Right Rhythm (1990)

 Right Rhythm is the fourteenth studio album by the Pointer Sisters, released by the Motown label on June 12, 1990. 

 

In 1978, the Pointer Sisters had begun an eleven-year association with Richard Perry – first through his Planet Records label and subsequently with RCA Records – with the group amassing a total of eleven Top 40 hits. The sisters' 1983 multi-platinum album release, Break Out was parent to four Top Ten hits including "I'm So Excited" – introduced on the 1982 album So Excited! but remixed and added to later pressings of Break Out. The career climax achieved there was followed by a decline in popularity and in 1988 the Pointer Sisters ended their contract with RCA, blaming their decline on that label's supposedly bad promotion.^[7]

It was reported in March 1989 that the Pointer Sisters were negotiating with Motown.^[8] The label had passed on the group when they'd sought their first record deal in 1971, though sister and original member Bonnie Pointer left the group for a solo career with Motown in 1977. The group signed with Motown in May 1989, with June Pointer then stating: "We want to help Motown get back up where it was", referencing the label's own faded fortunes.^[9]

Ultimately, the album neither revived the Pointer Sisters' faltering career nor fixed Motown's financial difficulties. The label released Right Rhythm in the summer of 1990 following the May 1990 issue of the advance single "Friends' Advice". That single was a relative failure, only reaching #36 on the Billboard R&B charts. The second single, a ballad called "After You", also failed to find a widespread audience. A third single, a remixed version of "Insanity", managed a #62 R&B peak^[a]. With Motown suffering from continued management turmoil,^[10] Right Rhythm failed to dent either the Billboard 200 or the R&B albums chart. By mutual agreement, Motown did not renew the sisters' contract.^[11]

"Billy Said Yes" featured background vocals by Issa Pointer, the daughter of Ruth Pointer: Issa would replace June in the group's membership in 2002.