"Automatic" | ||||
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Single by The Pointer Sisters | ||||
from the album Break Out | ||||
B-side | "Nightline" | |||
Released | January 13, 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983 (Los Angeles, California) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:48 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Richard Perry | |||
The Pointer Sisters singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Automatic" at TopPop on YouTube |
"Automatic" is a song recorded by American vocal group the Pointer Sisters for their tenth studio album Break Out (1983). The song was released by the Planet label on January 13, 1984, as the second single from the album. It was written by Brock Walsh and Mark Goldenberg.
"Automatic" reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became one of their signature songs. Eventually, three other singles from Break Out reached the top-ten on the Hot 100 consecutively. Billboard named the song number 94 on their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs Of All Time". [3]
"Automatic" was the group's first Top 40 hit to feature Ruth Pointer's distinctive contralto on lead.
According to Ruth Pointer, "Automatic" was the final song chosen for Breakout: "We were taking a break from recording in the office of Jim Tract, who was Richard Perry's right-hand man, and Jim mentioned that he had a stash of tapes we might want to listen to [while on] a breather...We all sat up straight when we first heard ['Automatic'] and told Richard we wanted to include it on the album. 'Okay,' he said 'But who would sing the low part?' 'Are you kidding me?' I said, 'I'll do the low part!'" [4]
Although Break Out largely comprised dance tracks, its lead single was the ballad "I Need You", chosen by producer Richard Perry in hopes of reinforcing the Pointer Sisters presence at R&B radio: the dance track "Jump (for My Love)" was intended as the second single but the heavy airplay afforded "Automatic" as an album cut by both dance clubs and radio stations caused the substitution of "Automatic" for "Jump..." as the second single release from Break Out, although "Jump..." would become the most successful US single off Break Out when it became the album's third single. [5] The first Top 40 hit to feature Ruth Pointer's distinctive contralto on lead, "Automatic" reached #5 on the Hot 100 in Billboard in April 1984, also charting on the magazine's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Dance Club Play rankings, its #2 R&B chart peak making "Automatic" the highest charting R&B hit by the Pointer Sisters as a trio (in their original four-woman format the Pointer Sisters did score an R&B #1 hit with "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)"). Holding "Automatic" out of the top position of the R&B chart (for three weeks) was "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell.
In the United Kingdom, "Automatic" would afford the Pointer Sisters their all-time biggest hit, spending two weeks at #2 on the UK chart in May 1984 while stuck behind The Reflex by Duran Duran when it also reached #1 in Ireland. "Automatic" also afforded the Pointer Sisters Top-Ten success in Belgium (#5 on the Flemish chart), the Netherlands (#9), and New Zealand (#8). In Australia, "Automatic" reached a chart peak of #15. The B-side of "Automatic" was "Nightline" featuring June Pointer on lead. "Nightline" was also originally featured on Break Out but was dropped from later pressings of the album to allow for the inclusion of the remix of "I'm So Excited".
The Pointer Sisters
Musicians
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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"Automatic" | ||||
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Single by Ultra Naté | ||||
from the album Grime, Silk, & Thunder | ||||
Released | 2007 | |||
Length | 4:58 | |||
Label | Tommy Boy Entertainment | |||
Songwriter(s) | Brock Walsh, Mark Goldenberg | |||
Ultra Naté singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Automatic" on YouTube |
Ultra Naté covered "Automatic" and released it as the third single from her album Grime, Silk, & Thunder . Her version topped the US dance chart, hitting number one in the issue dated April 28, 2007. This version appeared briefly in a nightclub scene of Looking: The Movie in 2016.
The music video for "Automatic" was directed by Karl Giant. [28] Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine commented of the music video's beginning: "For the first two or three minutes, it's nothing if not a stalwart representation of your standard gay-bar video-jukebox fixture." Ultra Naté is later shown wearing a rhinestone-studded liquid Lycra while two men, apparently nude, watch her on their computers. [29] Then Naté appears in a blow-up doll costume, [28] which Henderson believed "sends the entire video into legitimately weird territory, as though David Meyers were asked to direct a video for Nine Inch Nails." [29]
Chart (2007) | Peak Position |
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Belgium (Ultratip Flanders) [32] | 5 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [32] | 86 |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [32] | 5 |
US Hot Dance Airplay ( Billboard ) | 18 |
US Hot Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [33] | 1 |
In 2006, Belgian singer Afi covered "Automatic". [34] Her version became a minor hit in Belgium, where it reached top twenty on the Flanders Ultratip chart. [35]
In 2022 the song got covered by American group Lake Street Dive.
The Pointer Sisters are an American girl group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as R&B, pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blues, soul, funk, dance, country, and rock. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985.
Ultra Naté Wyche is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ and promoter who has achieved success on the pop charts with songs such as "Free", "If You Could Read My Mind", and "Automatic".
"Somebody's Watching Me" is a song recorded and written by American singer Rockwell, released by the Motown label in December 1983, as the lead single from his debut studio album of the same name. It features guest vocals by Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson and Norman Dozier. The song became a major commercial success internationally, topping the charts in Belgium, France, and Spain, and reaching the top 5 in Canada, West Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. In the UK, it reached No. 6 and is Rockwell's only top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart. Rolling Stone magazine called the song "an international and enduring smash hit that, more than 30 years later, remains the perennial paranoia-rock anthem and Halloween mix go-to song."
"Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan that is famous for the French refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me, tonight?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
"I Feel for You" is a song written by American musician Prince that originally appeared on his 1979 self-titled album. The most successful and best-known version was recorded by R&B singer Chaka Khan and appeared on her 1984 album of the same name. It became the recipient of two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Khan.
"Time After Time" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). It was released as the album's second single in March 1984, by Epic and Portrait Records. Written by Lauper and Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals, the song was produced by Rick Chertoff. It was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide, referring to the 1979 film Time After Time.
"Heaven" is a song by the Canadian singer and songwriter Bryan Adams recorded in 1983, written by Adams and Jim Vallance. It first appeared on the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album the same year and was later included on Adams' album Reckless in 1984. It was released as the third single from Reckless and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in June 1985, over a year and a half after the song first appeared on record. The single was certified Gold in Canada in 1985.
"Jump (For My Love)" is an electropop song by American girl group the Pointer Sisters, released on April 11, 1984, as the third single from their tenth studio album, Break Out (1983). The song hit the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, R&B, and Dance charts, and it was the best-selling American dance single of 1984, sold as a trio of songs including "I Need You" and "Automatic". The song features June Pointer on lead vocals and scored global chart success.
"Wordy Rappinghood" is the debut single by American new wave band Tom Tom Club, from their 1981 self-titled debut album. It uses part of a traditional Moroccan children's song and game, "A Ram Sam Sam", made popular by the 1971 Rolf Harris recording. In the United States, the song topped the Billboard Disco Top 80 chart along with "Genius of Love".
"Missing You" is a song co-written and recorded by English musician John Waite. It was released in June 1984 as the lead single from his second album, No Brakes (1984). It reached number one on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks and on the Hot 100, as well as number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. "Missing You" was the only record in 1984 to spend only a single week at the top of the Hot 100. The song was nominated for the 1985 Best Pop Vocal Performance Male Grammy Award.
Break Out is the tenth studio album by American female vocal group the Pointer Sisters, released on November 1, 1983, on Planet Records, distributed by RCA Records. It is the Pointer Sisters' most successful album to date, peaking at number eight on the Billboard 200 and being certified triple-platinum by the RIAA.
"I'm So Excited" is a song by American girl group the Pointer Sisters. Jointly written and composed by the sisters in collaboration with Trevor Lawrence, it was originally released in September 1982, reaching number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by a remixed re-release in July 1984, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard named the song number 23 on their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs Of All Time".
"Insomnia" is a song by British musical group Faithless. Released as the band's second single, it became one of their most successful. It was originally released in 1995 and reached number 27 on the UK Singles Chart, topping the UK Dance Chart in the process. When re-released in October 1996, the song achieved a new peak of number three in the United Kingdom and topped the charts of Finland, Norway, and Switzerland, as well as the American and Canadian dance charts. It also featured on Faithless's 1996 debut album, Reverence.
Mai Tai is a Dutch group that was formed in 1983 by the Dutch record producers Eric van Tijn and Jochem Fluitsma with three former backing vocalists Jetty Weels, Mildred Douglas and Caroline de Windt.
"Dare Me" is a 1985 song originally by American contemporary R&B group the Pointer Sisters, issued by RCA Records.
"Love Is Gone" is a song by French house DJ David Guetta and American singer Chris Willis. It is the second single from Guetta's third studio album, Pop Life. The single was released in France in June 2007 and in the UK in August 2007. The song reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his second Top 10 hit. The song also received crossover airplay on top 40 radio stations in the United States, leading it to reach No. 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song has been remixed by its co-producers Frédéric Riesterer & Joachim Garraud, Eddie Thoneick, Fuzzy Hair and Amo & Navas. The Fred Rister & Joachim Garraud remix was the first David Guetta production to use a guitar sample which was later used in the songs "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas and "Gettin' Over". The music video of the song features American actress Kelly Thiebaud.
"Love & Pride" is the debut single by Coventry band King, produced by Richard James Burgess and featured on the band's first studio album, Steps in Time.
"High Energy" is a song co-written and co-produced by Ian Levine and Fiachra Trench, and performed by American dance singer Evelyn Thomas. The song was very popular in dance clubs around the world and topped the American dance chart in September 1984. It also spent four weeks atop the singles chart in West Germany and peaked at number 5 in the UK. It became one of the earliest successful songs within the genre of music that has come to be known as hi-NRG. On the SoBe Music compilation album Gay Classics, Volume 1: Ridin' the Rainbow, the liner notes describe the song as "...engagingly captur[ing] the spirit of the genre through uplifting lyrics tightly fused with dazzling synth work".
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"Free" is a song by American recording artist Ultra Naté, released on March 31, 1997, through record label Strictly Rhythm. It was co-written by Naté, Lem Springsteen and John Ciafone, while production was held by both Springsteen and Ciafone. "Free" was served as the lead single from her third studio album, Situation: Critical (1997). Musically, the song is a house-influenced song that incorporates strong 1990s soul, dance-pop, garage and disco.