He's So Shy

"He's So Shy" is a the title of a song written by Tom Snow and lyricist Cynthia Weil which in 1980 became a top ten Pop hit for the Pointer Sisters.

Background

Although the song's title recalls the girl group classic "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons, "He's So Shy" was in fact conceived by its composers as a song for Leo Sayer to record as "She's So Shy". The song was pitched to Richard Perry who'd produced Sayer's biggest hits; Perry was no longer working with Sayer but saw the song's potential as a track for the Pointer Sisters, who'd inaugurated Perry's own Planet label with the 1978 #2 hit "Fire". According to Ruth Pointer, Perry's assigning the lead vocal on "He's So Shy" to June Pointer was a disappointment to Anita Pointer who Ruth says "wanted that song badly."^[1]

Impact

Released in July 1980 as the lead single from the album Special Things, "He's So Shy"'s fusion of classic girl group pop, new-wave styled dance music and R&B proved the right combination to effect a Top Ten comeback for the Pointer Sisters, the track reaching a Billboard Hot 100 peak of #3 (R&B #10) that October. "He's So Shy" set the prototype of the trademark Pointer Sisters sound which would afford the group its career peak in 1983-84 with the Break Out album.

Chart performance

The Love Boat

The Pointer Sisters performed "He's So Shy" on The Love Boat episode broadcast 7 February 1981. The group's members portrayed members of the ship's housekeeping staff recruited by Isaac the bartender (Ted Lange) to be his background singers (in his perception) on a performance of "I'm So Shy" which Isaac hopes will effect his discovery by a cruise guest who's a recording exec; instead it's the background singers who are discovered.

Credits

• Lead vocals by June Pointer
• Background vocals by June Pointer, Ruth Pointer and Anita Pointer
• Composed by Tom Snow and Cynthia Weil
• Produced by Richard Perry

References

External links