Okay I'm done with this book. What I just read is so disgusting, so repulsive, that I have to stop. I was not put on this earth to judge anybody but what I just read was so vile that I'm done. There are lines you do not cross. Bye, guys and sorry.
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Okay I'm done with this book. What I just read is so disgusting, so repulsive, that I have to stop. I was not put on this earth to judge anybody but what I just read was so vile that I'm done. There are lines you do not cross. Bye, guys and sorry.
Well. I hope that you are joking because, of course, you did not write the book, you only [[admirably) reported on it, which I [[for one) am appreciative of. I LOVE my Pointer Sisters and thank you for the info; I'm more into the career / recording info, but that's just me. Did you ever get to see any version of the Pointer Sisters live? I surely hope so!
Yes, my wise friend! Very well stated. 'We all mess up'. And - forgiveness is a major part of pretty much every established philosophy and/or religion. At the risk of being tiring, I say once again: Thanks to you for your info about this book. The Pointer Sisters survived and thrived through decades, musical styles, family problems, you name it. AND - play Neutron Dance at any social gathering and see if people don't dance! The family irradiated joy, and I never for one second thought you did not agree.
They put out a greatest hits package with only eight titles ?
They rushed out a cover 45 of I'M COMING OUT ??
A little known tidbit for you guys, after Jean Terrell and Lynda Laurence left the Supremes, Richard Perry approached them with a deal recording them as a duo for big bucks. In 1974, at the last minute, Jean backed out. It is said material recorded by Martha Reeves and later the Pointers had been designated for Terrell and Laurence.
Jean had just had her first baby. While she appeared interested in this arrangement, her mind was set on a solo career and she didn't want to be in a group any longer. Also, she was enjoying domestic life with her husband and baby. That is likely what kept her away from signing.
Sorry I got so mad yesterday but honestly I could not believe what I was reading. I try not to be judgemental, I really do, but some of this is just too much. I had no inkling, when starting this book [[and Anita's), that the Pointers did so many horrible things and maybe I was just taken aback. For instance Ruth started dating Dennis Edwards while she was still married, and she pawned her two kids off on her aging parents. Now maybe that was a good choice given all the crack smoking going on. Ruth freely admits that her relationship with Dennis was basically "drug buddies." Dennis, as a surprise to nobody, started smoking crack so badly that he missed shows, rehearsals, you name it, which undoubtedly left his friends in the Temptations high and dry. He and Ruth's inability to see or care about the effect their drug use had on others, whether it was Ruth's kids or the Temptations, really bothers me. No sooner had all that crap gone down, Dennis started "dating" other women, eventually moving in with one of them. So what does Ruth do? She woos him back by buying an expensive designer hand bag and filling it with crack cocaine and cash, which she presented to him. He was impressed, apparently, so Ruth swooped in for the kill and asked him to marry her. Dennis said yes.This led to weeks of them free-basing and not cleaning up any of the mess they made in the house and it got so bad they just shoveled all the garbage into various rooms.They didn't clean, even when the Temptations came to visit. They just didn't or couldn't care. Now here's the part that set me off--Ruth got pregnant and kept the baby while using heavily and drinking up a storm as well. How that baby came out okay is beyond me. Also, Ruth became unreliable for various gigs, again with no regard for the effect that had on the other Pointers and their ability to make money. I mean, if you made this story up and put it in a movie, people wouldn't believe it--thinking the whole thing was too over-the-top.
I've zig-zagged about reading the book myself, but your story about Ruth's regrets sent me back to deciding to read the book; you have relayed a simple moment of Ruth's life that regenerates my empathy for all 4 ladies. Thanks again for your work with this thread -
Thank you, Peace. You can get the book on Kindle for $9.00 [[Amazon). Anyway, Ruth gets Meningitis and winds up almost dead in the hospital--and she had to stay for weeks so she finally sobered up. Then she became a stereotypical newly-sober holier than thou type. She turned to junk food, and by the time she shot the Nuetron Dance video, she weighed 185 lbs! So guess what she did about it? Yep. She started using coke again. Man, if this were my story I doubt I'd write a book about it.
Ruth finally gets clean. She says she's been sober for thirty years! Yay!
wow its like a happy ending to a FAIRY-TALE:cool:
well .... except for ....all the collateral damage caused along the way of course
Yeah I guess!!
what about the two brothers ......nothing about the brothers??
I've skipped all but the first two posts here so that I can read the book for myself but Ruth's book was also very candid and she spilled a lot of her own tea. I knew about this one but didn't know if it would live up to expectations. I guess I will place my order.
Glenco This thread is me reviewing both Ruth and Anita's books [[[[I read both back-to-back) and yeah Ruth's book is much more candid. That girl is a free spirit.
I am now at 1988 in Ruth's book. Everything is falling apart. Ruth said that the Pointers' high point was Breakout, and it was, but going forward after that huge success was scary. She even wonders how Michael Jackson must have felt with the pressure of having to match Thriller's success. I have to say here that although I liked I'm So Excited, the song, the rest of it to me sounded like gimmicky dance music. I much preferred Priority and Energy. Anyway, by the time Contact was released, Ruth felt it was a "desperate" attempt to have another Break Out and it just didn't work as well. I only ever heard Twist My Arm on the radio back then, and I recall laughing. It was so obviously formulaic. Contact went platinum but sold about a third of what Break Out sold. Meanwhile Richard Perry was trying to build his own Motown with his Planet Records, but none of the other acts on it struck big--some not at all. The Pointer Sisters were his biggest group, but by 1986 they were faltering.The following albums didn't even go gold. Ruth knew their momentum was slowing just a few years after their pinnacle Break Out. Nobody was sure what to do--sound familiar?
Serious Slammin' was the group's final LP for RCA, and their last with Richard Perry. Ruth said he was going for a harder funk sound like what Cameo was doing and although she understood the thinking, Richard just didn't know how to pull it off. Ruth describes the songs as "tuneless tunes," a viewpoint she still holds today. She says at this point in 1988, "we were so lost." It is scary to me that once you hit the top, there's nowhere to go but down, regardless of your talent or what you have to offer. There were no new hit singles after that
Ruth is on husband #5 at this point and he is a winner. Apparently Miss Ruth got her chit together for the most part, so I say all's well that ends well.
So the Pointers move over to Motown, but two years after Berry left. Ruth says the one record they did for Motown, Right Rhythm, was so depressingly average that today she can't recall a single song on that project. One reviewer said of the lp: "substandard songs, only routine production and arrangements, and didn't sound very inspired on any number." Ruth agreed with the review. Yikes!
Ruth has trouble remembering her current husband by his right name, much less a single song from that album :p
Really? She gushes about him in the book!
Anyway, At a Christmas party at June's house, Bonnie showed up with her crazy husband Jeffrey Bowen.At this point June and Bonnie formed a sort of alliance, while Anita and Ruth were on the other side. At some point at the party, Jeffrey informed Bonnie that it was time to go. Bonnie refused, so a "scuffle" between her and her husband exploded --and June tried to intervene. Somehow, Bowen broke Junes nose and sprained one of her fingers. So Miss June decided to rearrange his greasy hair with an ice bucket, and she knocked him out!! The police revived him and took him to jail. Oh wait--no--this passage is not written very well, but it turns out Bonnie was the one who got a broken nose, not June. Sorry. But Bonnie went to the National Enquirer and said she broke her own nose.
Okay so two paragraphs later Ruthie said that June missed a bunch of performance "due to her injury." Uhhh what injury? She must be talking about a broken nose but I'm not sure.I mean who got the broken nose? It's not clear.
Side bar: When the vid. for ISE dropped, initially, it included a very noticeable City Girls/BBMA wardrobe malfunction. The part where Ruth [[?) stands up from her Mr. Bubble - inspired bath, except for one area.... ! Needless to say, the vid was re-edited and re-released about a month later. Nothing was EVER said about it on MTV, BET Video Soul or Friday Night Videos [[?) or any other video music channel of the day!! Meanwhile, a very young, impressionable-minded NativeNY was floored! I couldn't tell Moms or little brother...cause I couldn't believe what I had seen. Mind you, this was decades before that infamous JT/Janet kerfuffle AND wardrobe malfunction wasn't in pop culture back then. But I for one couldn't unsee what I saw...a burden I carried until junior high!!
That really happened? That isn't mentioned in either book--I wonder why? LOL
Oh trust me, I believe you. after what I've already read in these two books, That's nothing, really. I'm surprised neither Pointer put that in their books--I mean it's kind of funny and not really scandalous when compared with all the crack insanity. Regardless, I am now at a point where June is totally messing up their careers, not showing up to gigs, having a bad attitude when she did bother to show up, and now Bonnie is back on the scene. It's amazing that after Ruthie cleaned herself up, she's very likeable and funny--but June is hitting a wall. It's clear that June wanted her around as a drug buddy. The ladies got a huge gig playing in some big touring festival in Europe for enormous money and June is treating it with near contempt. They all needed the money.
Still lurv The 'Pointy Sisters' as we called them back then. Tee hee
I called them the Pointless Sisters
Okay I'll admit it--I have tears in my eyes. June is dying. She had a stroke, then a heart attack, and then, while she was in the hospital, the doctors found that cancer had basically spread all over her body. Ruth climbed into bed with her as she lay dying, and she and Anita softly sang Fire to her. Incredibly sad.Ruth said she felt June was at peace. Bonnie was not there, probably because she couldn't handle it. I learned in Anita's book that she and Ruth had a falling out when Anita found out Ruth was writing a book. She said she'd never perform with Ruth again. Is that not sad? They were both there for June. I hope they've reconciled. Life is too short.
June is gone and Bonnie magically re-appears, wanting to be part of the burial plans. Ruth and Anita wanted to cremate the body but Bonnie felt that would be resigning June to hell. Then Bonnie really stopped the show by offering an ultimatum: Either Ruth and Anita let her back in the group, or she'd refuse to pay a dime for the funeral. Ugh.