot.

Speaker 7 (43:43):
It was oh god, it was a fun day.

Speaker 6 (43:45):
Though. I enjoyed the video.

Speaker 4 (43:47):
I enjoyed it, Okay. So how uh.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
As far as like the four of you concerned? I mean,
because you know, it's family members sometimes agreeable, sometimes they
bicker or whatnot. But like, how is it like is
it truly always an agreeable atmosphere? Like how do you
guys settle your differences and you're together all the time
and you know how.

Speaker 6 (44:12):
Respect Yeah, and knowing each other as we grew together,
you know, we just seemed to know what buttons not
to push, you know, and when it'll be quiet.

Speaker 11 (44:25):
Me being the shortest and that one of the youngest.
I believe me. I wasn't pushing no button nobody else's
but not the tall people ain't too tall.

Speaker 6 (44:36):
No, she got tougher because she was the smallest, the
biggest mouth, always ready to to get somebody. And Jack
was the baby, so she was always handled with kid gloves.
She was always kind of fragile, she really was, you know,
And we kind of took care of her as much
as we could.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
So you eventually went to Motown in seventy eight, seventy six,
seventy eight with you released what Heaven must have sent you.

Speaker 4 (45:04):
I think I gotta say that all all.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
Of your soul training appearances, we're legendary because you and
Don's flirt game.

Speaker 6 (45:16):
How much speak of Sea Ones, I'll.

Speaker 4 (45:20):
Hook you up. I got you on that you and
Don's flirt game was really really I'll say that.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
I don't I don't know what it was, but you know, there,
I always felt like there was a lot of inside
jokes whenever he would talk to you, like he would
flirt with you the most.

Speaker 11 (45:55):
I'm keeping my mouth ship, so I would like.

Speaker 13 (46:05):
To know.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
Boss Bill and I for about maybe four or five years,
we did a course as quasi professors at.

Speaker 5 (46:18):
N Y Youth and.

Speaker 1 (46:21):
One of the main themes of our class was the
idea of what the eighties represented as far as uh
for black groups transitioning too, what what lay ahead, or
the idea of For some reason, the idea of crossovers
seemed like a four letter word, But you know, I

(46:45):
always explained to our class. There's a scene in film
and Luiz where the very last scene. I don't want
to spoiler alert.

Speaker 4 (46:51):
Did you see the movie, you know, the Cliff on
the Cliff, But for.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
You know, for a lot of black artists that were
notable in the seventies, uh, the eighties represented a cliff jump,
and either some group's idea was to okay, well, the
lead singer has to go, so I you know, Richie
leaves the common doors and Michael Jackson eventually his way
out of his family to go solo. And then some

(47:27):
other groups kind of had a do or die situation,
which is like either roll with the punches or you know,
get left back into nostalgiaville. And I'll say that you guys,
probably out of all the acts that attempted, that jump
fared the best. Uh you know, Earth went and fired

(47:48):
trying to make that jump cool in the gang, same situation.
What when you guys went to Planet Records. I don't
know what label that was under, but yeah, I know
that you guys work with with Freddie Perrin Bridger parent par.

Speaker 11 (48:07):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
What what was the trust situation between him as a
producer and the group as far as.

Speaker 4 (48:18):
Convincing you guys to like see things my way? And
I'm gonna put push you in a different direction, which.

Speaker 6 (48:26):
We kind of went to him wanting a different direction,
and he liked our ideas. We took songs to him
and uh, what were the songs? Everybody is a Star?
It was one of the songs we took and let's see.

Speaker 4 (48:44):
I remember you did ah well Fired?

Speaker 12 (48:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (48:54):
Yeah, but.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
No, I'm just saying that, Oh, well, do you revealed
to me that you guys went to him? In my mind,
I'm thinking usually when we ask people that come on
our show, usually it's a thing where it's like, yeah,
the label told us we have to do that, we
have to do that, and always wanted to know because
you're you're probably the first act that really has four stages,

(49:20):
you know, Lias a singing act, four stages of.

Speaker 6 (49:23):
Life, as I had the list of the songs on
my first album because there were a few that we
brought to him. But he liked what we our ideas
and we wanted to get away from the nostalgia thing
because we didn't want people to compare it to what
we used to do. We wanted to do something totally
different and also more commercial. We ended up with Fire

(49:46):
getting our first goal single and it made such a difference.
We had gold albums and we never had a goal
single before. But once we got that goal single, everything
just shot up. Everything just went hey, it went crazy.
You know, I wish I written that song.

Speaker 4 (50:00):
Bruce song to you guys are like Howard Songs presented
to you.

Speaker 6 (50:07):
Richard Perry brought it to us and I heard it
was originally recorded and written for Elvis Presley. But because
when they brought it in and played it for it,
so it's like I'm running in your car, wait turn
on the radio. And I said what I said, maybe
Ruthy should sing it. He said, I want you to

(50:29):
sing it, and that nice, So I said, it is
our first gold single.

Speaker 5 (50:35):
Well that was a kind of another kind of a
mold breaking experience too, because there you ran into like
you did with the country music. Black girls don't sing
rock and roll, right, that was a crazy idea. I
don't know where he got that from, but that's what
I read that.

