Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Remembering June Pointer
()
June Pointer, youngest of the singing Pointer Sisters, died Tuesday of cancer at UCLA Medical Center. In addition to singing on the group's major albums, including lead vocal on the song "Jump (For my Love)," she co-wrote songs such as "I'm So Excited," which exemplified the group's capacity for joyous naughtiness. The Pointer Sisters' music spanned genres: they could sing rock, R&B, old-fashioned jazz, and country all on the same album and still have a consistent sound.
One of this correspondent's earliest musical memories is of the Pointer Sisters singing "Yes We Can Can" on Sesame Street. It turns out, according to Wikipedia, that they also sang the famous Sesame Street animated pinball counting song. You know it; sing along: "One two three FOUR five six seven eight NINE ten ELEVEN TWELVE!" This was in the same era that Ray Charles appeared and sang "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" and Johnny Cash sang "Three Feet High and Rising" (and a lesser-known ditty called "Nasty Dan" as a duet with Oscar the Grouch.) Great company -- hm, are we due for a Pointer Sisters movie next?
The Pointer Sisters' musical legacy still shows in LA: their song "Neutron Dance" was featured in Beverly Hills Cop, and we've recently heard "Automatic" played at Brass Monkey. We've also bought their records Retrospect and Break Out at Amoeba Music. Still, the Pointer Sisters have been taken for granted a bit in recent years. As sorry as we are for the loss of June, it would be nice to see people giving her and her sisters plenty of recognition.
Support for LAist comes from
Photo from Pointer Sisters fansite.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist