Retro Spins: Pointer Sisters - Contact

Riding the waves of their 1983 smash, Break Out, Pointer Sisters hit 1985 with their follow-up, Contact, their first for RCA, after Planet Records was sold to them. While the album didn't fare as well as its predecessor, there's no doubt that the momentum from it was what pushed initial sales. It would become their second most successful album to date, reaching platinum certification.

Not only would it produces multiple singles, Dare Me, Freedom, and Twist My Arm, the latter which spawned a highly successful music video which helped the trio win Favorite Video Group at the 1986 American Music Awards. The video absolutely drips with all things 80's weirdness, and tops it all off with Bobcat Goldthwait. Check it out!

 

If that music video didn't make you feel good, there's something wrong with you.

Twist My Arm is also the track that kicks everything off for the album, and it essentially picks up with the high energy sound of hits like Jump, Neutron Dance, and I'm So Excited. This is followed by, Hey You, which puts Ruth Pointer front and center for some more of that deep vocal goodness from ala previous hit, Automatic.

By track four, Back In My Arms, I was really digging everything. Contact felt like the perfect sequel to Break Out.

Overall, it was good stuff. Lot's of 80's goodness, and one definitely worth checking out. In addition to the above noted tracks, I was also particularly keen on Bodies And Souls, Contact, and Dare Me. I can't believe I had forgotten about the latter, but I love when I find hits I don't remember. It's a nice bit of icing on the cake. The music video on the other hand...well, that's something I wish I could forget with its Rocky type vibe.

Things end on the ballad side with the excessively long, over six minutes, Freedom. If I had one issue with the album, it would be that.

Prior to moving on from 1985, the girls contributed the outtake, Just A Little Closer, to the USA For Africa album, We Are The World.

Unfortunately, the high the sisters were on was about to start coming down. Their next release, 1986's Hot Together, would see a massive slump in sales, as well as hit singles. There would, however be contributions to soundtracks to some of the biggest movies of the year, and we'll get into all of that tomorrow.

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Comics Corner: Web Of Spider-Man 16

   

Title: Web Of Spider-Man
Issue Number: 16
Release Date: July 1986

Highlights

• First appearance of Charla Hanks, Seth Hanks, Wayne, and Dr. Udoff
• First appearance of the Temple Corners
• The end of the red suit story arc begins
• After getting his last clean shirt caught in a door, ripping it, Peter ends up at the Bugle in a pink Strawberry Shortcake shirt
• J. Jonah Jameson intercepts Peter, and takes him upstairs to the new Now Magazine offices
• Jameson has already brought Joy Mercado onboard, and he sends her and Peter to Temple Corners to get photos and a story on the growing frustrations with the locals there
• Upon arriving in town, things seem off to Joy and Peter, with none of the rioters and apparent problems being present
• Peter and Joy are met by the Temple Corners "welcoming committee," who smash out their car windshield
• As the fight breaks out, Peter initially pulls his punches, but Joy encourages, telling him she knows he can handle himself, like she saw him do against a group of thugs
• Hearing this, Peter cuts loose, and wallops the townfolk
• Reference is made to Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 5, and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 108
• As more reinforcements arrive, Peter and Joy run, ducking down an alley, and being told by Charla they can hide in her place
• Charla asks them to help her get her son Seth back
• Peter, Joy, and Charla are captured by "the men without faces", who take them to an underground hidden city
• Dr. Udoff says that Seth is the key to their plan, and reuniting him with his mother will help keep that plan moving forward
• Peter escapes, and with a quick change to Spider-Man, starts trashing the villains
• Magma crashes through the wall in a cliffhanger ending, challenging Spider-Man to battle

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• None

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

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Retro Spins: Pointer Sisters - So Excited!

Would it be wrong to assume that when most people think of the Pointer Sisters that the song I'm So Excited is one of the tracks that comes to mind? Would you believe that when it was first released for their 1982 album, So Excited!, it didn't make as big of an impact as it would later?

Upon its initial release, the single would peak at number thirty on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it would be revived and re-released on the 1984 re-issues of their 1983 album, Break Out. It would be here that the song would once again hit the charts, peaking at number nine.

Overall, So Excited!, the album, would fare much worse than its predecessor, Black & White (1981) which went gold. Excited would receive not sell enough units to reach and sales certifications status, and as a whole, stall out with lackluster reception.

Playing through it, what I like about it is that you can hear the girls shifting in style. While it's still considered an R&B / soul album, there are hints of the synthpop / new wave sound that was on the horizon.

Things kick off with the title track, which sets a high bar for things to come. While the energy stays in place, the remainder becomes a hit or miss series of songs.

Yes, there were ones that I selected for the old shuffle list, All Of You, If You Wanna Get Back Your Lady, and Heart To Heart. However, just in typing this paragraph, I couldn't tell you a thing about them. They've already left my mind.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of everyone doing a re-make of Prince's I Feel For You. First and foremost, as much of a fan of the guy that I am, that song is the stink. I don't like his versions, I don't like Rebbie Jackson's cover, Mary Wells sped up cover, and while Chaka Khan's is the best of all, I really don't like it much past the rap intro.

With what I know was to come from the Pointer Sisters with their next album, Break Out, I really was hoping that this one would have a few more hints of that. Some hidden gems or overlooked classics. Sadly, that's just not the case here.

Since I've already listened to, and written a Retro Spin on that one, and moving tomorrow into their 1985 released, Contact. It's the second most successful album from the girls, but is this just because of the momentum it was riding from their previous smash? I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

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