Speaker 6 (50:50):
Yeah, because with Richard Perry that second album, Priority, we
had such successful the first album and then Priority we
put that and it was like all rock and roll,
it's so good. I love it, and they wouldn't play
it the radio.

Speaker 12 (51:07):
Said, they refused to play it because there's no such
thing as black rock and rollus.

Speaker 11 (51:11):
Can you imagine that a rock and heart? What do
they think started it?

Speaker 6 (51:15):
Really? Where did?

Speaker 10 (51:18):
The ones who copied it from the black radio couldn't
play it either.

Speaker 6 (51:26):
They just weren't allowed to play it because you know,
they owned by the white folks.

Speaker 11 (51:32):
It's to go to the bathroom.

Speaker 1 (51:42):
Fan, Okay, I love it, well, I love I love
the fact that your label wasn't discouraged or.

Speaker 4 (51:55):
Yeah, I got another chance because.

Speaker 6 (51:57):
Because our producer loved rock and roll. I mean he,
I mean he was friends with Tina Turner and you know,
Rod Stewart and all of them would always be at
his house and stuff, and he loved it. And he
felt that from getting that first album through with all
the you know, the things that were on there, and
he figured, well they and if plus he was producer

(52:17):
of the year okay, he was that olser of the year.
He got awards, accolades all and so he figured, I
can do this, you know, and Noll accept it from me,
and they did. He said, no, I'm a rock and
roll guy too, and you know, and they did. They
didn't they wouldn't accept it.

Speaker 10 (52:33):
Dang, it's still hard for him too. So yeah, yeah,
progress been slow for.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
The Special Things album. I know that the burying Cynthia, right,
he's so shy. I know Cynthia. Well yeah, okay, I
gotta look.

Speaker 6 (52:50):
He's so shy. Was Tom Tom and Cynthia.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
Yeah, Barry became a songwriting partner. Tell you guys, how
was that song?

Speaker 4 (53:03):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (53:03):
It was so much fun to was he We worked
with him before on something else. I can't remember what song,
but when he brought us, he's so shy, and we
just loved the song and it was easy to sing,
and people loved it and and I think guys loved
it because we could sing to them, you know, and

(53:24):
most guys are shy.

Speaker 12 (53:30):
To me.

Speaker 4 (53:43):
Happened on the Love Book with Isaac.

Speaker 11 (53:47):
And you went to school with him.

Speaker 6 (53:49):
I went to high school with Ted. We were we
were in plays all the time. His mother had a
radio show there.

Speaker 4 (54:02):
Yeah, was militant.

Speaker 6 (54:07):
We had a great drama teacher, mister Wayne. And we
still keep in touch with him and Ted are still
writing things, and I get in touch with them every
now and then. We're not in touch like we should be.
But I loved Ted and we went to high school together,
and we were in all the plays together in high school.
I really thought I would get into acting more than singing,
because I really liked it. But once I started auditioning,

(54:30):
I said.

Speaker 4 (54:31):
Oh no, this is not for me.

Speaker 7 (54:34):
I forgot car washing.

Speaker 6 (54:37):
Oh yeah, that's true. Car Wash was so much fun.
Oh god, that was so much fun working with Richard Pryor.
I'm a kidney. He had us laughing all the time.

Speaker 7 (54:47):
It was hilarious.

Speaker 6 (54:48):
We went to his house and hung out with him
there after, you know, the show shooting and stuff, and.

Speaker 11 (54:55):
Was on the road with him at that place and
was that in New Jersey?

Speaker 6 (54:59):
Were we're open for him?

Speaker 17 (55:01):
At?

Speaker 7 (55:01):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (55:02):
That place in back East and I can't remember. And
he would get out on See.

Speaker 4 (55:08):
The US won't get me. Know.

Speaker 11 (55:10):
I love the I love them, but they won't give me.

Speaker 16 (55:22):
What was it like working with Norman Whitfield? You gotta
believe what was he like in the studio.

Speaker 6 (55:28):
He was wonderful, He loved us. He know we should
have had the hit song the war songs that he
was his group Rose roy So and they did a
fabulous job and they were wonderful, but he know that
should have been our song.

Speaker 11 (55:42):
He wanted us to sound like the Female Temptations.

Speaker 6 (55:45):
We were I was up at Ruthie's apartment. Gary Stromberg,
I think it was, who was one of the producers,
was AT's house, remember AIDA's house, And we went down
there and Gary Stromberg was there and he said he's
doing a movie. And we said, well, put us in
the movie. You know, if you're doing a movie. We

(56:06):
were hot at the time. We had hit songs and
on TV and all that stuff. So he did. He
called us the next day and say we got We
wrote you in And it wasn't a big part, but
it was a fabulous time. It was yeah.

Speaker 7 (56:21):
With Bill Rich.

Speaker 11 (56:25):
Yeah you got to believe in something.

Speaker 6 (56:27):
Yeah, wellhy not believe in me? Yeah that was too much.

Speaker 4 (56:33):
But how many days did it take the shoot? Was
it just like a one day shoot or no?

Speaker 7 (56:39):
It was like a week?

Speaker 11 (56:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (56:42):
Yeah, a week because yeah, it was fun. And the
last day of shooting we had our own little rat party.
We were all so happy that it was over. Oh
my god. And then we got to call the next
morning saying we need close ups. I thought I was

(57:03):
going to die close up today all night.

Speaker 5 (57:15):
It's crazy. I ran into Rose Royce and Beijing. Wow,
really she's performing over there?

Speaker 10 (57:22):
I wonder, Yeah, were you lecturing?

Speaker 5 (57:26):
No, No, my wife and I were just visiting Beijing,
and of course you and of course she didn't. She
wasn't very friendly. And then I found out the backstory
and found out that that that they had been brought
into the studio by normal I think to say, sing
it like the Pointer sisters.

Speaker 4 (57:41):
And.

Speaker 10 (57:44):
That's a long time to hold I know.

Speaker 6 (57:47):
She said that.

Speaker 5 (57:47):
Yeah, No, she didn't say anything out why she was
so unfriendly to us because I introduced myself.

Speaker 6 (57:55):
They were very rude to Rose Royce while we were
in the studio.

Speaker 11 (57:58):
Wow, were that.

Speaker 6 (58:00):
Norman Whitfield was tough and he wanted to show that
he was was you know, sing it again and sing
it about. You can sing it better than that.

Speaker 5 (58:06):
Wow, pu's it up there?

Speaker 6 (58:08):
Come on? And it was really just hard on them.
I couldn't understand because I never had a producer talk
to me that way and he didn't. No, he didn't
talk to us that way at all.

Speaker 4 (58:18):
They sing it at all.

Speaker 9 (58:23):
We got it.

Speaker 11 (58:24):
We don't want to.

Speaker 13 (58:28):
Us.

Speaker 6 (58:29):
We got it right.

Speaker 4 (58:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (58:32):
It was a great honor to work with him. He's
such a legend and the world another borl.

Speaker 5 (58:37):
Will Miss Bonnie studied under Cecil Brown, who did a
biography of Richard Pryor at that kind at Merritt College
in Oakland. Yes, he did a biography of Richard Cecil Brown.
He wrote some wonderful books stagger lye and you talking
about dancer, You mean a book a book? Yeah, yeah,
but he wrote a biography.

Speaker 11 (58:56):
Did you study Bonnie Oakland Mills College, Miracle?

Speaker 10 (59:00):
What did you study there?

Speaker 6 (59:01):
Art?

Speaker 10 (59:03):
Visual art?

Speaker 7 (59:03):
Yes, Pa, we got to get.

Speaker 6 (59:09):
Got to get a new easel and I got.

Speaker 4 (59:18):
What was it like doing? Well, how did y'all get
the call? I guess for the pinball thing?

Speaker 5 (59:23):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (59:26):
Yes, I love call this so I don't know how
they they called and asked us to do it, and
we went over to San Francisco and we took our kids.
I had Jada was there and fun and Malik I
think she gone and Nandi were there to I don't know.
I think so princes kids.

Speaker 11 (59:42):
My kids were very cool working.

Speaker 4 (59:44):
In the studio with Herbie. Was he there at the time?

Speaker 11 (59:48):
What the pinball machine?

Speaker 4 (59:50):
Handcock?

Speaker 11 (59:50):
No, the pen Mam machine is the sesame street.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Music wise, we always told that Herbie Hancock did the music.

Speaker 6 (59:57):
Really well, we weren't there.

Speaker 11 (59:58):
I don't even know we did it. We did sing
one to the four, five, eleven, twelve.

Speaker 4 (01:00:08):
Always a different times.

Speaker 12 (01:00:11):
Yeah, well that's that's the and we did the ab
school cool crazy swinging alphabets.

Speaker 5 (01:00:17):
Okay, Well, it's interesting to when they talk about how
the technology has developed and how when they were singing
earlier on they didn't have this looping protos.

Speaker 11 (01:00:26):
We were twelve times.

Speaker 12 (01:00:28):
We had the twelve hundred times we would be in
the studio till our hands fell, like.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
One of one of our usually it's six of us
and one of our members. Uh, unpaid Bill is.

Speaker 11 (01:00:44):
Unpaid Bill, that's his name.

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
He's now the Joe Roposal of Sesame Street.

Speaker 5 (01:00:56):
He like, oh wow, beautiful.

Speaker 4 (01:01:00):
He was going through all the.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Old tapes and realized that you guys had to do
twelve individual versions of that song.

Speaker 11 (01:01:07):
And wow, I didn't even know that. I don't remember.
Wow about eleven twelve, I get it.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
I'm glad it wasn't. Yeah, it could have been twenty.

Speaker 7 (01:01:24):
That's what I like it.

Speaker 6 (01:01:25):
At the studio.

Speaker 11 (01:01:27):
Yeah, what time is that we have to be there?

Speaker 12 (01:01:29):
Now?

Speaker 6 (01:01:33):
Finished? Thirteen?

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
I have a question because I know that you always
wanted to know you wrote on the Special Things album.

Speaker 4 (01:01:45):
Could I be dreaming?

Speaker 6 (01:01:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:01:47):
Can I ask you something? How much have influenced the
Jackson shake Your Boy Down to the ground half on
that song?

Speaker 15 (01:01:52):
You know what?

Speaker 6 (01:01:52):
I didn't think a minute enough to ever come to you.
But the thing is, the track was done by Trevor Lawrence,
my friend. He brought me the track. I wrote the lyrics.
I never never even entered my mind anything about Michael
Jackson or the Jackson's And when a friend played it
for a friend and she told me that I wanted

(01:02:13):
to pop her in the what just like Jackson's what
you're talking about?

Speaker 4 (01:02:20):
Witness?

Speaker 6 (01:02:23):
It was so hard. I'm like, this is one of
the best songs I ever wrote. I love it.

Speaker 13 (01:02:29):
The thing was.

Speaker 4 (01:02:31):
When radio first started playing it, Jackson.

Speaker 6 (01:02:35):
And That's something A minute, Wow, that was? That was
really cold, you know, because I'm sorry, thanks for bringing
that up to say that, you know, And there are
songs that sounded like.

Speaker 11 (01:02:51):
Out there all the time, I know, and they wouldn't
play mine.

Speaker 4 (01:02:55):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 12 (01:02:55):
Here's the thing though, because you're a Nita Pointer and
you're black, You're not a Jackson.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
We just we just had Randy Jackson on the show
for him and for him, he admitted that shake your
body down to the ground was basically his version of
Teddy Pendergrass, Get up, get down.

Speaker 7 (01:03:21):
Believe me, you know what.

Speaker 6 (01:03:23):
We take some songs all the time, but I swear
to God if when I was doing that song, I
had no there was no inkling, no thought about the
Jackson song at all. We've had songs that we've taken
from John Lee Hooker, you know him, that we've done,
and we you know, did some things from his.

Speaker 7 (01:03:43):
We did that on it was bet you got to
check on the side, really.

Speaker 6 (01:03:53):
Say that. But I believe me, I'm proud to say, whoever,
because that's what music is all about, going round and
round and you know, coming back backing in and and
so I would never not get him that. But I
took the Jackson song for for Could I be dreaming?
Because I never thought about the.

Speaker 11 (01:04:10):
Jackson the thing that, yeah, the music I would that narration.

Speaker 6 (01:04:15):
I wanted to be heard, and they won't even play
the damn song and they think.

Speaker 11 (01:04:19):
So we're gonna flap somebody, Yes.

Speaker 6 (01:04:24):
It's released.

Speaker 12 (01:04:25):
How things like that happened? Like when I was writing
the song man with the Right Rhythm. Janet came out
with Rhythm Nation, and.

Speaker 6 (01:04:34):
Even when I did, uh, when I did, could I
be dreaming? Jermaine or one of the brothers came out
with tell Me I'm not dreaming?

Speaker 11 (01:04:43):
You know, keep your mouth.

Speaker 6 (01:04:54):
That when I was, Oh my god. John Bettison, marcou Jacko, Michael.

Speaker 4 (01:05:01):
Clark, human Nature.

Speaker 5 (01:05:03):
Yeah, that became like the women's national anthem. You know,
I called it the American female anthem because it certainly
speaks to today's hashtag me too, beneath the man.

Speaker 11 (01:05:19):
A company.

Speaker 16 (01:05:39):
That slower reminds me of just being a kid, and
like hearing that on the radio and kind of like
a kind of like a country count.

Speaker 4 (01:05:49):
I used to look like that.

Speaker 6 (01:05:50):
Nashville writers John Bettison, Michael Clark.

Speaker 4 (01:05:53):
Okay, yeah them. I just remember hearing that song and
like Crystal Gale.

Speaker 7 (01:05:56):
And like all those that was.

Speaker 6 (01:06:00):
Like all the.

Speaker 13 (01:06:07):
But that's easy to for you to digest and accept
other songs like the Kenny Rogers, the Dolly Partons and whatnot.

Speaker 6 (01:06:15):
I loved it. I thought it was a great song.
I'm glad to sing it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
You know what, not many people know that a lot
of people I believe that I'm So Excited debuted on Breakout,
not knowing that.

Speaker 4 (01:06:34):
Two years beforehand.

Speaker 7 (01:06:35):
It was I'm so excited, it was excited.

Speaker 4 (01:06:39):
What was what was the reasoning behind re releasing it
for Breakout?

Speaker 6 (01:06:46):
I begged Richard Perry because I said, this song is
a hit. It's a shame too much. Let this song
go to waste, and it's a great song. And they
just made me sick not listening to us, and they
put it on the first album and then put out
American Music as the single. You know, we're all patriotic
and Hayden, yeah, I'm telling you. And then I said, David,

(01:07:08):
come on, you know we rode with all our hearts
and this is a great song and you can't let
it go. We want this on the next album, and
he did it. I didn't know. I didn't know if
that had ever been done before, but I said, you
got to do this. You got to save this song
and get it back out there. It was on the
Breakout album, it was on the So Excited album. The
album was titled and it still wouldn't play it.

