Slow Hand

This article is about the Pointer Sisters song. For the Interpol song, see Slow Hands. For the Eric Clapton album, see Slowhand.
"Slow Hand"
Single by The Pointer Sisters
from the album Black & White
B-side "Holdin' Out for Love"
Released May 1981
Format 7"
Genre R&B, pop, soul
Length 3:57
Label Planet
Writer(s) Michael Clark, John Bettis
Producer(s) Richard Perry
The Pointer Sisters singles chronology
"Where Did the Time Go"
(1980)		 "Slow Hand"
(1981)		 "What a Surprise"
(1981)

"Slow Hand" is a ballad written by John Bettis and Michael Clark and recorded by The Pointer Sisters. It was first released in the spring of 1981 as the advance single for Black & White.

Background and impact

Although its sultry style recalls the Pointer Sisters' first top ten hit, the 1978 number 2 hit "Fire", "Slow Hand" was not written for the group; in fact John Bettis would state "the Pointer Sisters were the furthest [act] from [the composers'] minds."[1] Like "Fire"—which also featured Anita Pointer on lead—"Slow Hand" peaked at number 2 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 7 on the R&B chart. The Pointer Sisters' best Hot 100 showing would remain number 2 throughout their career.

"Slow Hand" also afforded the Pointer Sisters international success, including the first appearance by the group in the UK top 10.

The track was ranked in the top 25 best singles of the year by The Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll.

"Slow Hand" was not the first song recorded by the sisters to have a country feel. In 1974 the group wrote and recorded the breakthrough track "Fairytale".

Chart performance

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report 5
Canadian RPM Top Singles 2
Dutch Top 40 33
French Singles Chart 55
Irish Singles Chart 2
New Zealand Singles Chart 6
UK Singles Chart 10
US Billboard Hot 100 2
US Billboard R&B Chart[2] 7
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[3] 6

Personnel

Del Reeves version

The song was covered in 1981 by country singer Del Reeves, whose version peaked at #53 on the Hot Country Singles chart.

Conway Twitty version

"Slow Hand"
Single by Conway Twitty
from the album Southern Comfort
B-side "When Love Was Something Else"
Released April 24, 1982
Genre Country
Length 2:56
Label Elektra
Writer(s) Michael Clark, John Bettis
Producer(s) Jimmy Bowen, Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty singles chronology
"The Clown"
(1981)		 "Slow Hand"
(1982)		 "Over Thirty (Not Over the Hill)"
(1982)

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 Hot Country Singles chart for two weeks that June, and was his last multi-week number-one song. [4]

Chart performance

Chart (1982) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 6

Modestep version

The song was covered in 2013 by dubstep and hard rock group, Modestep. It was included on their debut album Evolution Theory.

References

  1. ↑ Billboard vol. 93 #33 (22 August 1981) p.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 465.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 194.
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 362.
  5. ↑ "Conway Twitty – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Conway Twitty.
Preceded by
"For All the Wrong Reasons"
by The Bellamy Brothers		 Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single
June 19-June 26, 1982 		Succeeded by
"Any Day Now"
by Ronnie Milsap
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