He's So Shy

"He's So Shy" is 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": Ruth Pointer has stated that Perry did cut "He's So Shy" with Anita Pointer on lead but then opined: "I think I want June to record this [as lead]."

Impact

Released in May 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.