Song of the Day 4/24: The Pointer Sisters, “Fire”
New Jersey’s largest wildfire in 20 years has consumed more than 13,000 acres in Ocean County, not far from Bruce Springsteen’s old stomping grounds. That’s not the kind of fire he wrote this song about, though.
After he saw Elvis Presley perform at the Spectrum in May 1977, Springsteen wrote this slow-burner and sent a demo to the King, who died before it arrived. Springsteen instead offered it to Robert Gordon, a neo-rockabilly singer he met through E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent, after seeing Gordon in concert with Link Wray. Springsteen played piano on the version Gordon released in 1978, which gives some idea of how Elvis might have covered it.
Gordon’s single didn’t reach the Hot 100, but the other version released that year hit No. 2, the first record by the Pointer Sisters to reach the Top 10 and their first gold single. Anita Pointer, who sang lead, credited it with breaking the group internationally. Like “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” the song worked better by flipping the script to the woman’s point of view.
Though Springsteen left the song off his “Darkness on the Edge of Town” album, he played it frequently on the corresponding tour but only occasionally since. He didn’t release his own version until 1986.
Robin Williams couldn’t resist having some fun with the tune. He sang it as Elmer Fudd.
