The sisters endured some hard times on their way to fame, once they were brought into Austin, Texas for a recording session only to find there was no studio as the agent was not even involved in the records business. Panicked, Anita called David Rubinson who plunked down his AMEX card and brought the sisters safely home then arranged to get them signed to Blue Thumb records.

Then Jerry Wexler of Atlantic records caught the girls performance with Elvin Bishop and signed them. It was not a marriage made in heaven and Rubinson threw a fit when found out that the label turned all of their music into generic sounding R&B when he knew the women were capable of so much more.

Terminating the contract he turned to Blue Thumb records prez Bob Krasnow who loved the sisters sounds and fashion. Did you know that the sisters sang back up for the first Sylvester & The Hot Band album? They were working for the same label.

The Pointer Sisters began their careers entrenched in gospel. The older they got, the more they realized that they wanted to expand into other musical styles, much to the dismay of their parents. Bonnie and June started off as Pointers, A Pair and were having some success when Anita decided to join them.

From that point on, they started doing background vocals for Grace Slick, Sylvester James, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop, which led to their being signed to Atlantic Records in 1971. They had no hits on Atlantic and by the time Ruth joined, they secured a new contract with Blue Thumb Records. Around this time they recorded for "Sesame Street" a song called "Pinball Number Count" which became very popular on the show.

The single "Yes We Can Can" opened them up to pop audiences and expanded their R&B fan base. Their 1978 LP "Energy" included their specially tailored Springsteen song "Fire" and this lesser known song "Happiness" which I always loved...written by Allen Toussaint. They became even more popular in the early to mid 80's with their electrifying singles "Jump (For My Love)", "Automatic", "Neutron Dance" and "I'm So Excited".