Speaker 11 (01:07:31):
That's ridiculous, you know.

Speaker 6 (01:07:34):
And then it put it on the next album and
coming out as an instant hit.

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
So you're telling me that because again, I mean, I
was listening to black radio exclusively like when I was
a kid.

Speaker 4 (01:07:47):
But it wasn't like I was taking the charts to
the billboard, none of that stuff. But I heard it
a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:07:52):
But you're saying that from your perspective in eighty two
when it first came out on So Excited album, it
wasn't a hit. It wasn't a hit hit like across
the board in your eyes, or it was number is wise.

Speaker 6 (01:08:06):
It just wasn't right right, not until it got on
the breakout album.

Speaker 1 (01:08:11):
So in your minds, unless it's a pop hit officially
like covering all bases of the black charts and pop radio,
then it's like, okay, it's satisfactory or well.

Speaker 6 (01:08:24):
When you get the numbers, the ratings from people buying
the album, you know, that's the main way to judge it,
I guess. And then the requests for playing your songs.
I don't know. It's a whole different market now though,
with Instagram and stream and music, and people don't buy it,
they just stream it.

Speaker 4 (01:08:44):
And download it.

Speaker 7 (01:08:45):
That counts work they downloaded, and but they pay for.

Speaker 5 (01:08:48):
That, right, Well, that that's One of the things that
David mentioned too, is that it was alternative radio that
really promoted the point of Sisters early because black radio
wasn't playing them, and they still have problems playing the
point of Sisters for whatever. I don't know. At least they.

Speaker 7 (01:09:13):
Can't get don't hear nothing.

Speaker 4 (01:09:18):
They was definitely playing I'm So Excited on w.

Speaker 10 (01:09:21):
D S and Philly, So those two, at least I'm
so excited I.

Speaker 4 (01:09:25):
Would jump that was excited.

Speaker 1 (01:09:29):
Well, yeah, I mean Breakout was just short of thriller.
They had seven singles on it. So were you shocked
at the at the mass excepstance of Breakout the album
and how.

Speaker 6 (01:09:44):
Shocked and thrilled? Happy, just elated? Yeah, it was wonderful
to have an album go triple platinum.

Speaker 4 (01:09:54):
So we had Ali Willis on our show, have Anita
pointer or.

Speaker 11 (01:10:13):
Okay, so we heard or.

Speaker 1 (01:10:16):
She explained to this that that song almost didn't make
Beverly Hills cop Like the way that was discovered by
the producers was kind of an accident.

Speaker 4 (01:10:27):
Yeah, were you guys are aware of how it was
added last minute? Like by accident?

Speaker 6 (01:10:34):
Somewhat? I don't. I don't remember the whole story, but
I remember there being some conflict with the lyric and
thinking of neutron bombs and you know, yeah song about
war and some people. I'm so happy, she said, yes,

(01:11:00):
it is.

Speaker 5 (01:11:01):
I think there's some deep irony in there, though she's
been very sarcastic, deeply sardonic. I mean, it's not just
you know, she's she's really saying, you know, you really
just put where you want the world to go? Can
you can you really you know, deal with.

Speaker 6 (01:11:13):
I don't want to take it anymore exactly, I'll stay
here locked behind the door, right, so it has stop.

Speaker 4 (01:11:19):
And get away where it is now, I can't separate
it from a truck chase.

Speaker 9 (01:11:23):
And I also said somebody actually stole tried to steal
her brand new Chevrolet.

Speaker 5 (01:11:35):
That's right, that's the lyric.

Speaker 6 (01:11:36):
Yeah, yeah, and the redom I have no.

Speaker 11 (01:11:45):
Yeah, that was good.

Speaker 4 (01:11:46):
We go back to uh, the So Excited album for
a second.

Speaker 9 (01:11:50):
Huh Yeah, go ahead, You guys covered one of my
favorite songs in that record, Princess, I Feel for You?

Speaker 4 (01:11:56):
Where did that I do from?

Speaker 11 (01:11:57):
You?

Speaker 4 (01:11:57):
Guys?

Speaker 6 (01:11:58):
Cover that from Richard Pry He brought it to us
and we love Prince. Prince had come into the studio
too to watch us record one time, and and so uh,
he invited us to come to Paisley Park and do
it there. And that's what we did. What we did.
What was that Like he had all his his factory

(01:12:20):
upstairs where they made all his clothes, close, shoes, everything
to match. And and he had like a cave area
where he had the purple Rain motorcycle. And it was
a whole big room there with pillows on the floor.
I'm just trying to envision it. I haven't been back
so long. With pillows on the floor and and you know, silk.

Speaker 4 (01:12:42):
On the walls, and and the eyes watching you.

Speaker 1 (01:12:45):
From the painting, there's too many murals of his face
with the eyes watching that.

Speaker 9 (01:12:52):
It was like the Three Stooges, like like you walk
one way. And after they did the big remodel for
the for the kids, Well, no, I went before and after.

Speaker 4 (01:13:05):
Oh, but I thought the.

Speaker 9 (01:13:06):
Eyes went up there until after they after they remodeled,
Well in two thousand was that?

