Automatic

"Automatic"
Single by The Pointer Sisters
from the album Break Out
Released	December 1983
Genre	Post-disco, funk, dance
Length	4:46 (album version) 3:59 (7" version) 6:06 (12" extended version)
Label	Planet
Writer(s)	Brock Walsh, Mark Goldenberg
Producer	Brock Walsh, Richard Perry
The Pointer Sisters singles chronology
"I Need You" (1983) "Automatic" (1983) "Jump (For My Love)" (1984)

"Automatic" is a song by the Pointer Sisters, released on the Planet label at the end of 1983. The song became one of the Pointers' signature tunes and was the first of four consecutive top ten singles from their multi-platinum landmark album, Break Out.

The Pointer Sisters version

"Automatic", which features Ruth Pointer's deep lead vocals, soared to number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and US Hot Dance Club Play charts. It repeated that success in other countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom (where it made it to number two only kept from the top spot by Duran Duran's "The Reflex"). The song also became the Sisters' only #1 in the Republic of Ireland. "Automatic", and its sister song "Neutron Dance", set the stage for female R&B groups featuring strikingly low alto lead vocals, backed by higher harmonies. Ten years later, R&B group TLC did the same to great success, with their #1 hits "Creep" and "Waterfalls". In 2002 the song was used in the Rockstar North game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Occasionally around 1990, the instrumental parts of the song were used as prize music, notably for jukeboxes and stereos, on the US version of The Price is Right

Credits and personnel

• Lead vocals – Ruth Pointer
• Backing vocals – Anita Pointer, June Pointer
• Record producer – Richard Perry

Charts

Ultra Naté cover

"Automatic"
Single by Ultra Naté
from the album Grime, Silk, & Thunder
Released	July 30, 2007
Label	Tommy Boy Entertainment
Writer(s)	Brock Walsh, Mark Goldenberg
Ultra Naté singles chronology
"Love's the Only Drug" (2006) "Automatic" (2007) "Give It All You Got" (2007)
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.

Music video

The music video for "Automatic" was directed by Karl Giant.^[4] 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.^[5] Then Naté appears in a blow-up doll costume,^[4] 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."^[5]

Track listing

• Belgian CD maxi-single^[6]

1. "Automatic" (Original Radio Mix) – 3:13
2. "Automatic" (Morgan Page vs. Peace Bisquit Radio Mix) – 3:03
3. "Automatic" (Original Extended) – 6:12
4. "Automatic" (Daz & Diddy Mix) – 7:17

• US CD maxi-single^[7]

1. "Automatic" (Original Extended) – 6:16
2. "Automatic" (Digital Dog Mix) – 6:31
3. "Automatic" (Paul Jackson Version Excursion Mix) – 6:19
4. "Automatic" (Spen & Thommy Sugar Vocal Mix) – 8:42
5. "Automatic" (Daz & Diddy Mix) – 7:18
6. "Automatic" (Funky Junction & NK Club Mix) – 6:29
7. "Automatic" (Funky Junction & Splashfunk Mix) – 6:53
8. "Automatic" (Monkey Brothers Ultra Bad Remix) – 8:40
9. "Automatic" (Dave Pezza Electro Dub Mix) – 9:30
10. "Automatic" (Shawn Q's Soltribe Vocal Mix) – 8:47
11. "Automatic" (Morgan Page vs. Peace Bisquit Radio Mix) – 3:04

Charts

Cover versions and adaptations

• In 1987, "Automatic" is featured in the made-for-television reunion film The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987).

• In 1991, the song was featured in the film Ricochet, and can be heard at the beginning after the basketball game.

• The song "Automatic" was featured on the soundtrack of the popular 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

• In 2006, Belgian singer Afi covered "Automatic".^[10] Her version became a minor hit in Belgium, where it reached top twenty on the Flanders Ultratip chart.^[11]

• In 2008, "Automatic" was covered by UK rock supergroup Hot Leg (the band led by former lead singer of The Darkness, Justin Hawkins) on their I've Met Jesus EP.^[12]

References

External links

v t e The Pointer Sisters Anita Pointer Ruth Pointer Sadako Johnson Bonnie Pointer June Pointer Issa Pointer Studio albums The Pointer Sisters That's a Plenty Steppin' Having a Party Energy Priority Special Things Black & White So Excited! Break Out Contact Hot Together Serious Slammin' Right Rhythm Only Sisters Can Do That Live albums Live at the Opera House Compilation albums The Best of the Pointer Sisters Singles "Yes We Can Can" "Wang Dang Doodle" "Steam Heat" "Fairytale" "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)" "Fire" "He's So Shy" "Slow Hand" "I'm So Excited" "Automatic" "Jump (for My Love)" "Neutron Dance" "Dare Me" Related topics Discography Book:The Pointer Sisters