Making a Point

Good timing can carry you a long way in pop music.

Two years ago, Alanis Morissette had it with her rage-filled “Jagged Little Pill,” which touched a nerve among youthful rock fans. More recently, a folksier sound, as delivered on this summer’s Lilith Fair tour, has found a growing audience.

Where does that leave a veteran pop-vocal group like the Pointer Sisters?

The three sisters--June, Anita and Ruth--tour constantly with their flashy stage show, which stops tonight and Saturday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. But their most recent album of fresh material, 1994’s “Only Sisters Can Do That,” generated little excitement; as a result, the group is seeking a new record deal.

The Grammy-winning trio’s popularity last soared in the early ‘80s when a slew of wonderfully contagious singles--”I’m So Excited,” “Jump (For My Love),” “Neutron Dance,” “He’s So Shy” and “Slow Hand”--bombarded the airwaves.

But they’ve been working steadily ever since, out of the studio and in.

“We are recording some very solid new material,” said June Pointer, the youngest at 42, in a recent phone interview. “I feel good about these songs, and we’re pitching them to RCA [their label in the ‘80s]. Hopefully they’ll share our enthusiasm.”

In addition to touring, the group just completed “Dance, Dance, Dance With the Pointer Sisters,” a four-hour dance marathon that aired recently during “ ‘80s-Week” on VH-1. And their newly released “Yes We Can Can” (Hip-O Records) features dance remixes of their popular recordings for Blue Thumb Records from 1973 to 1977.

The sisters have long been justifiably proud of their crossover appeal: Of their 10 Grammy nominations, “Jump” (best pop performance), “Automatic” (best vocal arrangement) and “Fairytale” (best country vocal) were winners.

“We’ve always been interested in songs with a natural, earthy sound and tone,” June said. “That comes first. We don’t care if it’s pop, R&B;, jazz--or whatever. And we don’t like any barriers, either musically or racially. I think our songs appeal to people in the suburbs and urban neighborhoods, whether black or white.”

More important than making hits, she said, is using music as a means to spread a message. It hurts, June explained, to see neighborhoods--including her old one in Oakland--become increasingly dangerous.

“I think rap music had good intentions, but it’s gotten out of hand,” she said. “I knew and respected Tupac [Shakur]--ya know, we’re both from the same town. But the rappers are just putting too many of their problems on record, saying we ought to blow this guy and his whole family away. Every kid seems to have a gun these days, and they don’t hesitate to use it.

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“When I visit my niece, she’s afraid if I happen to wear the wrong colors [of rival gangs]. We need to let kids know we’ll listen to their problems and help stop all this violence. Where’s our future gonna be without the children?”

The sisters grew up in a strict family. Their parents, Elton and Sarah, were ministers at the West Oakland Church of God. Their father prohibited the girls from attending secular dances, concerts and movies, and if they snuck off to neighborhood parties, he tracked them down.

All these years later, June appreciates her parents’ values.

“The lessons we were taught about honesty and commitment have stayed with us,” she said, “and we need to pass them on to a new generation.”

June says that she, Anita, Ruth and Bonnie, who left the group in 1977, remain close on and off stage. She finds it hard to understand the feuding between siblings in such pop bands as Oasis.

“When I hear about stuff like that, I think, ‘Why are these guys working together?’ ” she said. “All the ego problems and petty jealousy . . . it’s ridiculous. I mean, we’re sisters, and we’ll help each other any way we can. That’s just how we were brought up.

“Now if they were to mess with me, though,” she added with a laugh, “I might have to put ‘em on the ground.”

* The Pointer Sisters perform today and Saturday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive. 8 p.m. $35-50. (562) 916-8500.