Speaker 4 (01:13:10):
That was after ninety six is when they remodeled.

Speaker 6 (01:13:12):
Oh, yeah, we were there before that.

Speaker 4 (01:13:16):
Eyes were watching, watching, eyes were definitely watching.

Speaker 6 (01:13:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:13:26):
With breakout, Uh, you know, it's it's just unprecedented that
six album, six singles from one album.

Speaker 4 (01:13:35):
Oh yeah, I'm short of thriller. That's this is unprecedented. Then,
Like what was it? What was the label's reaction to
you guys as far as like were you there? Priority?

Speaker 5 (01:13:50):
Were you there?

Speaker 6 (01:13:56):
They were happy?

Speaker 11 (01:13:59):
That sounds happy.

Speaker 16 (01:14:05):
We got by that time, I mean, having such a
huge record, where was the biggest source of income coming from.

Speaker 4 (01:14:13):
Records? And did the tour money go up?

Speaker 11 (01:14:16):
Like you got to hit that help the tour money up?

Speaker 6 (01:14:20):
Yeah, we got good tourings and and as the years
go up, the publishing gets better.

Speaker 4 (01:14:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:14:31):
I've seen you guys twice doing that period. That was
like the only non Jackson's Prince show that I've ever seen.
So you guys once at a Universal Amphitheater.

Speaker 6 (01:14:43):
Yeah was that line over?

Speaker 1 (01:14:46):
Uh no, the year after you guys were at Universal
Amphitheater by yourself.

Speaker 4 (01:14:54):
All I remember is, uh.

Speaker 1 (01:14:57):
Was June came out in a crazy outfit to do
our solo song about the piano or something.

Speaker 4 (01:15:02):
Oh yeah, like give me a fucking break, guys, Like
it was. She had great common time.

Speaker 6 (01:15:12):
As he did that doctor doctor bit on stage. I
don't know if that was the one dressed like a
nurse and piano and.

Speaker 1 (01:15:22):
Hey, are you guys aware of Jeremy's second life in
the sort of the euro d M world.

Speaker 6 (01:15:31):
No tell me about the baby making.

Speaker 1 (01:15:35):
Yeah, like it's yeah, it's it's sort of uh, how
can I describe it? Like, uh, I forget, I don't
know if it's skrillics or like someone that's big in
the dum world, the electric electric dance, music dance and
music world sort of like kind of took there me

(01:15:56):
and sort of remade it. And it's it's weird because
when I spend the original in clubs now, like the
audience store, like, and then when I get to the hooks,
they're like, oh shit, you know, like they get where
it comes from. Like it's a it's a it's a
big sample in the medium world.

Speaker 11 (01:16:13):
I didn't know that. So or is it?

Speaker 4 (01:16:16):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:16:17):
Good?

Speaker 4 (01:16:17):
So? Is that? Is that still in the current lineup?
As far as your songs? Like that you do now?
Or is it? Do you do? Dear me?

Speaker 7 (01:16:25):
Well, I don't.

Speaker 6 (01:16:26):
I'm not on the road anymore.

Speaker 4 (01:16:28):
Oh, I didn't know it not till this morning.

Speaker 6 (01:16:34):
Ruth, my sister, Ruth and her daughter and her granddaughter
Sedaco are traveling as the new the new point. Okay,
and I retired in twenty fifteen.

Speaker 5 (01:16:47):
I'm enjoying it and start working on this book.

Speaker 6 (01:16:50):
Start working on the book, and your exhibition another working
Champagne King and.

Speaker 4 (01:16:56):
People like, oh man, how was she doing? How was
Evelyn doing?

Speaker 11 (01:17:00):
Great?

Speaker 4 (01:17:00):
Good?

Speaker 12 (01:17:01):
Yeah, I deal with you know, Fandelais and a lot
of the old rock and rosters and disco shall I
say disco stars mm hmm yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:17:14):
I also I'll say that I also believe that.

Speaker 1 (01:17:19):
You guys deserve to be in the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame.

Speaker 4 (01:17:22):
I do, and they would, you know, from my mouth
to their ears, right right right, that should happen. So
the book comes out in February.

Speaker 5 (01:17:36):
Comes out in February. Yeah, we're just so excited about that.
We're going to have books signing up in Oakland. And
Anita's working on another book of exhibitions. She's been saving
their costumes for the last what thirty years, and she's
got all of them. She has all of them, and
she's now created a book because she's sorry. Up to
ninety person told me over one hundred pages now of

(01:17:57):
costumes that they want to do.

Speaker 6 (01:17:59):
This is a many we have a big book. That's
that just gives you a few of the things that
we have.

Speaker 4 (01:18:05):
But how are you whoa you do?

Speaker 1 (01:18:09):
Okay, this is official how to our listeners out there.
I'm looking at uh a miniature book the size of
a CD booklet of all their how were you able
to preserve?

Speaker 11 (01:18:22):
And in her garage?

Speaker 6 (01:18:29):
Those?

Speaker 5 (01:18:31):
But there there were for.

Speaker 6 (01:18:35):
They're in their Bob Mackie the first designer, and then
Bob Long from Australia.

Speaker 4 (01:18:46):
Like with your designer seeking you guys out will you might.

Speaker 6 (01:18:48):
Be Long designed for all the New York plays and
things and he's really great and we are gonna it's
going to be digital, so you can go on, we'll
go the music, will send it out to the museums
we went and looked at today. Can get the password
to enter the book online so we can let them

(01:19:10):
see what we have clothes in the museum and you know, yes.

Speaker 1 (01:19:18):
Actually yeah, we have a Are you guys aware of
the well I keep called the Black Son That's what
I call it.

Speaker 4 (01:19:25):
It is the Black in d C.

Speaker 5 (01:19:29):
Yes, you went there, We're in there and there there Okay,
we want.

Speaker 6 (01:19:35):
More in there? Do you want someone there that we
can get us some stuff.

Speaker 4 (01:19:39):
We have a hook up for you.

Speaker 5 (01:19:45):
VM you hear it.

Speaker 11 (01:19:50):
I know blank in there, I know the banks.

Speaker 4 (01:19:55):
How many children is it? Did you guys have like
the for the next generation.

Speaker 6 (01:20:01):
The next Uh? Well, Fritz has four.

Speaker 11 (01:20:05):
I'm barren.

Speaker 6 (01:20:09):
I have one my daughters. Sorry to say, my daughter
died in two thousand and three and that kind of
killed me. That's why I slowly just had to stop.
You had to stop going on the road and singing.

Speaker 5 (01:20:23):
And her only child child.

Speaker 11 (01:20:26):
So it's not getting.

Speaker 6 (01:20:31):
It's very hard. I don't on anyone. It's the worst
thing ever. I'll never get over it. It's just terrible.

Speaker 11 (01:20:40):
Now, let's go and move on to happier.

Speaker 6 (01:20:42):
Yeahs. And our older brother Aaron.

Speaker 5 (01:20:49):
Has four three four four three or four four.

Speaker 6 (01:20:54):
Barbarice and you have Barb I have four and two sons. Yeah,
here's four.

Speaker 4 (01:20:59):
You have off.

Speaker 6 (01:21:02):
You know, we've never had a family reunion.

Speaker 5 (01:21:04):
What never?

Speaker 4 (01:21:06):
We have enough we have we're going to change.

Speaker 6 (01:21:09):
When we were kids in Oakland and our im we're
coming over and barbecue and all the family would be there.
That'd be like our family reunion. And that was all
the time we lived together. The green T shirts, the
lives we lived up there exactly.

Speaker 13 (01:21:25):
Y'all know that family has expanded and folks don't know
each other. We are at that point in our family
now where it's like, okay, let's travel to see family.

Speaker 10 (01:21:32):
Make up the West.

Speaker 11 (01:21:34):
Coast half of the people and there are.

Speaker 6 (01:21:39):
People want people related.

Speaker 11 (01:21:45):
And they go something pointer, and I go, what that's
your family? Who are they right?

Speaker 1 (01:21:50):
The majority of the majority of the family in Oakland
still or are you guys.

Speaker 5 (01:21:55):
Spread Oh, we're spread out now.

Speaker 6 (01:21:59):
To Oakland.

Speaker 5 (01:22:00):
My brother's Tacoma. My brother is, he's been there for
twenty five thirty years.

Speaker 4 (01:22:06):
Kids they want to do music as well? Or are
they working on music?

Speaker 5 (01:22:10):
I have a son who studying building a studio into music.
My son is yeah, but that's the only one that
we know of right now.

Speaker 11 (01:22:18):
There are different aspects of My granddaughter.

Speaker 6 (01:22:21):
Roxy does music. Yes, that's my granddaughter, and she does music.
He's got hundreds of incredible tracks. And I'm telling her,
my chop liver, can I sing yourself? She says, she's
working on this, the right thing she wants me to do.

Speaker 4 (01:22:43):
It's a gam for your grandma.

Speaker 12 (01:22:50):
I will go bust the room and join them all
over they've been working on some great stuff.

Speaker 6 (01:22:54):
Alan Alvin is a rapper and he is I love
his rapping, don't you love it?

Speaker 11 (01:22:59):
I love it?

Speaker 6 (01:22:59):
And something doing some great stuff. I'm proud of this.

Speaker 1 (01:23:03):
There's one proud of there's one I forgot. What was
it like being a part of USA for Africa?

Speaker 4 (01:23:13):
We are the world? Night?

Speaker 6 (01:23:14):
Oh god, what tonight. We had just come from the
I think the am A Awards and went to the
studio and I was in awe. Everybody top secret like
the famous people.

Speaker 4 (01:23:31):
Found out about it, and was the top secret like
we found out like.

Speaker 6 (01:23:34):
The day before because they sent us sheet music and
a cassette and having the frame.

Speaker 9 (01:23:43):
Princey's house and he has the lead sheet framed on it.

Speaker 6 (01:23:47):
I got a lead with everybody. I went around that
night and made everybody designed my music and I got
my frame.

Speaker 4 (01:23:57):
D of intimidated by anybody that was.

