Today’s classic song of the day was written by Bruce Springsteen but made into a huge hit by the Pointer Sisters. The song is “Fire” and it was released as a single by the Pointer Sisters in October of 1978. (March of 1979 in the UK.) It went all the way to #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100.
Bruce Springsteen wrote a lot of songs in the 1970s and 1980s that he ended up giving away to other artists, including “Blinded by the Light” for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, “Because the Night” for Patti Smith, “Hearts of Stone” for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, “This Little Girl” for Gary U.S. Bonds, and “Pink Cadillac” for Natalie Cole. In the case of “Fire,” this was one of 52 tunes written for Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town” that didn’t make the cut for that album. Springsteen and producer Jon Landau thought that “Fire” was too upbeat for what ultimately became a very downbeat album and might overshadow their chosen singles “Badlands” and “”Prove It All Night.”
Springsteen first gave “Fire” to rockabilly singer Robert Gordon to record. He released his Elvis-inspired version (with Springsteen himself playing piano) on his 1978 album Fresh Fish Special. The track got some play on album-oriented radio stations but didn’t make the charts as a single.
The song then went to the Pointer Sisters, who recorded it as their first single as a trio. They were the right group for the song, and it became their highest-charting single. As sister Anita Pointer recalls:
“[‘Fire’] became our first gold single: we had had gold albums before but I didn’t realize what a difference a gold single made, ’cause…that one song [is played] over and over all over the world. It really became a major hit for us and made a total difference in our career.”
Even though Springsteen didn’t release his own version of the song at the time, he almost immediately included it live sets with the E Street Band. Springsteen’s version of “Fire” saw its first release on vinyl in his massive 1986 Live/1975-85 box set in 1986. This version, released as a single, went to #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #45 on the Cash Box Top 100.
Springsteen’s original studio recording of “Fire,” recorded during the Darkness at the Edge of Town sessions, finally saw the light of day on his 2010 album of unreleased tracks from that album, The Promise. It ain’t bad.
And today’s daily bonus video of the day, here’s the Boss and his band performing “Fire” live in Houston in 1978. It’s tough to beat the Boss.
