"Slow Hand" is a song recorded by American

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in s ...

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, bl ...

for their eighth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

'' Black & White'' (1981). The song, written by Michael Clark and

John Bettis John Gregory Bettis (born October 24, 1946) is an American lyricist. He was originally part of the band Spectrum, which also featured Richard and Karen Carpenter. He wrote the lyrics for " Top of the World", a hit for both Lynn Anderson and Th ...

, was released by the

Planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

label in May 1981 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from ''Black & White''.

Background and impact

Although its sultry style recalls the Pointer Sisters' first American top-ten hit, the 1978 number two hit "

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...

", "Slow Hand" was not written for the group; in fact

would state "the Pointer Sisters were the furthest ctfrom he composers'minds." However producer

Richard Perry Richard Van Perry (born June 18, 1942) is an American record producer. He began as a performer in his adolescence while attending Poly Prep, his high school in Brooklyn. After graduating from college he rose through the late 1960s and early 1970 ...

(Richard Perry quote:)"knew 'Slow Hand'

ould be Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

an instant smash itspan style="font-size:50%">...that...would recapitulate and expand on the intimacy f'Fire'." Like "Fire"—which also featured

Anita Pointer Anita Marie Pointer (January 23, 1948December 31, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, best known as a founding member of the vocal group the Pointer Sisters. She co-wrote and was the lead singer on their hit song "Fairytale", which garnere ...

on lead—"Slow Hand" peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, for 3 weeks, behind " Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. "Slow Hand" reached that position in August 1981 when it also reached number seven on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. In September 1981, the single was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the RIAA. "Slow Hand" also afforded the Pointer Sisters international success, including the first appearance by the group in the top-ten on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Slow Hand" was ranked in the top 25 best singles of the year by ''The Village Voice''

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abs ...

poll.

Personnel

The Pointer Sisters *

– lead vocals *

June Pointer June Antoinette Pointer (November 30, 1953 – April 11, 2006) was an American singer, best known as the youngest of the founding members of the vocal group The Pointer Sisters. Early life and career Born the youngest of six children to minister ...

– backing vocals *

Ruth Pointer Ruth Esther Pointer (born March 19, 1946) is an American singer–songwriter who is best known as the eldest member of the American family vocal group the Pointer Sisters. Career Joining her sisters in 1972, the Pointer Sisters released their f ...

– backing vocals Musicians * John Barnes – electric piano *

William "Smitty" Smith William Daniel "Smitty" Smith (August 30, 1944 – November 28, 1997) was a Canadian keyboardist and session musician. Background He had been playing together with Steve Kennedy, Eric Mercury, Eric "Mouse" Johnson, Terry Logan and Diane Brooks ...

– organ * Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar * Tim May – guitar *

Nathan Watts Nathan or Natan may refer to: People *Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name *Nathan (surname) *Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible * Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...

– bass * John Robinson – drums * Paulinho da Costa – percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Del Reeves version

The song was covered in 1981 by country singer

Del Reeves Franklin Delano Reeves (July 14, 1933 – January 1, 2007) was an American country music singer, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty songs of the 1960s including "Girl on the Billboard" and "The Belles of Southern Bell". He is also know ...

, whose version peaked at #53 on the

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart.

Conway Twitty version

The song was covered in April 1982 by country singer Conway Twitty with minor lyric changes to accommodate a heterosexual male singer. His version, on Elektra Records, topped the '' Billboard''

chart for two weeks that June, and was his last multi-week number-one song.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1981 singles 1982 singles The Pointer Sisters songs Conway Twitty songs Del Reeves songs Songs with lyrics by John Bettis Songs written by Michael Clark (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Song recordings produced by Richard Perry Elektra Records singles 1981 songs Planet Records singles