Speaker 11 (01:23:58):
In the room or you guys, like everybody everybody was
like you, oh my god, Oh my god.

Speaker 12 (01:24:11):
Michael Jackson, you want to Linel Richie, Yes, wonderful, Yeah,
bet Middler.

Speaker 6 (01:24:22):
Else was there? Uh no, well, chi LEI was there.

Speaker 11 (01:24:29):
I think that's Oakland too, r that's Oakland.

Speaker 6 (01:24:33):
And LaToya Jackson was like, right beside me, Turner, Turner,
that was a wonderful, wonderful night. I mean we got
out of there. The sun was coming up there all night.

Speaker 4 (01:24:50):
Did you have any experiences with Aretha while she was alive?

Speaker 5 (01:24:55):
No, Well, Ruth, Ruth had some competition with area Dennis Edwards.
In fact, in fact, her daughter.

Speaker 11 (01:25:12):
Edwards.

Speaker 5 (01:25:13):
Wow, there singing with her. Her daughter who singing with
her is product of Ruth and Dennis.

Speaker 6 (01:25:18):
Edwards, and she and Maria were dating. Dennis like, oh
yeah the same time.

Speaker 12 (01:25:26):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (01:25:29):
Wow, I'm so frozen. I don't even do myself. I'm
doing my sound right now.

Speaker 11 (01:25:37):
Too much information, baby.

Speaker 1 (01:25:43):
Well you know I have to say that enough, can I?
This is a pleasant, pleasant surprise. Again, Bonnie is such
a fan in the my viewers for the longest. So
I'm glad to finally met you. I never thought I
wouldn't you ever. Thank you the same for you your

(01:26:03):
whole family. And again, yes, rock and roll Hall of Fame, I.

Speaker 11 (01:26:09):
Gotta be.

Speaker 6 (01:26:12):
We've got a star on the Hollywood and welcome fan Arkansas,
Black Hall of Fame.

Speaker 11 (01:26:29):
Everything, it don't matter, yes, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 4 (01:26:37):
I just want to say that something I said earlier today.
You guys were in my childhood.

Speaker 9 (01:26:41):
And every time I listen to your music, I'm just
taking back to such a wonderful place and time in
my life. Wonder just to be sitting across from you
guys like beside my.

Speaker 4 (01:26:52):
Kicking out here.

Speaker 6 (01:26:56):
We see we talked you well. I see that T
shirt you have on. You got a lot of good
information from the morning.

Speaker 16 (01:27:07):
One question before before we break Mays was she an
influence lord?

Speaker 6 (01:27:13):
Yeah, we were listening to a song we were doing
We did Respect Yourself, Yes, in Vegas, and Fritz brought
up a CD and played it. We played it last
night with us singing in Vegas at Caesar's Palace singing
Respect Yourself. Maybe we were on the road, but yeah.

(01:27:37):
And Prince was very good friends with May Staples and
we had some fun fun times together.

Speaker 11 (01:27:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:27:45):
And I was also the friends with with Purpose.

Speaker 7 (01:27:48):
He was a differend of mine. He would go to
those night.

Speaker 6 (01:27:53):
Clubs and you go in there. Oh my god, this
is a gun sitting right there on the desk.

Speaker 5 (01:28:00):
Where we have sound check.

Speaker 4 (01:28:03):
Wow, okay, I just got one of the silhouettes from that.

Speaker 11 (01:28:10):
You know that is that's a tattoo. I look on
the back and the tattoos.

Speaker 4 (01:28:16):
You gotta be like a SoundCloud rapper. Put it on
your face. Yes, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Thank you for coming on the show today.

Speaker 13 (01:28:32):
Much.

Speaker 5 (01:28:35):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:28:38):
Team Supreme and the Porn Sisters and brother Fritz. Like
every English professor, I had.

Speaker 4 (01:28:47):
What you said? What was what you said? It was?
It was? What was the words you used?

Speaker 7 (01:28:51):
She had got some words.

Speaker 13 (01:29:00):
You can't English as well as African American studies.

Speaker 18 (01:29:05):
You know you gotta peop. He got the sky and
he got on the grip. He got on the grill
and sandals, yes like you cancuse you on the grill?

Speaker 5 (01:29:23):
What frist was about?

Speaker 11 (01:29:34):
Show me a little necklace, some tattoo. Tattoo point Nicholas, get.

Speaker 4 (01:29:40):
You got one.

Speaker 6 (01:29:45):
On the free.

Speaker 5 (01:29:47):
Had you got to get a hat sometimes.

Speaker 10 (01:29:51):
Like your brass bangle toih.

Speaker 5 (01:29:55):
That's from the towering people in West.

Speaker 11 (01:30:01):
How do you like my bangle? What does it say?

Speaker 10 (01:30:03):
I could just see them glasses.

Speaker 11 (01:30:05):
It says fall risk a risk.

Speaker 4 (01:30:16):
This is What's Love Supreme only on Pandora. We will
see you next go around.

Speaker 5 (01:30:20):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:30:31):
What's Love Supreme is a production of My Heart Radio.
This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.
For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.